A_and_C wrote:
Without doubt a good autoflight system enhances safety but in the airline business evidence is starting to emerge that pilots are becoming over dependent on autoflight systems.
Well this is a different topic all together. Much has been debated about the “children of the magenta line” syndrome of modern EFIS cockpits.
But I don’t think this syndrome cascades down to GA private pilots really. Unless you fly a TBM850 like our friend Osama here
Pilots with the skill to fly in IMC, and the ability to use an autopilot, still come to grief in VFR-into-IMC accidents, even if everything is working. The two typical scenarios are IMC with no plan, followed by CFIT (unlikely here) because it takes them to long to figure out where to go, and loss of control while maneuvering to avoid entering IMC, where the autopilot is of course off.
The availability of, or ability to operate the autopilot may be a contributing factor here, we are unlikely to ever find out, but regardless of that, the main lesson remains “don’t scud-run at night, especially over the sea”
I have noticed that when flying with others in their aircraft or a rented/aeroclub aircraft, a lot of pilots have access to an autopilot but don’t use it. They might not even know how to use it and in training for the license, they were never told how to use an autopilot.
I love flying on the autopilot, especially in something like the Cirrus with a GFC 700 AP. I would engage it in the climb away from the airport and disable it at DA on the ILS. I am glad that I still also fly aircraft without AP available such as in the bush in Africa, otherwise, I would be afraid that it would make me a bit lazy and rusty as well with hand-flying skills.
I’ve flown a PA31 from Abu Dhabi to Bournemouth over a period of three days without an AP. Not ideal, but not a show-stopper. Just sayin’. 
They’ve found it…
“
Graham wrote:
found it
Hope it reveals more to what happened.
Hope it reveals more to what happened.
That depends on whether they’ll try salvage the wreckage or just try to recover the bodies.
Is it known exactly when Sala sent the Whatsapp message to his friends and family?
“If you do not have any more news from [me] in an hour and a half, I don’t know if they need to send someone to find me. I am getting scared!”
Is there 3/4G data reception over the channel?
Yesterday I flew at 5000ft in that area and there was absolutely zero data reception (on Vodafone) all the way from a few miles out of Shoreham, to immediately before landing on Guernsey.
Not even when flying directly over Alderney (ALD) or passing close to the bit of France which sticks out.
Near France, there was a GSM signal showing (which mobiles use for voice calls and SMS, generally) but this is normal near/over France; the data (GPRS/EDGE/3G/4G) gets blocked, probably when they detect multiple towers being accessed. I haven’t tested whether voice or SMS work, recently. I think SMS gets blocked too. One can easily transit the whole of France over land, at say FL100, and never get any useful reception despite having a good GSM signal “showing” most of the time.
As Dimme posted earlier in this thread, the analysis of the sound track shows that message was sent with the engine at idle, obviously still sitting on the ground at Nantes.
