sorro

I didn't see any of the radar until after we were through the storm - one of the pax across the aisle from me showed me what we had just gone through. I don't think anyone thought to grab an FA to tell the pilot.

kenn0223

Well, one would hope the radar on the front of the airplane is more up to date and relevant than whatever is coming over the internet. In addition, DL (and most other airlines) have staff and contract meteorologists that proactively monitor flights and are available for pilot consultation. These meteorologists have access to far superior radar and other data than the average free website. They also process data based on the altitude they are interested in rather than the surface radar data that most websites provide.

Finally, I think it would be far more dangerous for the FAs and pilots to be distracted looking at some passenger's iPad than any weather data that iPad was purportedly providing.

Crossin Jordan

Various reports have stated this flight encountered severe turbulence during descent and landing. I believe that description may have come from a passenger aboard DL1889. My understanding that severe turbulence is actually quite rare, and when it does occur, may result in several injuries. Would you describe DL1889 as an extremely turbulent ride, or just another flight thru nasty weather? Have you had worse?

psa727

I believe DIA is probably so the most common man knows they are talking about Denver International. MCI, Mid-Continent International, is in Kansas City and most of the common men here call it KCI for Kansas City International. I still refer to it as MCI, even though most of the people I talk to have no clue where I am talking about or that MCI is even the airport here.

rbrewbaker

So this morning was flying on DL 1816 leaving ATL for DEN at 8:10 AM .. was scheduled to be a 737 .. wake up and see on the app that we are leaving from F1 without realizing that they also did an equip change to a 767-300ER with lie flat seats. I had a cheap fare and never would have had a chance on the 737 for an upgrade so was thrilled for upgraded window seat.

Pilot announces that we will be delayed for a while since the ground crew has some very large plane equipment to load. I look out my window after a while and see very large and heavy boxes with Airbus 319/320 labeling being raised via some lift and placed in cargo hold near front of plane. At that point, I put 2 and 2 together and virtually sure my plane this morning flew in the windshields and other replacement parts needed to repair the hail damaged plane.

sorro

I would hope their info is better too, but from what I saw on the TV shows, their stuff isn't always as good as the latest commercial technology. I'm sure that they knew we were going to go between a few storms, but I don't think they knew the severity of them.

sorro

It was definitely the worst turbulence I've ever been in - the closest experience I had to this flight was when I took a Seacat across the English Channel during a big storm. It wasn't fun at all either time. The FA who got up during the storm to help some pax was very fortunate that she didn't get killed from hitting the ceiling.
The landing was as smooth as could be IMO, but when we were in the storm, it felt like we were on a roller coaster.

ATOBTTR

It's not about burying your head in the sand. It's about uncovering the facts and letting those facts lead you to the conclusion, rather than choosing facts to lead to the conclusion you want. Burying your head in the sand and ignoring pilot error as an option isn't any worse than wrongly blaming the pilots, when say the real blame lies with a malfunctioning or inadequate weather radar, because that may seem like the easiest solution and would also lead to more deaths down the road as well if the true root cause isn't determined and addressed.

sbbutler93

For anyone blaming the pilots:

https://twitter.com/AeroSavvy/status...952960/photo/1

The hole closed up rather fast.

RobertS975

I am an instrument rated general aviation pilot. Generally, it is not wise to attempt to "thread the needle" between 2 thunderstorms. The distance shown between the storms on the radar loops was not very big! A slightly different version of a "sucker hole"?

mickeydfly13

GA flying and airline stuff are two different animals. Completely.

readywhenyouare

So you think it's a good idea for an airliner to skate between thunderstorms?

telloh

I don't know what is meant by "better" RADAR, but the aircraft's RADAR displays thunderstorm cells perfectly well. (And how would a cell phone weather display be of any use when the aircraft position isn't known relative to it?)

In the United States, every commercial flight is monitored by a dispatcher who shares operational control of the flight with the captain, 50/50. The dispatcher had (or should have had at Delta) various weather monitoring applications at his fingertips.

The captain and the dispatcher should have known exactly where the cells were and the dispatcher, especially, should have known this storm was dynamic.

telloh

They aren't different animals when it comes to thunderstorms. In fact, the rule is exactly the same: don't fly close to them.

telloh

That is also damning evidence. Why try to thread the needle in such a powerful, dynamic storm system where holes could close up quickly?