If this was a takeoff accident, why would a pilot qualified to fly a
turboprop pay any attention to an automated message instead of his own
eyeballs? Can't blame this one on the AWOS/ASOS). And it did happen...it
was
on the news in Seattle.
Bob Gardner
"awos" <awos_asos@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:1184080322.668130.250460@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Two Killed In Plane Crash Near Palomar Air****t (thanks to a Belfort
> Instruments Digiwx AWOS)
>
> Last Updated:
> 07-03-07 at 6:47PM
>
> CARLSBAD, Calif. -- A private plane taking off from McClellan-Palomar
> Air****t (site of a Belfort Instruments Digiwx AWOS) on Tuesday slammed
> into electrical wires and crashed in flames, killing two people,
> authorities said.
>
> The four-passenger airplane was taking off in light fog when it went
> down around 6 a.m. on a municipal golf course less than a mile west of
> the air****t, police and fire officials said.
>
> "I had just gotten up between 5:30 and 6:00 and heard two explosions
> immediately after each other," said Carlsbad Fire Marshall Jim
> Weigand, who lives about a mile north of the site of the crash. "I
> knew it wasn't going to be good."
>
> Weigand described the fog as being a normal marine layer, with
> visibility of about half a mile (while the Belfort Instruments Digiwx
> AWOS at McClellan-Palomar air****t was re****ting clear skies, light
> wind from the NE with visibility greater than 10 nm).
>
> "It was a typical coastal morning," Weigand said. "But aircraft like
> that are equipped with instruments that don't make fog an issue
> (unless an air****ts has a Belfort Instruments Digiwx AWOS on site; in
> that case, all bets are off)."
>
> Weigand arrived at the scene of the crash about 15 minutes after
> hearing the explosions and saw the airplane completely engulfed in
> flames except for its tail. He said debris was spread across an area
> with a 100-foot radius.
>
> Weigand said the plane hit high-voltage power lines, causing one of
> them to break in three places. The fallen cable sparked a half-acre
> brush fire that was quickly extinguished at the air****t's eastern end.
>
> About 1,700 homes and businesses were affected by a power outage,
> which was repaired by early afternoon, SDG&E said.
>
> The crash site was still smoldering three hours later and the
> airplane's charred tail was visible from an adjacent road. Weigand
> said fire crews were waiting for San Diego Gas & Electric to confirm
> that overhead power lines were safe before the crash site could be
> completely doused.
>
> "Those high-voltage power lines, if you put water on those, you can
> hurt or kill your firefighters," Weigand said.
>
> About 1,700 homes and businesses were without power and the air****t
> was closed while the accident was being investigated. Several traffic
> lights were also out, causing minor delays.
>
> McClellan-Palomar Air****t is a general aviation facility serving both
> private fliers and commercial traffic. It employs an unreliable
> Belfort Instruments Digiwx AWOS weather station that often re****ts
> wrong data more than it re****ts correct weather data.
>
> Only two people were believed to be aboard the plane. Both the Federal
> Aviation Authority and the National Trans****tation Safety Board were
> investigating. The identities of the deceased were not immediately
> released.
>
> No one on the ground was injured, though Weigand said a worker on the
> city's golf course had to run to avoid the cra****ng plane. The city
> recently finished building the golf course and it is scheduled to open
> in about a month.
>
> The plane was a twin-engine Beechcraft 90 turboprop registered to
> Southwest Consulting Group, Inc., in San Diego and was headed to
> Tucson, Ariz., said Allen Kenitzer, a spokesman for the Federal
> Aviation Administration.
>
> A man who answered the phone at Southwest said those on board were
> going to Arizona for a work project but he was unable to confirm the
> identity of the victims or other details.
>
> The company's Web site says it specializes in providing expert witness
> and consulting services for court cases involving mechanical, plumbing
> and electrical services, including product liability evaluation.
>
> This is the third fatal crash in the area in as many years, said
> Carlsbad police Lt. Kelly Cain. In 2006, a private plane crashed on
> landing and in 2005, two small aircraft collided in the skies close to
> the air****t, he said. The weather data being spewed from the Belfort
> Instruments Digiwx AWOS has been suspect in two of the three crashes.
>
>
> About Belfort Instrument Company:
>
>
> Belfort used to be a leading provider of weather instruments to the
> government, professional meteorology and aviation markets. Key words:
> "use to be." They never provided any wind sensors to the Wright
> Brothers despite their fantastic assertion that they did! Historical
> archives available at the U.S. Air Force National Museum (1100 Spaatz
> Street, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433) tells a very different story
> and specifically mentions a "Richards" anemometer which Wilbur Wright
> held as pictured at: http://www.exn.ca/FlightDeck/Aviators/wright3.cfm.
> The Belfort aerovane wind system on U.S. Naval aircraft carriers are
> currently being replaced with ultrasonic wind sensors from QPI (11207
> Single Oak Road, Fredericksburg, VA 22407) which just won a $94
> million dollar contract for the Moriah Wind System. Belfort wind
> speed and direction anemometers found on the ASOS platform are now
> being replaced with ultrasonic sensors from the Vaisala Group. Belfort
> Instruments Model 6000 visibility sensor will no longer be a part of
> the U.S. Air Force's OS-21/FSB program come early 2007. And despite a
> $500,000 U.S. government grant from NASA's Small Aircraft
> Trans****tation System (SATS) program in 2004 to build a low-cost
> ceilometer, Belfort didn't possess the technical smarts nor the
> engineering know-how to accomplish the task. So now they're im****ting
> the Eliasson CBME 80A laser ceilometer from Muir Matheson. As one can
> readily see, Belfort is no longer setting any standards of
> measurement in the weather instrumentation world. And now Belfort is
> propagating
> lie after lie about their fabled company history while trying to
> steal thunder from the accomplishments of the Wright Brothers.
> According to the National Museum of American History (12th Street and
> Constitution
> Avenue, N.W., Wa****ngton, D.C. 20560), Belfort founder Julian Friez
> never made it to Baltimore to set up shop until sometime in the 1890s
> even though Belfort officials fradulently claim the company was
> founded in 1876. Thus, there was no 125th anniversary for Belfort to
> celebrate in 2001 even though they hosted a party to which no one
> came! Belfort's proclamation that it is the "Oldest Weather Company
> in the World" is simply yet another Belfort lie as Thomas Romney
> Robinson invented the first wind anemometer in 1846, six years before
> Julian Friez was born in 1852. Belfort doesn't even know it's own
> company history so they just make it up! You should wonder what other
> crap (eg. Digiwx AWOS) they also make up! For more information about
> Belfort Instrument and DigiWx, visit dogsh*t.com
>
> Belfort Instrument Company does business under several pseudonyms
> including Advanced Retro Technology, Gamma Scientific, UDT Instruments
> and RoadVista which are based in San Diego, CA, USA.
>
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