edcho

This is gaining news as a 744 National Air Cargo crashed but was caught on video (car dashboard camera). Unfortunately, 7 American crew members died during the crash. WARNING: Video can be disturbing to others.

I'm the type of person that is curious at the cause of air crashes (probably the engineer in me) so I wonder what happened in this case. The article suggests a stall happened with deadly consequences.

Weather may have played role in horrifying Bagram Airfield Crash
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...irfield-crash/

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...v=vo51Be2jL8c#!

Edit: Looks like we have names as the Associated Press confirmed those killed included pilots Brad Hasler of Trenton, Mich. and Jeremy Lipka of Brooklyn, Mich.; first officers Jamie Brokaw of Monroe, Mich. and Rinku Summan of Canton, Mich.; loadmaster Michael Sheets of Ypsilanti, Mich.; and maintenance crewman Timothy Garrett of Louisville, Ky.

RIP

aceofangel

From the video it looks like whatever the aircraft was carrying came loose in the cargo hold and shifted the center of gravity causing the stall.

Gamecock

Saw this on the news earlier. Chilling.

CubsFanJohn

wow wow wow!

Forrest Bump

Probably stalled loosing the load inside. I've read they carried 4 heavy military vehicles.
And the steep climbing requested at Bagram didn't help.
Poor crew. RIP.

Steve M

Yea, that looked like an awfully steep climb at the beginning. Who knows if a shifted load was responsible. I wonder how close to the outside of the envelope the special climb out of Bagram normally is - there may not be much margin for error.

G550capt

Load shift and loss of control due to CG being aft of limits appears consistent with the video.
Prayers to crew and families.

planes&trains

Truly sad. The stall is chilling, but nothing prepares you for the drop. Very sad.

Doc Savage

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/art...quence-385338/

This article proposes likely cargo shift as well. What I find surprising is the lack of reaction by he driver except for one whispered word.

The whole thing is pretty awful. The crew would have known what was coming for a long time.

Wally Bird

Speculation the driver was active-duty military, possibly an MP with a dash cam. Might not have been the first crash he's seen .

Flaflyer

Interesting that shortly after the crash he drives closer. It might take a minute or two for missiles or munitions on the plane to get hot enough to go off. I would be driving away from that plane.

Eight years ago (wow this war has been going on forever) I met a retired British Airways 777 pilot who told me he made a good chunk of hazardous pay by flying charter flights a couple time a year into the Iraq/Afghasnistan area. Was not allowed to say exactly which airports. Said the takeoffs and lands were steep with lots of low level turns because of possible ground fire. And then some fields had mountains, too.

What impressed me was the smart decision by the airline to hire the oldest most experienced pilots like I was talking to (the Captain Sulleys of the world) to hand fly these planes like they never get flown on the daily LHR-JFK run. A kid right out of flight school who only knows how to program the autopilot can't do it. They needed the last of the old school stick and rudder pilots.

lyrastar

WOW. Wow. I did not expect that video to be so close and at that angle. I was not aware planes could do that. Horrifying. Extra sad for me as Michigan is my home state. RIP.

Loren Pechtel

That's why pilots do weight and balance calculations. This plane is an example of what happens when the balance is badly wrong.

lyrastar

I ride a tiny Embraer Brasilia every time I fly to get from my city to a hub and they are always moving things around for balance... I probably should not have watched this clip. Even though I know the "safety" rating or record of my Embraer is great, any time I see them moving luggage or passengers for balance I'm going to cringe a little.

Flaflyer

You have it totally backwards. If you see stuff being moved for balance, it means you have a careful concerned pilot who knows what the heck he/she is doing and who has actually checked the CG and refuses to take off until the CG is correct. Congratulations, you are on a safe plane. ^