The crash of Lion Air JT610 shortly after takeoff from Jakarta resulted from two unrelated events.
The inbound Flight Crew reported malfunction with airspeed and altitude controls known as pitot tubes, that have been around since the "Spirit of St. Louis", if not before.
The maintenance facility "signed off", but did little else.
The JT610 crew just plain "forgot" how to manually fly an aircraft. Great to have controls so sophisticated that that the Flight Plan is simply "loaded in" and automation "takes it from there", but the guys up front failed in their responsibility to know something wasn't right....and SPLASH.
Although the Flight Deck was aware they had difficulties as they had requested permission to land, they did not realize they were perilously close to a stall. At 5000ft, had they disabled the automatic pilot, there was plenty of altitude to recover from the stall. Once recovered, the airport's radar would have been able to provide altitude and airspeed for a visual landing....TOUCHDOWN.
George Harris Member # 2077
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Why I avoid third world airlines. Does't mean I avoid non-US airlines. Was a regular passenger on China Airlines (Taiwan), EVA, Singapore, and a couple others.
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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Broadening this topic, I have to ask; what the devil has suddenly happened to air transport safety?
During 2017, the industry took a well deserved pat on the back when it was reported there were ZERO passenger and crew fatalities - Worldwide.
This year, that record is "down the bathroom bowl" as a Wiki article reports there have been YTD ten months 503. This includes one on a US flagged carrier - the first since '09.
While most have occurred on "Third World" airlines, some have been on the top tier carriers.
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