Aeronautical Communication - Designations, Divisions, Domains

Aeronautical Communication is characterized in several different ways, which can get confusing. Follow along the avalanche of acronyms.

Severe Stabilizer Mistrim - Pitch Upset - Challenger 300 N300ER - One Fatality

A Bombardier Challenger 300, N300ER, encountered an upset when the flight crew disconnected the autopilot while suffering from a nose-up mistrim situation. The mistrim was the result from a failure of the autopilot stabilizer trim control. The upset resulted in a roller coaster exceeding +4g and -2g, eventually brought under control by the flight crew. Tragically, a passenger was fatally injured in the upset.

The flight crew made several mistakes unrelated to the upset. They also apparently disregarded the caution alerting them to the mistrim. The NTSB preliminary report provides an account of the accident. The final report will provide analysis and probable cause. This post goes through the preliminary report and offers some additional commentary and excerpts from an operation manual of the same type aircraft.

Satshow 2023 Tuesday - The Exhibit Hall is Open!

Satshow 2023 is a gathering of service providers, equipment suppliers, technology wizards and a reunion of the many people involved in satellite communication. Held once again in the Washington Convention Center, the show runs four days long: Monday dedicated to lectures and an exhibit hall open Tuesday through Thursday, with speakers continuing alongside. 

Engineer Week - 2023

I was asked to speak to a group of engineers today. Here were the questions I was asked and my talking points. What did I miss?

Long Live the 747

I have a fondness for the 747-400.