Loading ...There is a leaked report that the altitude data from the Air Asia flight shows some spectacular altitude gains at over 9,000 ft. per minute… far beyond what the airbus is capable or designed for. Then an even faster drop of 11,000 ft. per minute with a forward speed of only 61 knots… dropping faster than a free-fall.
Few people realize the magnitude of atmospheric forces that manifest inside the ‘chimney’ of a cumulonimbus thunderstorm. As a pilot I learned that these vertical ‘pipes’ can have shear wind differentials of 300-400 mph within the area of a wingspan. I have seen small planes with the wingtips folded up vertical after a storm encounter. I have no doubt that it can happen to a jet airliner also.
Time, and further analysis will tell. But I believe we are seeing the results of an airliner flying into the vertical draft chimney of an especially large and violent thunderstorm… something that is not advised. The sad part is that the pilot recognized what he was getting into and asked for a divergence… which air traffic control did not grant him. Five minutes later they were all dead.