Authorities force pilot to make emergency landing

[Steve]

http://www.houmatoday.com/article/20090521/HURBLOG/905219896/0/ARTICLES

Unable to contact him via radio, the U.S. Border Patrol used F-15’s to get his attention, and ultimately bring the single-engine Piper plane down without further incident.

 

[Jim Logajan]

The first two paragraphs are quoted above. Where exactly are the factual errors that bother you so much?

He said he lost count of the factual errors. He might have also lost count of the paragraph numbers. Until an official report from the NTSB (Number Tallying Safety Board) is released on the actual counts involved, I think it unfair to engage in speculation as to what really happened in these last few posts.

 

[Jim Logajan]

You clearly didn't read the actual mishap report. I did. Your facts are wrong, and from the fighter crews' perspective, it was always a hot intercept mission.

I don't understand why that matters one way or another in determining who caused the accident. Which pilot didn't properly handle his aircraft in the moments leading up to the collision? Which one was more aware of the heightened need to see and avoid?

Three irreconcilable proposed probable causes really underlines the amount of politics that was coloring the thinking of the authors. If the N number on the Baron had been smaller than allowed by regulation I suspect some or all would have sorely wanted to add that as probable cause. They couldn't wrap their heads around the fact that a regulatory violation taking place doesn't mean it is causal to any subsequent accident.