| It's been a nice smooth flight, from Teterborough | | | | plane will slightly lose altitude. To counteract this a little |
| airport in New Jersey to Martha's Vineyard off Long | | | | power is added to increase the total left slightly, |
| Island sound. Its getting late and shadows are | | | | resulting in the vertical complement being restored to |
| lengthening as the ground haze is thickening. It is not | | | | enough to support the plane without losing altitude. This |
| really fog, but just a gentle haze that you probably | | | | combination with the increase in the lift has resulted in |
| wouldn't even notice on the ground unless you are | | | | the increase of centrifugal force and the occupants of |
| looking and great distances. The lights of Martha's | | | | the plane are being slightly forced down into their seats |
| Vineyard are twinkling in the distance, and we are | | | | ever more firmly. |
| preparing to land. John turns off the autopilot and | | | | With the instruments on the instrument panel |
| begins his descent down into the haze with a slight | | | | screaming "We are in a turn", John is much too busy |
| turn for putting on course for the airport. | | | | to pay attention to the warnings as he's desperately |
| It's an old saying in the aviation circles that the average | | | | trying to separate dark ocean from dark sky with no |
| life of the private pilot (without instrument training) in | | | | dividing line between them. Since he is losing altitude |
| clouds is two minutes. | | | | even faster now he has added more power and |
| That is because many private pilots fail to become | | | | pulled back more on the yoke and great beads of |
| proficient at flying with reference to instruments in | | | | sweat began to form on his brow. |
| order to gain information into how level are his wings. | | | | The main instruments on his instrument panel, playing a |
| You see as long as the wings are level, to go up you | | | | major role in this drama are the turn indicator, the |
| pull back on the control yoke and add power. To go | | | | attitude indicator, the directional gyro, the altimeter and |
| down power is reduced and/or the yoke is moved | | | | the airspeed indicator. |
| very slightly forward. In a turn, pulling back on the | | | | The turn indicator does not show if you are climbing or |
| control yoke tightens the turn with increasing "G" | | | | diving, it only shows if your left wing is low or your right |
| forces and a loss in altitude. | | | | wing is low, or showing if you are in a turn. Let's |
| To the private pilot, or student pilot, to get proficient at | | | | assume that John has entered a left turn, and the turn |
| flying on instruments is somewhat laborious and | | | | indicator will have a wing on the left side below the |
| stressful. The instructor has ways of obscuring the | | | | horizontal mark. |
| Windows so you can get no outside reference to the | | | | The main instrument is the attitude indicator. It shows if |
| attitude of your plane. The instructor then puts the | | | | your left wing is low, and it also shows that the nose |
| plane and unusual attitudes, and the student pilot must | | | | of the aircraft is below the horizontal line, which is the |
| recover only by reference to the instruments. It doesn't | | | | horizon. Being tilted to the left and down shows that |
| take much of this to break out into a cold sweat. | | | | the only way out of the situation to return to normal |
| I didn't know John Kennedy, Jr. personally but from | | | | flight is to rotate the yoke to the right to lift the left |
| what I hear and see about his accomplishments, he | | | | wing until horizontal. Then pull back on the yoke to bring |
| justifiably had great pride in his abilities to handle | | | | the nose up to the horizon. |
| practically any situation. Unfortunately, a plane in flight is | | | | Once this is accomplished, the airspeed indicator will |
| not a respecter of persons. I read that John was a | | | | react normally to pulling the yoke back, or pushing the |
| good pilot and a cautious one, but he obviously was | | | | yoke forward. |
| not aware of his limitations of flying on instruments. | | | | More information can be gleaned from the directional |
| His plane, a piper Navaho, was high-performance, and | | | | gyro, which is nothing more than a very stable |
| probably well instrumented aircraft. A low wing aircraft | | | | compass and the vertical speed indicator. These are |
| such as this was is not inherently stable, and is always | | | | usually the last line of defense. |
| trying to drop one wing or the other ever so slightly. A | | | | The real panic builder is the altimeter. |
| high wing plane will usually return the wings to level if | | | | This is telling you how much longer you will continue to |
| the pilot will release the controls (not too likely). The | | | | be upon this earth! |
| aircraft autopilot, when engaged, has the prime | | | | With the erroneous corrective measures that John has |
| responsibility of keeping the wings level. As | | | | taken, the altimeter continues to unwind, and the |
| sophistication of autopilot design increases other | | | | rapidity with which it is unwinding panics him into the |
| chores are assumed such as directional heading and | | | | being even more convinced that he should be taking |
| tracking ability. | | | | personal control of the situation and not leaving it up to |
| I presume that a quality plane such as his Navaho | | | | these dumb instruments to tell him what to do. Logical |
| would no doubt have an autopilot, capable of all | | | | thought has gone out the window. |
| functions. This means when they left, New Jersey, he | | | | By now both passengers are aware that something is |
| would engage the autopilot give it instructions on | | | | wrong. They're getting pressed down into their seats |
| where to take him and pretty much the plane flew | | | | with ever increasing force and the wind noise due to |
| itself. | | | | the speed of the aircraft is the increasing dramatically. |
| With evening approaching and as they neared | | | | John is no longer cool calm and collected increasing |
| Martha's Vineyard, the sparkling lights in the distance | | | | the slowly rising feeling of panic. |
| were a visual reassurance that the wings are level. | | | | The blackness of the night is even more terrifying with |
| This is controlled flight and is of little challenge to any | | | | the wind screaming past the windows and the forces |
| pilot. The throttle then was pulled back a little bit and | | | | acting on them are not what they are used to. They |
| the automatic pilot was switched off. They started | | | | know something is wrong. |
| descending from their 5,500-foot altitude in preparation | | | | From then on, it progresses with frightening speed. The |
| for landing. As they descended into the haze layer, the | | | | forces increase and the wind noise rises to a screech. |
| lights of the shore suddenly went out. Still, no problem, | | | | This phase does not last long, because it is suddenly |
| but the altimeter is beginning to show a little faster loss | | | | over. |
| of altitude than John wanted so instinctively, he added | | | | The reason I feel so akin to the situation is that I was |
| a little bit of power and pulled back on the yoke. At | | | | able to observe a minor version of the play when I |
| that time John, his wife and Sister-in-Law in the plane | | | | took a lady friend to the Aircraft Owners and Pilots |
| felt just a slight bit heavier, and were being pressed | | | | Association - Pinch-hitter's course, while I took four |
| down into their seats with a little more force than just | | | | hours of instrument training. The pinch-hitter's course, |
| gravity ("G forces". This is the beginning of the death | | | | taught her how to take over the controls in an |
| spiral. | | | | emergency, radio for help, locate an airport and follow |
| On John's instrument panel the turn indicator showed | | | | instructions to get the plane to that airport and land it |
| that they were beginning to turn slightly. The airspeed | | | | with an incapacitated pilot. She had been taught the |
| indicator showed a slight increase in airspeed even | | | | finality of pilots without instrument training in clouds. |
| though he had pulled back on the yoke. If in level flight | | | | When flying back from Ohio to Upstate NY, we were |
| pulling back on the yoke would have resulted in a | | | | at 1,500 feet when the world disappeared. We were in |
| decrease of airspeed. Another instrument, on his | | | | an unseen cloud. I proceeded to immediately get on |
| instrument panel is the attitude indicator. A little airplane | | | | my instruments, as I had been doing for the last 3 |
| with wings is superimposed over a horizontal line, | | | | days, and start a standard rate 300 feet per minute |
| which represents the horizon. In level flight, that little | | | | climb to 4,500 feet, where I knew it was clear. I had |
| airplane will have its wings parallel to the horizontal line | | | | never seen such sheer terror as my friend exhibited. |
| of the instrument and will not be above or below the | | | | "We are going to crash, we are going to crash!" she |
| horizon. | | | | was screaming. I pointed to the attitude indicator, |
| John is now kind of busy looking out the window trying | | | | where the wings were level and the nose was slightly |
| to find the lights he saw while ago in order to get | | | | above the horizon. "You watch this" I told her. When |
| oriented and make sure he is flying level. He did not | | | | the wings of the little airplane are no longer parallel to |
| take time to look the instrument or any other | | | | the horizon line, then you worry. This seemed to pacify |
| instrument that would tell him that he is no longer flying | | | | her a little but when we broke out on top, ten minutes |
| with his wings level. | | | | later, at 4,500 feet with the wings perfectly level, she |
| His two passengers are totally unaware that anything | | | | practically melted! |
| is awry, because in a normal turn, you are slightly | | | | That is why I can feel the terror that must have been |
| pressed down into the seat. Now that forces are | | | | in the final moments in that plane. |
| increasing, they are becoming aware that this is not a | | | | I'll never forget when my Wife and I made almost that |
| totally normal turn. John knows things are not right, | | | | same flight. While doing late evening flight preparation |
| because he should not be losing altitude. Although it's | | | | at the Martha's Vineyard airport, to return to NJ, we |
| still somewhat gentle and the altitude loss is minor he | | | | were talking to 4 people taking off just ahead of us to |
| must do something to restore normal flight. Since he | | | | fly to Linden, NJ. They never made it. Night-time |
| assumes his wings are still level, although by now they | | | | disorientation at Linden caused the crash. Lack of |
| have become tilted and are no longer aligned with the | | | | instrument training strikes again. New York Center |
| horizon. Such a tilting of the wings is done in a normal | | | | directed our VFR (visual flight rules) flight through New |
| turn in order that the lift of the wings will counteract the | | | | York traffic and they routed us directly over the |
| centrifugal force of the turn. But in this attitude, some | | | | Empire State building with lights blazing, before turning |
| of the lift that used to go into support of the aircraft is | | | | to go to Morristown airport in NJ. What a beautiful |
| now being used to counteract centrifugal force in the | | | | sight. |