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Post by Don Gieseke on Dec 15, 2012 22:08:10 GMT -6
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Post by James Ray on Dec 24, 2012 6:33:20 GMT -6
Hey Don, I have flown that airplane. It was one of the 1st Lear's I ever flew. Serial # 25-046. An early one, probably built in 1969 as I recall. I was a "Best Pilot" for a buddy of mine who got married in the airplane. We climbed to FL410 and held at an intersection that was basically above his house. I stayed in the cockpit and flew while he went to the back and got married! N345MC. MC stood for McCarter Oil out of Houston. Long-since shutdown. But the airplane kept the N-number all these years. Don't know what would cause an airplane to nose-dive from FL280? If it were higher, I'd say it could have been a mach-tuck incident. Early Lears were known for that. In fact, that airplane used to have a "go-fast switch." Something some early operators who didn't understand highspeed flight would rig-up to turn off the over-speed warning. They would fly around at .85, .86 or so (.02 0r .03 higher than barber pole) and the slightest bit of turbulance could upset them & they would turn into a smokin hole from FL410, not understanding what mach-tuck was. Flight Safety did a 2-year traveling seminar in the early 80's trying to help Lear operators understand the aerodynamics of it all because we were losing so many airplanes to these kind of incidents. There were quite a few GI-Bill type ratings in those days too. A number of skilled Military pilots lost their lives in these types of incidents too. It was a slick, unstable airplane that liked to dutch-roll. But it was a rocket-ship! Man could it climb! Who knows what happened? I'd say the 78 year old paired with a 20 year old might have had something to do with it too. I'd guess we'll never know. No Voice or Flight recorders. It's a shame the young talented singer was even in that airplane. Seems we have lost a lot of singers over the years to 2nd-rate airplanes and operators.
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Post by Dean Matson on Jan 9, 2013 8:23:07 GMT -6
Reading what James Ray said above about N345MC, I realise the he and I have talked. I was a controller at Houston Center in that time frame and remember N345MC. It was an easy call sign. I had seen the aircraft several times over the past years. Back in the "wild & wolly" days in the oil patch, I believe it was this Lear that was heading from Houston to Acapulco one sleepy Saturday afternoon. I worked them down to the border, terminated radar and switched them to Mexico Center. This was before Monterey center existed. A while later I got an estimate from Mexico on the same plane landing at Laredo. They checked in and I asked if something was wrong. They said, "No, the boss decided he wanted to eat dinner at the Cadillac Bar & Grill in Laredo." Back in those days, if you owned 3 drilling rigs you were automatically qualified to own a Learjet.
Looking at the crash of N345MC, I do wonder if the 20 something F/O would be allowed to say something to the 70 something Capt. (A gear-up, flaps-up, shut-up cockpit culture.) That's assuming that this event was caused be an over speed mach-tuck and that either one was aware of the dangers.
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