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The Dangers of Key Lime Air
Picture this: You’re the single pilot of a Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner (Metroliner), a complex twin-engine turboprop flying over the turbulent Rocky Mountains of Colorado without an autopilot. It’s pitch dark outside, you’re in low visibility, and you’re relying solely on the instruments of the out of date airplane, which isn’t equipped with GPS. It need not be repeated the inherent risks of such a proposition and the extreme underlying hazards associated with it. Yet, Key Lime Air, which is… (aeroxplorer.com) More...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
For crying out loud guys stop bad mouthing the San Antonio sewer pipe and single pilot freight operations. As a guy that started his career flying this aircraft (and with over 1k single pilot IFR with NO autopilot time), I can tell you it's more than capable of doing this type of job. And yes that includes over the Rocks winter ops which I did flying out of the old Stapleton airport over to SLC and back 5 days a week. As far as the, OMG! single pilot, IFR, night freight ops you speak so harshly of, I will tell you this... show me a guy or girl that has a lot of this type of flight time and I will show you some of the BEST pilots out there. Especially the ones with no autopilot aircraft. If I was in charge of hiring pilots for any airline this would be the first talent pool I would pick from.
So does the author want to buy Key Lime at a reduced cost or what? This aircraft was designed and flown in late 1969 with then current instruments. No GPS in 1969. For commercial operations a type certificate is required for the pilot(s) as is recurrent training. Single pilot operation for freight hauling is approved. The aircraft is designed and approved for operations in IMC with the original instrument set. Any pilot operating the aircraft is supposed to be trained to fly it as is.
Was this a report or an op-ed piece? Either way, it was pretty shallow without a lot of detail.
I believe it's very dangerous. Maybe it will hit the mountain.
Every twin engine propeller driven plane requires immediate and correct action to avoid a Vmc roll if there is an engine failure on takeoff. It’s hardly unique to the Merlin.
Agreed and I should’ve made that more clear thanks for your reply.