Dave wrote on Jan 26, 2006 9:11 AM:"Even though the tower was not open, the pilots at this airport were transmitting what they were doing, so any other pilots would have heard that," he said. Wow, that statement was made by a FAA official. I guess having the pilots communicating with each other did not work. Hmm.. We need 24 hour Air Traffic Controllers or stop flying when the tower is closed. Oh, I know that means we have to pay for that-and who wants to do that. right ?

Paul wrote on Jan 26, 2006 3:45 PM:At airports where there is no tower (which constitutes the majority) or where the tower is closed, pilots use a published CTAF (Common Traffic Advisory Frequency)to communicate their location to other aircraft in the area. Pilots are expected to identify themselves and to clearly state their location and intention at several stages of their approach to an uncontrolled airport. My experience is that pilots are extra cautious when there is no tower present or open. In this instance the pilot may have announced that he was going to abort his landing and "go around". If that was recorded or heard by a pilot monitoring the CTAF frequency that should be very helpful in understanding what happened.

James wrote on Jan 26, 2006 6:06 PM:We don't know exactly what happened, but we do know that there are usually very few planes flying before 7am. The FAA official was merely stating that when there is no ATC, the pilots communicate on a common frequency and anyone else landing or departing Polamar would have heard the doomed pilot reporting his position and intentions. Having a controller saying "cleared to land" would have made no difference in this accident.

Virginia wrote on Jan 26, 2006 7:25 PM:I live in the flight path so I'm used to the sound of planes landing. On that morning I was awake and the plane that crashed was going very slowly and was very low. I heard it for a long time and couldn't figure out what was causing the roaring sound. The other night 10:30 I heard another low flying plane and it passed in "normal" time but it was definitely low. I find it curious that no one else reported hearing the roar.

Pilot wrote on Jan 26, 2006 7:28 PM:hey dave the pilots 'communicating with each other' thing worked because there wasnt a crash with another plane! it was one pilots bad decision that makes all you non-pilots that dont fly try to get involved into aviation business that you shouldnt. he came in way too fast stupid mistake!! To All Others...if you dont like the noise then dont move anywhere close to an airport!!...common sense?

Matt wrote on Jan 26, 2006 8:18 PM:I have noticed a problem with errors in this particular reporter's aviation stries a number of times. NCT needs to assign a reporter to aviation-related stories that knows what they are talking about, and doesn't speculate or report inaccurately. Furthermore, the use of verbiage such as "smashing", "slamming" and "erupting" only sensationalizes the tragic and untimely deaths of four people. So: (Aviation Terms/101) 1. FLAPS help slow the plane for landing, as well as adding extra lift at slow speeds. 2.THRUST REVERSERS are used AFTER the aircraft has landed, NOT in flight (this would be bad), and are attached to the engine. They do NOT go up and down, but are "deployed" and "secured". The ones most likely used on the Citation are clam-shell type. They come together behind the engine to redirect the thrust from going directly aft to up/down and slightly forward - they do NOT go up or down. That would be the landing gear. T/R's are helpful in slowing the aircraft, but are not like an arresting hook. 3. Standard procedure at uncontrolled airports is for aircraft to report, for any aircraft in the vicinity, when they enter the area, when they enter their downwind leg, their base leg, their final approach, and landing. They don't describe everything that's going on in their aircraft.

Erik wrote on Jan 26, 2006 9:20 PM:As a pilot that frequently flys out of Palomar/McClellan Airport, I wanted to add that your columnist was inaccurate and gravely errored in reporting the normal airport flow. Predominately aircraft land from the east and depart to the west towards the ocean as this is the way the wind blows. Please have your columnist do some thorough research before publishing flawed documentation.

Amy wrote on Jan 28, 2006 5:31 PM:So you're saying that you'd rather have 4 people die instead of pay for proper towers to be open?

Paul wrote on Jan 29, 2006 11:43 AM:Amy and Dave lets go over this one more time in the hope that you will get it. The main function of a Control Tower is to act as a traffic cop for departing and arriving air traffic in and around an airport. There are many many things we don't know about this event but it is fairly obvious that it was not caused by other air traffic. The likelihood that an operating tower would have prevented this accident is virtually nil.

Glasair Pilot wrote on Feb 1, 2006 11:24 PM:"We need 24 hour Air Traffic Controllers or stop flying when the tower is closed. Oh, I know that means we have to pay for that-and who wants to do that. right ? " The accident does not have ANYTHING to do with have a control tower in operation! The crash appears to be pilot error... you can't land a jet halfway down a 4600' runway and expect stay out of the grass on the end!

Patty wrote on Feb 2, 2006 1:27 PM:To Glasair Pilot - The pilot of the plane was my brother-in-law and a top notch pilot. He would not have overshot the runway - something else was wrong (with the plane - something). I resent the fact (as does the rest of his family) that you state "the crash appears to be pilot error". The "eyewitnesss" reports are conflicting. As a pilot (I'm assuming you are cause you list yourself as Glasair pilot) - you should know better that to jump to conclusions. Let the investigators do their job, and wait until the report comes out to confirm what actually happened. The chances that it was pilot error are slim and none - Jack did not make those kinds of mistakes.