Large cargo plane crashes east of Houston

The last report I read was that they were up near 20,000 feet when radar data showed a rapid descent. I saw this morning the flight profile was normal until they reached 6,000 feet and that's when the jet took a nosedive. I stand corrected!

a reply to: Slichter

The transponder showed 39975 first at 1653:18Z. That's within the margin of error. It first showed 40000 at 1653:22Z.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Any other traffic in front of them? Maybe hit a vortex and over corrected?

a reply to: Woody510

Witnesses describe hearing either lightning or a clap of thunder, and then seeing the plane nosedive.

Or, are the witnesses describing the sound the plane made when it hit the water? It's kind of unclear. But if that sound was heard before the plane hit, doesn't that suggest something happening to the plane that caused the nosedive?

a reply to: Woody510

None that's been reported anywhere.

a reply to: Zaphod58

I don't want to speak ill of the dead, especially if they went for the swamp on purpose to protect others. Wind shear or a microburst fits the description of what is being described here. Wind shear was first discovered near where they crashed and we have been having some crazy weather patterns lately.

Would a black box keep data showing static or lightening?

a reply to: JIMC5499

There's also a long history of elevator issues. In 2001 two aircraft descending for landing, at similar altitudes as this aircraft had elevator authority issues. Both were found to have no issues with the elevator system, and the best guess was that water froze on the cables preventing them from moving.

a reply to: UncleTomahawk

The recorder would show systems affected, and the CVR would record evidence of the strike.

a reply to: Zaphod58

It could have been a combination of things.

The latest update is that they may have to dredge the area to find the recorders. Despite the debris field being so small, they have yet to hear the pingers. It's believed that they got buried so deep in the mud that it's blocking the signal.

aviationweek.com...

a reply to: JIMC5499

It's extremely unlikely that it was just one. It never is.

a reply to: KansasGirl

Found this about loud noises heard before a crash.
Flight 261's Crew Heard Two Loud Noises Before Crash

About 12 minutes before the end of the recording, Hammerschmidt said the crew "experienced an apparent loss of vertical control." After losing more than 7,000 feet of altitude over the next minute and a half, the crew managed to regain control.

After that, a flight attendant advised the crew that she had "heard a loud noise in the rear," Hammerschmidt said. "The crew acknowledged they had heard it too," he said.

About 11 minutes after the initial loud noise and one minute before the end of the tape, Hammerschmidt said "a loud noise can be heard on the recording and the plane went out of control." Hammerschmidt said no stall warning is heard on the tape.

Although he offered no analysis, the lack of a stall warning means the plane likely flipped so rapidly into a dive that there was no time for the stall warning to activate. It also makes highly unlikely the possibility that the plane went down because of a stall, which takes place when the air passing over wings and tail hits at such a high angle that the flight surfaces lose their ability to keep the plane airborne.

Now in this case this was noise heard from inside the plane not from the ground. I’m sure once they get the flight recordings that sound could be identified.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Zooming on a flat map view of the area there doesn't appear to be much out there besides oyster beds.
This is a strange case, no dog and pony show about manufacturer defect issues and no lack of precision finding the crash site.
Doesn't seem to be any culpability thus far, the FBI might as well be investigating a lawn dart game.

a reply to: Slichter

It'll all come down to the recorders. Everything points to the aircraft being intact with no obvious issues, such as fire or structural failure.

A commercial pilot. Not much more then before.

a reply to: Observationalist

Thanks for that link/snippet!

originally posted by: Zaphod58
The latest update is that they may have to dredge the area to find the recorders. Despite the debris field being so small, they have yet to hear the pingers. It's believed that they got buried so deep in the mud that it's blocking the signal.

aviationweek.com...

Ugh. I've read that the water depth where they went in was 5 to ZERO feet. Yikes. What kind of equipment do they use to search in water and mud? I know they have divers and obviously equipment that detects sound...can they really not tell if there is an area of the mud (the bay floor) that was recently very disturbed (such as a huge cargo plane slamming into it at high speed)? They have planes with equipment (LIDAR?) that can find old pyramids under the impenetrable jungle canopy; they can use equipment to map the interior of the Grand Pyramid; can they really not see where the mud has been disturbed and has non-organic material in it?

Again- probably absolutely stupid questions. Oh well 😊

a reply to: KansasGirl

The whole area is going to be torn up. It probably left a fairly substantial crater when it hit. It also could have gone pretty deep with it being mud there. It's not going to be easy to find two recorders in all that mess.

Heres a WW2 A26 recovery from marshy ground.
Time Team