Regional jet crash question

*

"Moments before a double engine failure and a crash that killed them,
one of the pilots aboard a regional airliner told an air traffic
controller they had "decided to have a little fun" by flying at the
plane's maximum altitude. "


http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/...in678341.shtml


--------------------


I have a couple of questions about this accident that some of the
pilots here might be able to answer.

Is there a greater risk of flying a plane at it's maximum rated
altitude instead of a few thousand feet lower?

Also, the article states:

"Yeah, we're actually ... we don't have any passengers on board, so we
decided to have a little fun and come up here," one of the pilots said.
The transcripts don't identify whether Capt. Jesse Rhodes or First
Officer Richard Peter Cesarz made the statement.

The pilot soon told air traffic controllers that the CRJ2 wouldn't
remain at that altitude for long.

"I don't think he had enough gas up there; he was so slow," one air
traffic controller said. "

Isn't there less drag at higher altitudes, and isn't fuel consumption
lower at higher altitudes?

Thanks,

Alan

Alan Street wrote:


"Moments before a double engine failure and a crash that killed them,
one of the pilots aboard a regional airliner told an air traffic
controller they had "decided to have a little fun" by flying at the
plane's maximum altitude. "


http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/...in678341.shtml


--------------------


I have a couple of questions about this accident that some of the
pilots here might be able to answer.

Is there a greater risk of flying a plane at it's maximum rated
altitude instead of a few thousand feet lower?

Also, the article states:

"Yeah, we're actually ... we don't have any passengers on board, so
we
decided to have a little fun and come up here," one of the pilots
said.
The transcripts don't identify whether Capt. Jesse Rhodes or First
Officer Richard Peter Cesarz made the statement.

The pilot soon told air traffic controllers that the CRJ2 wouldn't
remain at that altitude for long.

"I don't think he had enough gas up there; he was so slow," one air
traffic controller said. "

Isn't there less drag at higher altitudes, and isn't fuel consumption
lower at higher altitudes?

Thanks,

Alan

More Questions;
In another thread, someone mentioned power loss, and the plane dropping
out of the sky. Who was the "experienced pilot" that replied
"Bwahahahahahah"???

Then mxsmanic mentioned "new & unforseen problems". Who was the
"experienced pilot" that called him a fjukwit"???

"Alan Street" wrote in message
...



"Moments before a double engine failure and a crash that killed
them,
one of the pilots aboard a regional airliner told an air traffic
controller they had "decided to have a little fun" by flying at the
plane's maximum altitude. "


http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/...in678341.shtml


--------------------


I have a couple of questions about this accident that some of the
pilots here might be able to answer.

Is there a greater risk of flying a plane at it's maximum rated
altitude instead of a few thousand feet lower?

Start your favorite search engine. Search for:

airspeed "coffin corner"

In article vG8Xd.68015$uc.50811@trnddc08, Robert J Carpenter
wrote:

€ "Alan Street" wrote in message
€ ...
€
€
€
€ "Moments before a double engine failure and a crash that killed
€ them,
€ one of the pilots aboard a regional airliner told an air traffic
€ controller they had "decided to have a little fun" by flying at the
€ plane's maximum altitude. "
€
€
€ http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/...in678341.shtml
€
€
€ --------------------
€
€
€ I have a couple of questions about this accident that some of the
€ pilots here might be able to answer.
€
€ Is there a greater risk of flying a plane at it's maximum rated
€ altitude instead of a few thousand feet lower?
€
€ Start your favorite search engine. Search for:
€
€ airspeed "coffin corner"
€
€

I see. Very interesting.

Alan

"Alan Street" wrote in message
...
In article vG8Xd.68015$uc.50811@trnddc08, Robert J Carpenter
wrote:

? "Alan Street" wrote in message
? ...
?
?
?
? "Moments before a double engine failure and a crash that killed
? them,
? one of the pilots aboard a regional airliner told an air traffic
? controller they had "decided to have a little fun" by flying at the
? plane's maximum altitude. "
?
?
? http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/...in678341.shtml
?
?
? --------------------
?
?
? I have a couple of questions about this accident that some of the
? pilots here might be able to answer.
?
? Is there a greater risk of flying a plane at it's maximum rated
? altitude instead of a few thousand feet lower?
?
? Start your favorite search engine. Search for:
?
? airspeed "coffin corner"
?
?

I see. Very interesting.

Alan

But is the coffin corner relevant to this event? Last radio contact was at
9,000 ft., so I suppose that the pilots could've radiod while they were
spinning out of control. Highly doubtful, IMO.

Another aspect of this event is the poor reporting done by CBS. The picture
on the link is not a CRJ, and they refer to this aircraft as the CRJ2 (more
commonly known as the CRJ-200).

In article . net,
Blake S wrote:


€ ? Is there a greater risk of flying a plane at it's maximum rated
€ ? altitude instead of a few thousand feet lower?
€ ?
€ ? Start your favorite search engine. Search for:
€ ?
€ ? airspeed "coffin corner"
€ ?
€ ?
€
€ I see. Very interesting.
€
€ Alan
€
€ But is the coffin corner relevant to this event? Last radio contact was at
€ 9,000 ft., so I suppose that the pilots could've radiod while they were
€ spinning out of control. Highly doubtful, IMO.
€
€ Another aspect of this event is the poor reporting done by CBS. The picture
€ on the link is not a CRJ, and they refer to this aircraft as the CRJ2 (more
€ commonly known as the CRJ-200).
€
€

I don't know, which is why I asked the question here. I would like to
understand how both engines would have quit. Some of the sites suggest
that local Mach effects can cause some weirdness that I guess might
cause engine flameouts, but as I said, I don't know much about this and
am asking an honest question. Maybe another hint will point me in the
right direction (I don't mind doing some work to learn something
interesting).

Alan