Plane crash - Chapecoense FC - Awarded Copa Sudamericana - first game back today. P25

Not just in the Third World. Even European and North American maintenance crews have used unapproved or even counterfeit parts. When I worked at BAe a plane came in for a full overhaul so all the parts were taken off, labelled and stored. When the time came to re-fit them, the plane's rudder had disappeared. On investigation, they found it had been fitted to another plane entirely that needed a new one when that was in contravention of all rules and processes.

But it wasn't the plane itself that was the problem in this case. It was the negligence of the pilot in flying a plane that he must have known didn't even have the minimum mandatory fuel reserves for the flight he was undertaking. The range of the RJ85 is about 1600nm and the flight from Santa Cruz in Bolivia to Medellin was about that distance. He was supposed to stop and refuel but took a chance, which left him at risk even if everything went his way and with no room for manoeuvre if anything at all went wrong.
How can a man really risk his own life and so many others like that, such a selfish mistake and you feel bad saying it because he's dead but that pilot was a real dick.
 
Just curious how the industry works,I assume you pay to land at an airport ,then can fuel prices vary from airport to airport,is their completion amongst fuel firms at each airport ?
Is there any other fees involved in landing at an airport.
Does it cost a lot more to stop off as opposed to going direct .
Just intrested how it all works
The variation in fuel prices is not really relevant. The two factors that add significant cost to a refuelling stop are the landing fees and the additional fuel used to taxi, take off and climb back to cruising altitude. The fuel used per mile during climb may be several times as much as when in cruise. Overall a fuel stop would significantly cut the profit made on a trip. The price of a charter should include the cost of a planned refuelling stop but an unscrupulous operator could increase his profit significantly by avoiding that refuelling stop if he thinks he can get away with it, or he might not price it in to undercut a competitor.
 
The fuel used per mile during climb may be several times as much as when in cruise. Overall a fuel stop would significantly cut the profit made on a trip. The price of a charter should include the cost of a planned refuelling stop but an unscrupulous operator could increase his profit significantly by avoiding that refuelling stop if he thinks he can get away with it, or he might not price it in to undercut a competitor.
That seems to be the case here, given the part owner of the company was the flight captain too.

What a sad view on life that profit is more important than even common sense, even to the point he's dead himself, but its quite possible had they not been asked to hold, this thread wouldn't exist, and 71 people would have been a cup final, rather than in morgue, obviously by pure luck, rather than good maths.
 
That seems to be the case here, given the part owner of the company was the flight captain too.

What a sad view on life that profit is more important than even common sense, even to the point he's dead himself, but its quite possible had they not been asked to hold, this thread wouldn't exist, and 71 people would have been a cup final, rather than in morgue, obviously by pure luck, rather than good maths.
If he had declared a fuel emergency when initially asked to hold, he'd have been allowed straight in but he clearly didn't want the subsequent investigation, fine and possible jail so he risked it until it was too late. Even then he had sufficient altitude to glide to the runway but managed to fuck that up completely by poor piloting. Had he survived, I doubt it would have been for long once everyone knew what he'd done.
 
Even then he had sufficient altitude to glide to the runway but managed to fuck that up completely by poor piloting.
We don't know that until the boxes are examined, he f**ked up no doubt about it, and he was cutting corners, humans do, but other factors could have come into play in any glide, weather particularly, there was heavy rain/thunderstorms in the area, so severe icing perhaps, a storm downdraught even, could have added to the issues they had already created by not refuelling.

At the end of the day he was clearly incompetent on this flight, with an eye on costs, but I doubt he wanted to kill himself and 70 others either, so I'm happy to see the full report come out, and see if there were any further extenuating circumstances.
 
We don't know that until the boxes are examined, he f**ked up no doubt about it, and he was cutting corners, humans do, but other factors could have come into play in any glide, weather particularly, there was heavy rain/thunderstorms in the area, so severe icing perhaps, a storm downdraught even, could have added to the issues they had already created by not refuelling.

At the end of the day he was clearly incompetent on this flight, with an eye on costs, but I doubt he wanted to kill himself and 70 others either, so I'm happy to see the full report come out, and see if there were any further extenuating circumstances.
We don't know for sure but it would appear that he had put the landing gear down which adds drag and reduces gliding range and there is speculation that he was aiming for a navigation aid thinking it was the start of the runway. As you say, we need to wait for the investigation but I predict poor piloting will be as much a factor as poor planning and criminal decision making.
 
As you say, we need to wait for the investigation but I predict poor piloting will be as much a factor as poor planning and criminal decision making.
I expect you will be correct, it will be the main or possibly sole fault, but I do think its not impossible that the weather may play a minor part.

From what I've seen, mostly news reports and the flight radar graphs, but also with a little insight due to my job, they were holding at an altitude where there may have been considerable icing. It appears to be close to the freezing level which is the worst possible altitude (usually between zero and minus 5 C).

I speculate here as I don't know how the aircraft anti ice system works, and whether it needs the electronics to be working, which may have already failed due to the fuel situation, but that may have caused there being no anti icing available, and in the tropics there can be very severe airframe icing close to the freezing level in the right conditions.

Even if weather is involved in some way, the fuel situation is the critical event, not having any is clearly a bad move, but if icing is involved even in a minor part, then in clear air they might still just have got to the airport.

Certainly had they declared a full emergency early enough, they would have had much more chance of making it.
 
The variation in fuel prices is not really relevant. The two factors that add significant cost to a refuelling stop are the landing fees and the additional fuel used to taxi, take off and climb back to cruising altitude. The fuel used per mile during climb may be several times as much as when in cruise. Overall a fuel stop would significantly cut the profit made on a trip. The price of a charter should include the cost of a planned refuelling stop but an unscrupulous operator could increase his profit significantly by avoiding that refuelling stop if he thinks he can get away with it, or he might not price it in to undercut a competitor.
Thanks for the reply ,have you any idea £ wise how much not refueling may have saved assume in the £000,s ?
Just curious for how much saving the pilot was prepared to gamble all those lives for,if that's what he's provern to have done
 

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