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Southern Airways Flight 242: The Role of Airborne Weather Radar.

ADA175202

Publication Date	1978
Personal Author	Metcalf, J. I.
Page Count	7
Abstract	The transcript of the cockpit voice recorder tape from Southern Airways Flight 242 indicates that the flight crew, relying heavily on their on-board radar, observed what they thought was a 'hole' in the line of thunderstorms near Rome, Ga., on 4 April 1977. The analysis reported in this paper was conducted in an attempt to determine what the on-board radar display might have shown and how the crew might have interpreted it. There is of necessity considerable speculation in this matter because details of the configuration and operational status of the radar were unobtainable and because the National Weather Service radar at Athens, Ga., provided only limited information on the extent and intensity of precipitation west of the storm center. Nevertheless, the study illustrates the limitations of 3-cm (X-band) radar for severe weather detection and the need for current weather radar data to be communicated to aircraft in flight.
Keywords	Meteorological radar Aviation accidents Airborne Aircraft Detection Display systems Flight crews Inflight Limitations Onboard Precipitation Radar Radar equipment Storms Thunderstorms Weather Case studies X band
Source Agency	Air Force Non Paid ADAS
NTIS Subject Category	85D - Transportation Safety 85A - Air Transportation 55D - Meteorological Instruments & Instrument Platforms 51B - Aeronautics
Corporate Authors	Georgia Inst. of Tech., Atlanta. Engineering Experiment Station.; Air Weather Service, Scott AFB, IL.
Supplemental Notes	Pub. in Conference on Weather Forecasting and Analysis and Aviation Meterology, p1-3 16-19 Oct 78.
Document Type	Technical Report
NTIS Issue Number	198707

Southern Airways Flight 242: The Role of Airborne Weather Radar.

Southern Airways Flight 242: The Role of Airborne Weather Radar.
ADA175202

Publication Date	1978
Personal Author	Metcalf, J. I.
Page Count	7
Abstract	The transcript of the cockpit voice recorder tape from Southern Airways Flight 242 indicates that the flight crew, relying heavily on their on-board radar, observed what they thought was a 'hole' in the line of thunderstorms near Rome, Ga., on 4 April 1977. The analysis reported in this paper was conducted in an attempt to determine what the on-board radar display might have shown and how the crew might have interpreted it. There is of necessity considerable speculation in this matter because details of the configuration and operational status of the radar were unobtainable and because the National Weather Service radar at Athens, Ga., provided only limited information on the extent and intensity of precipitation west of the storm center. Nevertheless, the study illustrates the limitations of 3-cm (X-band) radar for severe weather detection and the need for current weather radar data to be communicated to aircraft in flight.
Keywords	Meteorological radar Aviation accidents Airborne Aircraft Detection Display systems Flight crews Inflight Limitations Onboard Precipitation Radar Radar equipment Storms Thunderstorms Weather Case studies X band
Source Agency	Air Force Non Paid ADAS
NTIS Subject Category	85D - Transportation Safety 85A - Air Transportation 55D - Meteorological Instruments & Instrument Platforms 51B - Aeronautics
Corporate Authors	Georgia Inst. of Tech., Atlanta. Engineering Experiment Station.; Air Weather Service, Scott AFB, IL.
Supplemental Notes	Pub. in Conference on Weather Forecasting and Analysis and Aviation Meterology, p1-3 16-19 Oct 78.
Document Type	Technical Report
NTIS Issue Number	198707