What happens in IMC

To go back to the original post - I'm going to play spoiler here...

Other than pointing the hapless pilot towards VFR Wx (which he should
have known before departing) after the pilot recovered the aircraft,
what did ATC contribute? Did the controller reach out and fly the
airplane?

As I hear the recording, after all the pilots screaming into the mike,
the controller's reply was soothing but that was all... By the time the
pilot replied without screaming, he had already seen a tower go by,
figured out where down was, corrected his attitude, and the airplane
was upright and in visual conditions (or at least semi visual)... ATC
then instructed him to climb back into hard IMC so they could document
the crash coordinates on radar!!!

While that pilot may believe that ATC saved his bacon I have a
different take on it... They held his hand on the radio which is
certainly to their credit (99.9% of controllers are good folks)... But
putting a VFR pilot back into the clouds was not the way to go...
Clouds rarely go all the way to the ground... The fact that he could
climb the airplane back into hard IMC and maintain control while
changing headings, etc.., means he is a better pilot than given credit
for... If he had climbed back into the clag and then yanked the wings
off, ATC would have been answering hard questions to his wife's
lawyers...

He was lucky to survive his error resulting in a spiral (complete rolls
unlikely, just a confused inner ear)... ATC was lucky to survive their
error in climbing a vfr pilot back into imc...

denny

Denny wrote:

While that pilot may believe that ATC saved his bacon I have a
different take on it... They held his hand on the radio which is
certainly to their credit (99.9% of controllers are good folks)... But
putting a VFR pilot back into the clouds was not the way to go...

Listen again. The FSS guy said "remain VFR if able" and the pilot said
"climbing to 3000" and later that he was in complete IFR. Seems to me
the pilot made the call to go back up.

-cwk.

I'd like to know what kind of editing was done on the piece. I find the
transition from dramatic panic to calm to be a little too quick. The
fact that it's part of a campaign doesn't help make me any less
skeptical either.
--
Gene Seibel
Tales of Flight - http://pad39a.com/gene/tales.html
Because I fly, I envy no one.

Good point. One second he's screaming like a panicked VFR pilot who
screwed up badly, the next second we have "Iceman."


Just another data point to suggest that flying is not for amateurs. At a
minimum, all should have IRF ticket.

Just another data point to suggest that flying is not for amateurs. At a
minimum, all should have IRF ticket.

I don't want to be around guys who are working on their "IRF" ticket...

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:
Just another data point to suggest that flying is not for amateurs. At a
minimum, all should have IRF ticket.

I don't want to be around guys who are working on their "IRF" ticket...


That is the prerequisite for the IFR rating: "I read FARs". Everything you ever
wanted to know about flying.... AND MORE!!!!



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

VE