I think the topic herein is of value to all of us who operate Lancairs, despite it being of military origin.

I’ll bet all of us operate to the legal limit of altitude on a lot of occasions, and some to the edge of the Lancair envelope, and beyond.

The comments made by VTAILJEFF and Wesley remind me of the DC-10 accident on Mt. Erebus in the Antarctic in November 1979. The fact is then, and as indicated on the thread  in Italy, a scapegoat must be found to appease interested parties, especially if the accident crosses international boundaries. We all know who the prime target is to be scapegoat. It starts with “P”.

It seems then, 1979, and now, 1998, there was something missing.

In the DC-10, the Air New Zealand nav department had the wrong coordinates in the flight plan, which placed the -10 on a collision course with Mt. Erebus, killing 250 odd customers, and in Italy the maps didn’t show all the data necessary for the safety of the flight, from what I understand of the posts herein.

The great thing is, despite the absolute harrowing time the surviving crews and all their families had, wise people inhabited the inquiries and or courts.

In Air New Zealand, the Royal Commission judge determined there was a “litany of lies” put out not only by the company, but by inference the investigating team from the NZCAA. In the American case, something similar seems to have been determined by wise dissemination of so called “evidence”.

Thank God for our justice systems and the sages who partake in them.

These sobering reminders can serve all of us who like to aviate.

Dom Crain

VH-CZJ