Eerily reminiscent of Payne Stewart plane. (1 Viewer)

[efil4stnias]

So this afternoon, many heard a boom in/around DC. Turns out some F16s were scrambled to intecept a Cessna jet that flew in restricted air space over DC. F16s intercepted and noted pilot was passed out. Plane eventually crashed in mountains of Va. A mother, daughter and nanny all died. As pilot.

They are now thinking loss of cabin pressure. Same thing that happened to Payne Stewart

Really sad.

 

[Saintman2884]

So this afternoon, many heard a boom in/around DC. Turns out some F16s were scrambled to intecept a Cessna jet that flew in restricted air space over DC. F16s intercepted and noted pilot was passed out. Plane eventually crashed in mountains of Va. A mother, daughter and nanny all died. As pilot.

They are now thinking loss of cabin pressure. Same thing that happened to Payne Stewart

Really sad.

This may sound overly critical, but this incident seems like a terrible series of miscalculations that couldn't been avoided if a thorough, rigid mechanical analysis of the plane had been done and maybe pre-existing issues that caused this drop in cabin pressure.

There very lucky one of those F-16 pilots didnt shoot them down while flying into restricted air space and not answering repeated calls and followed extra procedure to check and see if the pilot had passed out. Some trigger-happy pilot mightve decided to go with a different decision if this were 40-45 years ago during the height of the Cold War.

A similar incident nearly occured almost 20 years ago around this time when a Republican governor's privately-chartered plane entered restricted air space in D.C. and didnt respond to multiple ATF requests to identify themselves and a few F-16's were scrambled to intercept them and this governor's pilot kept on ignoring their requests, and one of the F-16 pilots said he was then ordered by his commanding officer to blow up the plane, unbeknownst that was carrying this governor. The pilot ultimately decided against this decision, saying it was too cloudy and the fiery, smoky debris wouldve hit nearby D.C.-area suburbs.

 

[0rion]

There very lucky one of those F-16 pilots didnt shoot them down while flying into restricted air space and not answering repeated calls and followed extra procedure to check and see if the pilot had passed out. Some trigger-happy pilot mightve decided to go with a different decision if this were 40-45 years ago during the height of the Cold War.
.

I'm not really seeing the luck here....they're all dead either way.

 

[Saintman2884]

I'm not really seeing the luck here....they're all dead either way.

I'm just saying this serious, unfortunate incident could have been avoided and four innocent people, would still be alive, and our nation's most restricted air space surrounding Washington D.C. wouldn't been also triggered, albeit unwittingly after the Cessna pilot had already passed out due to lack of oxygen in the airplane's cabin.

 

[GrandAdmiral]

Aren't private planes like the Citation equipped with masks that drop with pressure loss like in commercial airliners?

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

Aren't private planes like the Citation equipped with masks that drop with pressure loss like in commercial airliners?

Only the lucky ones

 

[superchuck500]

I'm just saying this serious, unfortunate incident could have been avoided and four innocent people, would still be alive, and our nation's most restricted air space surrounding Washington D.C. wouldn't been also triggered, albeit unwittingly after the Cessna pilot had already passed out due to lack of oxygen in the airplane's cabin.

Do you know what caused the issue? I haven't seen that yet.

Almost every crash of any kind could have been avoided. That's, in fact, why they do investigations and the NTSB will issue a report on this one like they do all plane crashes.

 

[DaveXA]

Do you know what caused the issue? I haven't seen that yet.

Almost every crash of any kind could have been avoided. That's, in fact, why they do investigations and the NTSB will issue a report on this one like they do all plane crashes.

Yeah, and I don't see the fighter pilots shooting down a non-responsive plane over DC without them getting visual confirmation and a clear trajectory. If it's making a beeline for the Capitol or WH, maybe, but otherwise it's really a last resort.

There have been several unauthorized incursions into DC airspace in recent years and none have been shot down. Unless is it's an obvious attempt on a significant target, there's no sense in shooting a plane down in DC airspace.

I do wonder sometimes if a 9-11 type hijacking would lead to shooting one down if it managed to get into a densely populated area tho. That's a tough call.

 

[faceman]

I do wonder sometimes if a 9-11 type hijacking would lead to shooting one down if it managed to get into a densely populated area tho. That's a tough call.

I don't believe it would be shot down in a densely populated area. They'd wait until the plane reached a sparsley
populated area. That said if it were directly headed towards the WH or another government building,they'd have no choice but to shoot it down.

 

[DaveXA]

I don't believe it would be shot down in a densely populated area. They'd wait until the plane reached a sparsley
populated area. That said if it were directly headed towards the WH or another government building,they'd have no choice but to shoot it down.

That's the thing. What's the point of no return for something like that? If you know a plane is gonna hit something, how long do you wait?

 

[superchuck500]

That's the thing. What's the point of no return for something like that? If you know a plane is gonna hit something, how long do you wait?

I think they're in real-time evaluation of a handful of data points - and that's what dictates the response.

In this situation, the aircraft was at steady altitude and heading (the autopilot was on) and the F-16 pilot saw the Cessna pilot incapacitated in the cockpit - so they were able to escort the plane across the airspace without shooting it down. In a situation with an active pilot making course and altitude changes, the risk is much greater. Or if there's a known threat or some reason to think the pilot or airplane is a threat, that's a different situation.