tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10432089.post2027781074994217619..comments2024-02-20T14:35:46.280-08:00Comments on Bay Views: Montana Plane CrashBay Viewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16760942927620035881noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10432089.post-78894006157144897812012-07-03T10:28:16.982-07:002012-07-03T10:28:16.982-07:00A friend of mine, a very experienced pilot, surviv...A friend of mine, a very experienced pilot, survived a crash of a Cherokee 140 (w/160HP engine) near Sula, MT and Highway 93 in early June 2012. He said the weather was 3,000' ceiling, 10 miles visibility, little wind, no turbulence. He found himself in a bad downdraft, descending continuously for a minute and a half at 1500fpm even with full power. Eventually he crash landed on a road and was lucky to walk away. At this point I'm trying to understand the weather pattern, possible local in nature, that could have caused this sustained downdraft, given the apparent lack of high winds at ridge level. You wrote of warm winds flowing down a slope, which reminded me of Chinook winds when I lived in Colorado 40 years ago, but those were high winds of 100mph or so. My friend, who gave a presentation on his incident to Pennsylvania pilots last night, summed up his experience this way: "2500 AGL is not enough."Geoff Knauthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12025560607512616605noreply@blogger.com