Didnt mean to be critical. Added a type rating this summer and learned the procedure. I have enjoyed many of Marks videos and he has always called out the steps in the past. Airspeed alive, 70 knots, crosscheck, v1, vr, rotate, positive rate, gear up, flaps at 400 agl, ect.....

Just trying to determine if the pros keep the same procedure after training..

Yes, everybody does. There are very good reasons for following proper procedures. I think Mark explained what happened very well. None of us are perfect pilots.

Everytime I post a video on BT I know it will be reviewed with a critical eye. I like it. It is how we learn. As long as I don't wind up having my heirs post a video on the CrashTalk thread I am happy!

Here is a video of the GPS19 approach I flew earlier this week. It was not my finest effort. Relevant facts:

1) I am single pilot
2) It comes at the end of a 6 hour flight day
3) the weather is reported VFR but there are clouds in the area
4) as I turn final the clouds are very dark and go all the way to the ground (unexpected)
5) my checklists are on the 796 which is mounted to my left...trust that I go through them

Familiarity with the Citation 550 and the KLN90B is not required but helpful.

Get the Approach out.

How many errors can you spot? Listen to the communications as well.

Hope this is educational for all.

[youtube]https://youtu.be/6HqzwB_6yks[/youtube]

It looked successful to me!

NAV instead of APP?

Yep. APR vs NAV is certainly one issue. (2:25 mark)

On the GTN/55X combo in the 310 I hit APR when turning final. As I turned final my mind got a little confused. Do I hit approach or leave it on NAV? I hit APR and nothing happened...so I tried it again to no avail. Then I went back to NAV which went into capturing mode. (vs. Captured).

Note that at this point I am 1) uncertain and 2) distracted with trying to figure out WTH. Neither are earmarks of a good approach.


Lots of other things going on here. What else?

No landing checklist review or call outs

Look at my OP. I do the landing checklist. I do not call them out but I do look at the list on 796 mounted on my left.

What key piece of communication is missing between me and the tower?

Last I checked you normally have to be cleared to land if there is a tower. I heard something like an approach clearance then "report YAFDY" which I heard "airport in sight". You guys must know each other.... or I missed something

Correct! On both counts. I did not report YAFDY as requested. I actually reported (er mumbled) "field in sight" and he did not respond. I did ask for a wind check (which was a really subtle way of reminding him I was about to land) he gave me the winds and I landed.

I went back and listened to the tape and discovered he did not clear me to land.

We know each other but have never met in person.

There is a standing joke that they ask me to report leaving the class Delta when in the seaplane and many times I forget because I am down low scoping out a lake. I suspect he thought "same old iceman....forgetting to report."

Why didn't I report YAFDY???? This is an important component to this story. (Hint...I didn't forget)

Oh, I don't know..... probably cuz you blew through 2900 before YAFDY and covered it with a visual.... Do old KLN's have WAAS? Doubt it..

How do you know I blew through 2900 at YAFDY? Where is YAFDY when I am at 2900? Your response assumes something that isn't true. Again...central to the story.

Well Mark, the most important part of that flight segment was to get the airplane configured properly and on the final approach course. The mode selector gave you a wtf and distracted you. I haven't gone back and looked, but you may have flown around the fix so the GPS did not sequence. That is just a guess though.

This is common stuff that happens to all of us, so I am certainly not going to critique you. This is one of the reasons I really like a 2 crew ops. When one of us gets goofed up in our own head, usually the other guy/gal catches and fixes it.

If anybody has never landed from an instrument approach at a towered airport without clearance, keep flying. You'll eventually get there.

This didn't happen to me:
C185 flying with an older friend, no Medical, and i'm guiding him thru setting up and landing at a contract tower with a slight cross wind. PIC was supposed to report 2 mile final..... Nope, rolling out on Rwy was an embarrassing moment. No comment from tower.

Nope never happened...

Too many times we get on CrashTalk and and read about some unfortunate souls who are no longer around to tell the tale. We wonder what the hell were they thinking? Obviously I didn't crash but what happened explains a lot about how accidents happen. That I got it on video, quite by chance, allows the story to be told in a way people can see as it is happening.

My version of what happened: As I approached Marquette ( my northern home drone) there were enough clouds that an approach would be prudent. 200 miles out I requested direct JIQUE as I was on the west side of the airport. It has been 20 years since I owned and flown a KLN90B so I am a tad rusty. Most of my approaches have been ILSs in this aircraft. I figured it was good practice. Loaded and activated the approach.

My other aircraft (310 and CE550) have A CDI that automatically slews. So in addition to the KLN90, I have to manually set the course. No biggie but it requires monitoring and action. (I.e. Cycles)

As I turned final two things created a distraction: 1) I hesitated about the AP and whether or not I should push APR or leave it on NAV. As mentioned previously I got wrapped up with trying to select the proper mode. 2) there was weather in front of me on final that wasn't reported at the airport and that I was heretofore unaware of. You see I turn on the radar trying to figure out if the reality was as bad as what it looked like. You hear me ask about the weather with the tower.

Both these issues are taking cycles to process. Meanwhile I am still trying to fly the approach. I dial 2900 into the altitude preselect and start down. However, I am still focused on the mode and never engage altitude preselect. Meaning the aircraft will not level off at 2900 which it supposed to do until crossing YAFDY. And of course it didn't.

Meanwhile the aircraft keeps turning right (west) thereby creating a larger intercept angle. I am aware of this turn but I was also aware of a pretty stout crosswind. It was 100kts from the west at altitude. Because of my awareness of a crosswind I rationalize that the turn is because of the wind. I even look down to see if the AP is still engaged which it appears to be. So I sense the turn is too large but talk myself into why I shouldn't be concerned. As the aircraft flies through the course I am expecting the AP to turn back left which it doesn't. At this point I am completely confused and frankly I have lost situational awareness. You see the AP disconnect light illuminate as I take control. And turn toward the inbound course. I have an iPad, a 796 and a KLN90B all telling me where I am on the approach but I honestly can say that i am confused and distracted enough that I am not totally aware of where I am relative to YAFDY or what my altitude is vs what it should be!

It was hypothesized that I blew through 2900 prior to YAFDY and called visual as a means of covering for the altitude bust. Naw...that assumes that I was actually aware of YAFDY and aware of an altitude deviation and had intent to cover my tracks. Ha. When I called visual I was pretty west of the localizer and YADFY and my altitude relative to YAFDY was nowhere in my mind. Looking at the video I can't be certain I wasn't spot on 2900 over YAFDY.

Why didn't i do something to break the chain? Good question. I should have probably missed when I was unsure of the proper AP mode. I didn't because going missed in the KLN90B seemed to be adding compexity. It is an entirely different mindset that I wasn't prepared to engage at that point. Further the missed would be directly into and cliimbing through what appeared to be ominous weather. There was a red cell between me and the Missed approach hold waypoint. I decided that would further complicate things.

The radical turn west and the AP failure to correct after flying through the course was the last straw. I took control with a total focus on joining the Inbound course. At that point I saw the airport and all was good. Except of course for the clearance to land.

The positive was that this is my home drone and, because of my seaplaning, i know where every tower and hill is located. Had this been many other airports (aspen, truckee, salt lake, vail, mammoth, telluride even love field) this could have wound up a CrashTalk thread.

Which of you would have figured out that between the KLN90B and the AP and the weather that I lost situational awareness and hit something? It would have simply said that the pilots failure to maintain directional control and situational awareness resulted in a crash killing one soul. A SP soul to boot.


Still processing this. Will be flying this approach tomorrow visually to get it straight what happened.

Mea culpa here.. let's all learn.

Flame away if it helps. I have 500 hours in 550 in the last 18 months. Pretty current. I got my flame suit on. Call me anything but late to dinner. Seriously it is a tad embarrassing to,share. Some may even say risky. I dunno. If just one BTer learns something it is enough.

Saw Sully last night. Great movie. Makes a point that pilots when encountering something they don't expect require time to process...they mention 35 seconds I get it. They had a double flame out and it took them 35 seconds to decide what to do. when you are in a state of confusion over three things AO mode, altitude, weather...35 secs seems not enough.