Pardon me, but this is the kind of bull**** that's killing GA

Steven P. McNicoll wrote:
"Doug" wrote in message
oups.com...

There was a fairly high profile case some years ago with a commercial
aircraft in Maryland. ATC cleared him to descend prematurely.



Sounds like you're referring to TWA514. ATC didn't issue a descent
clearance, ATC issued an approach clearance. The pilot descended through an
intermediate altitude.


It wasn't MD either, was just over the ridge here in Virginia.

On Wed, 16 Mar 2005 16:42:44 -0700, "Jay Beckman"
wrote:

"A.Coleman" wrote in message
om...
Please read this. This is what's killing GA and we ought to do something
about it.


I'm curious about something from the "4PA" incident...

The article mentions that there were five aircraft ostensibly travelling
together along the same route, right?

What if the lead aircraft (if there was one...) had mentioned to the
controller that they were a "flight of five" from the Pan Am Academy? Might
that have made a lightbulb go off in the controllers head that "these five
probably have similar call signs." ??

According to the article in the last paragraph and the NTSB report,
the aircraft were on an IFR flight plan. So they would not be
reporting to ATC as a flight of 5. They had a 5-10 min separation
between each other. You would only use flight of X for formation
flying. There was no tops reported but it was overcast at 2000 agl
18 miles away which would be around 3400 MSL and the wreckage was
found at 5500 msl. It would be hard to fly formation while IMC and at
night. So they would not have reported as such.


Scott D

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Scott D. wrote in message
...

According to the article in the last paragraph and the NTSB report,
the aircraft were on an IFR flight plan. So they would not be
reporting to ATC as a flight of 5.


There's no restriction on formation flights for IFR operations or
conditions. The military does it regularly, civil operators very rarely.
The only regulatory restriction on formation flights is carrying passengers
for hire.

Ron Natalie writes:

Sounds like you're referring to TWA514. ATC didn't issue a descent
clearance, ATC issued an approach clearance. The pilot descended through an
intermediate altitude.


It wasn't MD either, was just over the ridge here in Virginia.

Right into Mount Weather, the ""secret"" WWIII redoubt for POTUS.

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