Quote:
Originally Posted by Jake (The Snake)
Gigi,
If there were some problem with the plane, wouldn't it be a pretty big coincidence that it seemingly occurred during an ATC handoff?
Based on what W0X0F posted earlier, I'm under the impression that ATC handoffs are usually (though not always) done within seconds. Is that right?
If so, then the fact that the co-pilot did check in with the old ATC person but NOT with the new ATC person seems to make a malfunction a long shot to me, as the pilot would have had to notice it in a very short period of time -- after "all right, good night" but before checking in with the new ATC person.
Am I way off with that?
Then again, all of the other theories being tossed about would require some large leaps as well so maybe something like that isn't too much of a coincidence.
ATC handoffs occur fast, but abnormal situations do as well. In the biggest accidents it was usually not only one thing that went wrong. Check up on the Tenerife crash in 1977.
So I understand your way of thinking, but in no way will I myself value that piece of info enough to assume a malfunction at that point was unlikely.
I am in no way saying this is what happened or that I believe the following theory at all but imagine this;
'Alright good night', pilot reaches over to change the frequency to the new assigned frequency. Pilot accidentally bumps over his coffee on the pedestal. What a mess and not entirely safe to have that stuff all over the equipment. Let's clean that up real quick...
Again I stress that I am not saying I think this happened or something, but it's just one of many reasons a frequency change can take a bit of time. In most cases (if not all) it's just something a lot smaller than bumping over coffee. Sometimes the frequency is just busy and you wait for a bit, or finish something else you have/had to do.
Equipment fails all the time, pilots/humans do too, usually this doesn't end up catastrophic in any way. When it happens at the same time chances increase for something to go wrong.
Last edited by Gigi_Bailey; 03-19-2014 at 04:39 PM.
Reason: typos