hey everyone Jason Schappert here of m0 a.com and we're launching a new series
now this month we're diving into and talking about aviation weather it's kind
of that time of year summer is coming summer thunderstorms are coming here
we're gonna be dealing with this more and more so today we're talking about
the thunderstorm flying and I want to start with a story about an hour before
takeoff the pilot obtained an updated weather briefing which included a
discussion about thunderstorm activity along the route of flight about two
hours thirty minutes after takeoff the pilot was deviated around thunderstorm
activity when the airplane disappeared from radar a witness near the accident
heard the aircraft revving up and down and then a muffled pop and in silence
before scene debris falling from the sky well above the treeline examination of
the airplane revealed that it experienced an in-flight breakup however
no evidence of a mechanical malfunction was identified weather radar images
indicated the airplane entered a developing area of moderate to heavy
intensity echoes consistent with a convective cell or thunderstorm the
pilot advised air-traffic control he was receiving weather information through a
portable GPS receiver with a weather subscription service there were no
published convective segments at the time it's interesting to me or center
weather advisories for thunderstorms current at the time of the accident for
the area encompassing the accident site the pilot received his airplane
multi-engine rating on may 13th 2006 as of June 18th 2006 the powd have
accumulated 1720 hours of total flight experience which included 32 hours and
multi-engine airplanes 26 accumulated in the accident airplane in addition the
pilot had logged about 140 hours and 68 hours of actual and simulated instrument
time respectively except for 0.4 hours of simulated flight time logged er is
multi-engine checkride the pilot had not logged any additional instrument flight
experience in multi-engine airplanes review of the airplanes ground
speed revealed the ground speed remained between 190 and 200 miles per hour
during most of the crews portion of the flight and approximately 12 47 the
airplane gained 60 miles per hour and ground speed over the course of the next
35 seconds the airplane descended 1,200 feet during this timeframe for an
average descent rate of approximately 2,100 feet per minute
the airplanes ground speed stabilized for the next eight seconds while the
airplane to send it an average rate of 9000 feet per minute at 12:48 the
airplanes ground speed began increasing again to 471 miles per hour
the last required GPS target was at 12:48 and altitude of 4,000 123 feet
with an average descent rate of 6,000 feet per minute the NTSB is probable
cause the pilots invert an encounter with a thunderstorm which result in loss
of control and a subsequent in-flight breakup I hate talking about accidents
especially ones like this but I chose this NTSB report to illustrate there
were no convective segments at the time you saw the weather radar you might be
thinking wow I have screenshots of me on flight aware and I've been near storms
that look just like this and this is why it's so important to understand
thunderstorms and how a thunderstorms actually develop as well you see you
need to understand not just for a private pilot checkride or an instrument
pilot checkride we need to know the ingredients that make up a thunderstorm
what do we need we need unstable air we need an uplifting action and then we
need excess moisture this is why summer storms are so prevalent it's unstable we
get the uplifting action the uneven heating of the Earth's surface and then
the dissipation of that heat and then it's humid just about wherever you go
unless you're flying out in Arizona per se deal with that humidity the humidity
is excess moisture in the air so in a case like Florida where we fly this is
how we get those afternoon thunderstorms now our thunderstorms go through three
stages they are the cumulus stage which is depicted as the building
phase this is the nasty updrafts and can often lead to some down drafts in these
in these towering cumulus Nimbus clouds as well in our accident it looks like he
may have encountered a thunderstorm that was in the cumulus stage building albeit
very rapidly though and possibly some microburst associated with that as well
we then enter into the mature stage at the start of rainfall the moment rain
falls the mature stage and thunderstorm has begun and then lastly the
dissipating stage this is where the thunderstorm begins to rain itself out
have you ever been caught in a storm where it's raining raining and all of a
sudden everything breaks loose the rain increases you know tenfold the size of
the droplets double that's the dissipated stage it can no longer hold
up moisture up and just it's dissipating that storm all the way out what does the
FAA have to say about thunderstorm flying for this we can actually go to
the aim where I'm going to call them thunderstorm rules we know that in the
aim the aim is just helpful suggestions but if we all acted like they are rules
we'd be safer smarter pilots as well so i'ma call them thunderstorm rules even
though they come from the aim never go closer than five miles to any visible
storm cloud with an overhanging area and strongly consider increasing that
distance to 20 miles or more you can encounter hail and violent turbulence
anywhere within 20 miles of very strong thunderstorms our next rule and some of
these come from the aim some of these come from advisory circulars as well on
thunderstorm flying do not attempt flight beneath thunderstorms even when
visibility is good because of the destructive potential of sheer
turbulence in these areas think back to the story we opened with here can you
see how this rule applies at the first sign of turbulence reduce air speed
immediately to the manufacturers recommended air speed for turbulent air
penetration for a specific gross weight that could be your maneuvering speed or
VA remember that's why they specify a gross weight because maneuver and speed
changes with weight our next rule if the aircraft inadvertently penetrates
a thunderstorm maintain straight and level a straight and level attitude on a
heading that will take you through the storm in the shortest time so often we
think oh I'll make the hundred and eighty degree turn I'll get back out of
here and that can work VFR and IMC into a nice stable Stratus layer but if you
start getting nasty updrafts and downdrafts the best thing you can do is
straight and level and hold that don't don't worry about much anything else
though or about your altitude keep within range within reason but you try
to make a turn out of there you could really be testing the structural
integrity of your aircraft obviously we don't want to end up in that situation
that's why I want to leave you with this never let compulsion take the place of
good judgment you never have to be anywhere in aviation if you do you can
have a back-up plan to airline to drive whatever it may be but don't let
compulsion the need to be there take the place of good judgment this is why we
have the commercial pilot certificate people always say why can't private
pilot's fly for compensation or higher because when you start to fly for
compensation or higher it adds such a unique pressure the pressure to you know
I got to pay the bills the pressure to the boss is asking me to be there I'm
flying this VIP whatever it is they're expecting me to be there that's why we
have the commercial pilot certificate just to alleviate some that pressure to
add experience to it we can't let compulsion take the place of good
judgment thunderstorm flying I can't wait to read your comments below this
video and listen I hope you'll be joining us for our aviation mastery at
sea perhaps you've already heard us talking about it here it's October 26
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in October on the aviation mastery at sea as well enjoy the rest of your day
and most importantly remember that a good pilot is always learning have a
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