I agree, issuance of an approach clearance does not mean you
have to press on. You really need to be at the initial
approach altitude when you cross the fix inbound. These
pilots were way above the altitude and inside the fix before
they even began the descent. They were 7 miles past the
airport [six DME and increasing] when they began a straight
climb.

CRM, did they ever discuss the approach and their options
before they arrived in the area? They had lots of advanced
training from the big schools, but do any of the instructors
who work for these schools have any experience in these
types of operations. My experience is that many do not.



--
James H. Macklin
ATP,CFI,A&P

--
The people think the Constitution protects their rights;
But government sees it as an obstacle to be overcome.
some support
http://www.usdoj.gov/olc/secondamendment2.htm
See http://www.fija.org/ more about your rights and duties.


"Ben Jackson" wrote in message
...
| On 2006-03-08, Icebound
wrote:
|
| http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/2006/AAB0601.pdf
|
| To me this is a perfect example of how you can be totally
mentally
| prepared for one thing (entering a long hold, in this
case) and then
| be thrown a curveball by ATC. The pilots hand the mental
bandwidth
| to solve their immediate problem (by continuing their hold
entry turn
| on course for the approach) but they were no longer ahead
of the plane.
| I'd never quite been able to put my finger on it before,
but that's
| what it is -- you can't be ahead of the plane if you just
got an
| unexpected ATC instruction. The lesson here is that
(except in case
| of emergency or an "expedite" from ATC) you should
probably keep
| executing your old plan until you have a new plan fully
formed. They
| had passed "V1" on their hold entry and should have
entered it no
| matter what.
|
| --
| Ben Jackson
|
| http://www.ben.com/