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Unread 12-09-04, 05:54 AM
SkyKing SkyKing is offline
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It's difficult to second-guess this 'preliminary' NTSB report, and not knowing all the factors. But since the pilot elected to follow east-west course lines in an oval through the descent over the airport, I'm suspecting he was down to needle, ball and airspeed. However, at one point he states he's over the airport... at a time when it appears he's IMC, so maybe he did have a GPS/moving map. In any event, the freeway was right off his right wing - and that would seem to have been his best bet without too much maneuvering: basically a straight-in shot with minimal forward glidespeed. Then, on the other hand, there was probably a 400B autopilot on board this P210, or an equivalent, so there was another opportunity to control the plane, as it appears he still had sufficient reserve electrical power from the battery after the engine quit.

SkyKing
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