aircraft descent

CFIT often occurs during aircraft descent to landing near an airport.

Though Hyflex achieved a controlled aircraft descent, it was not designed for a planned aircraft landing, the engineers opting instead for a splashdown without a parachute.

When rapid ambient pressure increase occurs as in diving or aircraft descent, this pressure tends to hold the Eustachian tubes closed, preventing pressure equalization across the ear drum, with painful results.

Contributing factors to the accident were the lack of necessary monitoring of the aircraft descent parameters by the First Officer, and the improper reaction of the crew to the subsequent GPWS warning.

This is the first terrain-following radar for use on manned aircraft, designed by Mr. Bart Bechtel, a former Navy engineer, who had designed a radar scan template control technique that permitted safe aircraft descent in adverse weather.

Before taking the course, however, they will have unergone a considerable amount of synthetic training to enable them to be of a sufficient standard to carry out their balloon descent and their first aircraft descent by the end of the first week at Brize Norton.