What was the big boom?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What would cause a depressurization event in an aircraft like this one?

It was a 33 year old plane that was previously registered in Venezuela. Subpar maintenance is likely the cause

https://registry.faa.gov/AircraftInquiry/Search/NNumberResult?nNumberTxt=611VG
https://onespotter.com/aircraft/fid/310000/N32PB

Wait, how can you tell it was previously registered in Venezuela?

The FAA gives you the serial number, onespotter gives you that's plane's history. Rich guy wanted to buy a plane but was either too cheap or too poor to afford a safe one and it cost him his family.

And he just took the plane himself a few weeks ago to travel from his FL home to his NC home. Could have been him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WaPo reporting that the woman that was killed was adopted by this family 9 years ago at age 40. That’s unusual.

For Rumpel, who retired from flying 30 years ago, the purpose of the small planes was to bring his family together. That had been a chief priority in his life ever since he lost his first daughter, Victoria, in a scuba diving accident when she was 19 years old.
Years later, Rumpel said he met a woman who reminded him exactly of his daughter. It was Azarian, a real estate agent in New York. After they got to know her, Rumpel and his wife decided to adopt her when she was 40 years old.

“They had the same fire in their bellies, and they were loving, caring children,” Rumpel said of Victoria and Azarian, 49. “We had no one else, and we loved her.”

Rumpel said Azarian wanted nothing more than to be a mom herself, and he watched her go through a years-long in vitro fertilization process to become pregnant with her daughter. He described Azarian as the best mother he had ever seen.

Photos on Azarian’s Facebook show her and Aria in matching dresses, kissing on the lips and dressed up together on Mother’s Day. In Facebook posts, friends described her as a “beloved part of the NY real estate community” and a “devoted mother.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2023/06/05/virginia-cessna-plane-crash-victims/

I just read that story and it was heartbreaking. The Rumpels (adoptive parents/grandparents) sound totally devastated. It makes me so sad to think of that poor little granddaughter. What a tragedy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What would cause a depressurization event in an aircraft like this one?

It was a 33 year old plane that was previously registered in Venezuela. Subpar maintenance is likely the cause

https://registry.faa.gov/AircraftInquiry/Search/NNumberResult?nNumberTxt=611VG
https://onespotter.com/aircraft/fid/310000/N32PB

Wait, how can you tell it was previously registered in Venezuela?

The FAA gives you the serial number, onespotter gives you that's plane's history. Rich guy wanted to buy a plane but was either too cheap or too poor to afford a safe one and it cost him his family.

And he just took the plane himself a few weeks ago to travel from his FL home to his NC home. Could have been him.

I'm sure he wishes it was. Terrible thing to live with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sonic boom per twitter

Well if Twitter says it and it’s on the internet it must be true

....well I guess you were wrong

[Anonymous]

I haven't read through all 19 pages - if the pilot did indeed pass out due to lack of oxygen then I can only assume the same happened to the 3 passengers. I pray it did. Otherwise what a horrifying thing to experience as a conscious person

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I haven't read through all 19 pages - if the pilot did indeed pass out due to lack of oxygen then I can only assume the same happened to the 3 passengers. I pray it did. Otherwise what a horrifying thing to experience as a conscious person

Yes, most likely.

[Anonymous]

I have only one question. How does one 'adopt' a 40-year-old?
That woman must have been one smooth operator..

[Anonymous]

In a way it was lucky the plane went into the prohibited air space: otherwise, it likely wouldn’t have been on anyone’s radar and it could’ve crashed anywhere.

[Anonymous]

It went right over my house. Wow

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In a way it was lucky the plane went into the prohibited air space: otherwise, it likely wouldn’t have been on anyone’s radar and it could’ve crashed anywhere.

ATC knew it was unresponsive and were tracking it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there any evidence why the plane turned around in New York?

That was the approach to the airport. When there was no one to actually land the plane, it just kept on going on the same heading

Sorry, to clarify: if the plane didn’t land at the originally planned location. (New York?), the autopilot would automatically send the plan back to where it originated?
Not a pilot here, trying to understand!

(I didn't see this answered elsewhere, sorry if this is a duplicate...)
Not generally, no, but it depends on the specific autopilot system AND how the pilot configured the flight plan for that specific flight.

What probably happened in this case is that the pilot programmed the autopilot to a waypoint near the airport, actually just past it, and then had the autopilot programmed to turn onto a 'final approach course' that aligns with the runway that is intended to be used for landing. That final approach course actually had the airplane pointed at the airport, but also back at its point of departure. Normally, at that point, the pilot would be managing the altitude according to ATC instructions, so a descent wouldn't be programmed in (and, because the pilot usually manages altitude according to ATC instructions, most autopilots aren't designed with the ability to do so - especially older ones). In this case, with the pilot unconscious, the plane stayed at altitude while it made its turn over the final waypoint and back toward the airport. Then when it passed the airport, still at altitude, it just kept going on that heading. That it pointed back generally toward its departure point is most likely somewhat of a coincidence.

I have no knowledge of this specific system, or (obviously) what the pilot programmed, just guessing based on normal procedures.

As to why the plane disintegrated on impact - that likely means it was traveling in a straight vertical descent, high rate of speed, very low lateral velocity (nosedive or spin). When a plane impacts at more of a shallow angle, the debris spreads over a larger area and bigger pieces remain intact. The NTSB will eventually tell us how/why this descent probably occurred. But be warned, it will take years for them to release a final report. This is totally normal and not an indication of any kind of conspiracy, they just work at a very methodical pace through mountains of hardware, data, and analysis.

If the plane had been shot down or broke apart mid-flight, debris would be scattered over a very large area. A concentrated impact zone indicates it was intact until impact. Browse the NTSB accident report database for a while, you'll find plenty of examples.

[Anonymous]

I think many of us are wondering about the process of monitoring this plane once they saw the pilot with slumped over. Clearly, the Air Force did not stay with them the entire time. It took about four hours for local authorities to pinpoint the exact location of the crash. Shouldn’t that have been on some sort of radar? did they warn any of the areas that this could be potentially happening? Just so thankful it happened over remote area where no one else was hurt. Before it exited northern Virginia area, it could’ve killed hundreds! We dug into the flight path and saw and went right over fields where we were where multiple soccer games are going on. Literally hundreds of people in attendance.

[Anonymous]

This reminds me a little bit of the athlete whose child fell off their grand staircase and died (can't remember who that was). Problems of too much money, for both his first child (scuba diving, per the Washington Post article) and now this. And yes, the adoption at 40 of someone who "reminded them exactly of their daughter" doesn't sound the healthiest, but not much point in judging.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think many of us are wondering about the process of monitoring this plane once they saw the pilot with slumped over. Clearly, the Air Force did not stay with them the entire time. It took about four hours for local authorities to pinpoint the exact location of the crash. Shouldn’t that have been on some sort of radar? did they warn any of the areas that this could be potentially happening? Just so thankful it happened over remote area where no one else was hurt. Before it exited northern Virginia area, it could’ve killed hundreds! We dug into the flight path and saw and went right over fields where we were where multiple soccer games are going on. Literally hundreds of people in attendance.

They probably knew generally where it went it, but it was a very remote area and hard to get to. The 4 hours included time to activate ground emergency response in the right area (they didn't know ahead of time where it would run out of gas), get them pointed to a set of GPS coordinates, find their way as close as possible by road, and then hike to it through forests, mountains, etc. Ever tried to hike through non-cleared mountainous/forested terrain, with gear for a potential rescue/survival situation and investigative equipment? It takes a while.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think many of us are wondering about the process of monitoring this plane once they saw the pilot with slumped over. Clearly, the Air Force did not stay with them the entire time. It took about four hours for local authorities to pinpoint the exact location of the crash. Shouldn’t that have been on some sort of radar? did they warn any of the areas that this could be potentially happening? Just so thankful it happened over remote area where no one else was hurt. Before it exited northern Virginia area, it could’ve killed hundreds! We dug into the flight path and saw and went right over fields where we were where multiple soccer games are going on. Literally hundreds of people in attendance.

They probably knew generally where it went it, but it was a very remote area and hard to get to. The 4 hours included time to activate ground emergency response in the right area (they didn't know ahead of time where it would run out of gas), get them pointed to a set of GPS coordinates, find their way as close as possible by road, and then hike to it through forests, mountains, etc. Ever tried to hike through non-cleared mountainous/forested terrain, with gear for a potential rescue/survival situation and investigative equipment? It takes a while.

Ah yes, thank you.

It does bring forth some uncomfortable realities about these kind of situations. There’s not a damn thing that can be done.