NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
From: Don Seltzer
Date: 2012 Apr 20, 06:41 -0700
Bill B. wrote:
>OK, I'll go with a groggy and disoriented FO. What the heck was the
pilot doing while his FO was asleep? Did Venus just pop up out of nowhere?
The news account is somewhat misleading. The captain was flying the plane the entire time. The FO was taking an approved nap, but was awakened by the activity related to an approaching plane. In the first moments after awakening, he apparently mistook Venus for the plane. The captain immediately corrected him, and redirected his attention to the direction of the plane. It was later that the FO made his second and more serious error. His perception of the approaching plane was that it was above them and descending towards them (it was actually 1000 feet below them). It was that second error that caused him to grab the stick and dive. The captain quickly counteracted.
The bit about Venus in the official report was only an indication of his alertness immediately upon awakening. It might not have even been Venus; for the time and location Arcturus may have been a more likely candidate.
Don Seltzer
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