AirTalk.org Aviation discussions newsgroups   Archives   FAQ   Search   Memberlist   Usergroups   Register   Profile   Log in to check your private messages   Log in  Just call it a Belfort Instruments Digiwx AWOS DEATH MACHINE          AirTalk.org Forum Index -> Instrument Flight Rules View previous topic :: View next topic   Author Message awos Guest Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2007 11:13 pm    Post subject: Just call it a Belfort Instruments Digiwx AWOS DEATH MACHINE Too fucking bad that Belfort Instruments Co-owner Bruce R. Robinson, Belfort Co-Owner Nicholas C. Kaufman, Belfort President Mark W. Decker, Belfort Vice President Debra S. Alascio, Belfort CFO WIlliam C. Gordon or Belfort Instruments Digiwx AWOS Sales Director Ralph F. Petragnani weren't all aboard this Beechcraft cargo plan that crashed. This is REAL fucking nice that we have an absolute piece of shit AWOS weather station called Digiwx in the US marketplace! Here is definitive proof of what pilots can expect from Digiwx AWOS: FAA NTSB Report Date: 18 MAR 2006 Time: ca 14:48 Type: Beechcraft C.99 Operator: Ameriflight Registration: N54RP C/n / msn: U-218 First flight: 1983 Engines: 2 Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-36 Crew: Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 Passengers: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 Total: Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 Airplane damage: Written off Location: 13 km (8.1 mls) SW of Butte, MT (USA) Phase: En route Nature: Cargo Departure airport: Helena Airport, MT (HLN/KHLN), USA Destination airport: Butte (Bert Mooney) Airport, MT (BTM/KBTM), USA Flightnumber: 2591 Narrative: The Beech 99 departed Helena (HLN) at 14:35 on flight to Butte (Bert Mooney, BTM) and was carrying only about 10 pounds of freight. The aircraft was cleared for the VOR B approach to Butte at 14:48. Butte controllers noted that a weather front that included icing conditions and heavy snow had been approaching the area from the south to the north/northeast even though a UNICOM-based Digiwx AWOS reported clear skies with good visibility and gentle winds in the mountains. During the descent, the airplane collided with trees and subsequently the terrain. Search crews found the wreckage of the plane on March 20. Upon investigation, one of the cockpit radio was found to be tuned to 123.0 MHz which is the airport's CTAF/UNICOM. Preliminary results strongly suggest that the Beechcraft pilot received incorrect and faulty data from a Digiwx AWOS weather reporting station on the field at Butte (BTM) airport. FAA and NTSB continue to probe the weather data being disseminated from this Belfort Instruments Digiwx AWOS which has never been formally FAA commissioned. Cary Gates from the Northwest Mountain Region of the FAA in Helena, MT notes that the barometer setting is the only FAA Approved weather sensor on the Digiwx AWOS weather station; all remaining weather sensors on the Digiwx AWOS (wind direction, wind speed, temperature, dewpoint, relative humidity, visibility, ceilometer, density altitude, condensation altitude) are all "advisory." According to the FAA, "Advisory Use ONLY" means not for actual in-flight aviation use. It should be noted that Belfort Instruments website even makes mention in a disclaimer that "weather readings shown on the Internet are advisory only." Sources: 2 killed in crash of cargo plane (Billings Gazette 20-3-2006); FAA NTSB Back to top Bob Gardner Guest Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2007 5:39 am    Post subject: Re: Just call it a Belfort Instruments Digiwx AWOS DEATH MAC Seems to me that the FAA took Belfort off the hook quite nicely. Pilots have to fly with the weather that exists, not what a machine says it is. Are you suggesting that the pilots did not realize that it was not clear and a million until it was too late? You are letting them off the hook. If the only certified data was the altimeter setting, they were taking a lot for granted. Bob Gardner "awos" <awos_asos (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote in message news:1175364816.249789.6610 (AT) o5g2000hsb (DOT) googlegroups.com... Quote: Too fucking bad that Belfort Instruments Co-owner Bruce R. Robinson, Belfort Co-Owner Nicholas C. Kaufman, Belfort President Mark W. Decker, Belfort Vice President Debra S. Alascio, Belfort CFO WIlliam C. Gordon or Belfort Instruments Digiwx AWOS Sales Director Ralph F. Petragnani weren't all aboard this Beechcraft cargo plan that crashed. This is REAL fucking nice that we have an absolute piece of shit AWOS weather station called Digiwx in the US marketplace! Here is definitive proof of what pilots can expect from Digiwx AWOS: FAA NTSB Report Date: 18 MAR 2006 Time: ca 14:48 Type: Beechcraft C.99 Operator: Ameriflight Registration: N54RP C/n / msn: U-218 First flight: 1983 Engines: 2 Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-36 Crew: Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 Passengers: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 Total: Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 Airplane damage: Written off Location: 13 km (8.1 mls) SW of Butte, MT (USA) Phase: En route Nature: Cargo Departure airport: Helena Airport, MT (HLN/KHLN), USA Destination airport: Butte (Bert Mooney) Airport, MT (BTM/KBTM), USA Flightnumber: 2591 Narrative: The Beech 99 departed Helena (HLN) at 14:35 on flight to Butte (Bert Mooney, BTM) and was carrying only about 10 pounds of freight. The aircraft was cleared for the VOR B approach to Butte at 14:48. Butte controllers noted that a weather front that included icing conditions and heavy snow had been approaching the area from the south to the north/northeast even though a UNICOM-based Digiwx AWOS reported clear skies with good visibility and gentle winds in the mountains. During the descent, the airplane collided with trees and subsequently the terrain. Search crews found the wreckage of the plane on March 20. Upon investigation, one of the cockpit radio was found to be tuned to 123.0 MHz which is the airport's CTAF/UNICOM. Preliminary results strongly suggest that the Beechcraft pilot received incorrect and faulty data from a Digiwx AWOS weather reporting station on the field at Butte (BTM) airport. FAA and NTSB continue to probe the weather data being disseminated from this Belfort Instruments Digiwx AWOS which has never been formally FAA commissioned. Cary Gates from the Northwest Mountain Region of the FAA in Helena, MT notes that the barometer setting is the only FAA Approved weather sensor on the Digiwx AWOS weather station; all remaining weather sensors on the Digiwx AWOS (wind direction, wind speed, temperature, dewpoint, relative humidity, visibility, ceilometer, density altitude, condensation altitude) are all "advisory." According to the FAA, "Advisory Use ONLY" means not for actual in-flight aviation use. It should be noted that Belfort Instruments website even makes mention in a disclaimer that "weather readings shown on the Internet are advisory only." Sources: 2 killed in crash of cargo plane (Billings Gazette 20-3-2006); FAA NTSB Back to top Jim Stewart Guest Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2007 5:57 am    Post subject: Re: Just call it a Belfort Instruments Digiwx AWOS DEATH MAC Bob Gardner wrote: Quote: Seems to me that the FAA took Belfort off the hook quite nicely. Pilots have to fly with the weather that exists, not what a machine says it is. Are you suggesting that the pilots did not realize that it was not clear and a million until it was too late? You are letting them off the hook. If the only certified data was the altimeter setting, they were taking a lot for granted. And if you read the actual NTSB reports, they don't seem to match the quoted text at all.... http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20060329X00363&key=1 http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/GenPDF.asp?id=SEA06FA068&rpt=fa Quote: Bob Gardner "awos" <awos_asos (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote in message news:1175364816.249789.6610 (AT) o5g2000hsb (DOT) googlegroups.com... Too fucking bad that Belfort Instruments Co-owner Bruce R. Robinson, Belfort Co-Owner Nicholas C. Kaufman, Belfort President Mark W. Decker, Belfort Vice President Debra S. Alascio, Belfort CFO WIlliam C. Gordon or Belfort Instruments Digiwx AWOS Sales Director Ralph F. Petragnani weren't all aboard this Beechcraft cargo plan that crashed. This is REAL fucking nice that we have an absolute piece of shit AWOS weather station called Digiwx in the US marketplace! Here is definitive proof of what pilots can expect from Digiwx AWOS: FAA NTSB Report Date: 18 MAR 2006 Time: ca 14:48 Type: Beechcraft C.99 Operator: Ameriflight Registration: N54RP C/n / msn: U-218 First flight: 1983 Engines: 2 Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-36 Crew: Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 Passengers: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 Total: Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 Airplane damage: Written off Location: 13 km (8.1 mls) SW of Butte, MT (USA) Phase: En route Nature: Cargo Departure airport: Helena Airport, MT (HLN/KHLN), USA Destination airport: Butte (Bert Mooney) Airport, MT (BTM/KBTM), USA Flightnumber: 2591 Narrative: The Beech 99 departed Helena (HLN) at 14:35 on flight to Butte (Bert Mooney, BTM) and was carrying only about 10 pounds of freight. The aircraft was cleared for the VOR B approach to Butte at 14:48. Butte controllers noted that a weather front that included icing conditions and heavy snow had been approaching the area from the south to the north/northeast even though a UNICOM-based Digiwx AWOS reported clear skies with good visibility and gentle winds in the mountains. During the descent, the airplane collided with trees and subsequently the terrain. Search crews found the wreckage of the plane on March 20. Upon investigation, one of the cockpit radio was found to be tuned to 123.0 MHz which is the airport's CTAF/UNICOM. Preliminary results strongly suggest that the Beechcraft pilot received incorrect and faulty data from a Digiwx AWOS weather reporting station on the field at Butte (BTM) airport. FAA and NTSB continue to probe the weather data being disseminated from this Belfort Instruments Digiwx AWOS which has never been formally FAA commissioned. Cary Gates from the Northwest Mountain Region of the FAA in Helena, MT notes that the barometer setting is the only FAA Approved weather sensor on the Digiwx AWOS weather station; all remaining weather sensors on the Digiwx AWOS (wind direction, wind speed, temperature, dewpoint, relative humidity, visibility, ceilometer, density altitude, condensation altitude) are all "advisory." According to the FAA, "Advisory Use ONLY" means not for actual in-flight aviation use. It should be noted that Belfort Instruments website even makes mention in a disclaimer that "weather readings shown on the Internet are advisory only." Sources: 2 killed in crash of cargo plane (Billings Gazette 20-3-2006); FAA NTSB Back to top Bob Gardner Guest Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2007 6:11 am    Post subject: Re: Just call it a Belfort Instruments Digiwx AWOS DEATH MAC To be honest, I have been ignoring all of the threads about Belfort until now, but the Sclairs are friends of mine and I have written for the General Aviation News, so I had to get involved. Bob Gardner "Jim Stewart" <jstewart (AT) jkmicro (DOT) com> wrote in message news:Z--dnUwut5oTnpLbnZ2dnUVZ_vumnZ2d (AT) omsoft (DOT) com... Quote: Bob Gardner wrote: Seems to me that the FAA took Belfort off the hook quite nicely. Pilots have to fly with the weather that exists, not what a machine says it is. Are you suggesting that the pilots did not realize that it was not clear and a million until it was too late? You are letting them off the hook. If the only certified data was the altimeter setting, they were taking a lot for granted. And if you read the actual NTSB reports, they don't seem to match the quoted text at all.... http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20060329X00363&key=1 http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/GenPDF.asp?id=SEA06FA068&rpt=fa Bob Gardner "awos" <awos_asos (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote in message news:1175364816.249789.6610 (AT) o5g2000hsb (DOT) googlegroups.com... Too fucking bad that Belfort Instruments Co-owner Bruce R. Robinson, Belfort Co-Owner Nicholas C. Kaufman, Belfort President Mark W. Decker, Belfort Vice President Debra S. Alascio, Belfort CFO WIlliam C. Gordon or Belfort Instruments Digiwx AWOS Sales Director Ralph F. Petragnani weren't all aboard this Beechcraft cargo plan that crashed. This is REAL fucking nice that we have an absolute piece of shit AWOS weather station called Digiwx in the US marketplace! Here is definitive proof of what pilots can expect from Digiwx AWOS: FAA NTSB Report Date: 18 MAR 2006 Time: ca 14:48 Type: Beechcraft C.99 Operator: Ameriflight Registration: N54RP C/n / msn: U-218 First flight: 1983 Engines: 2 Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-36 Crew: Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 Passengers: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 Total: Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 Airplane damage: Written off Location: 13 km (8.1 mls) SW of Butte, MT (USA) Phase: En route Nature: Cargo Departure airport: Helena Airport, MT (HLN/KHLN), USA Destination airport: Butte (Bert Mooney) Airport, MT (BTM/KBTM), USA Flightnumber: 2591 Narrative: The Beech 99 departed Helena (HLN) at 14:35 on flight to Butte (Bert Mooney, BTM) and was carrying only about 10 pounds of freight. The aircraft was cleared for the VOR B approach to Butte at 14:48. Butte controllers noted that a weather front that included icing conditions and heavy snow had been approaching the area from the south to the north/northeast even though a UNICOM-based Digiwx AWOS reported clear skies with good visibility and gentle winds in the mountains. During the descent, the airplane collided with trees and subsequently the terrain. Search crews found the wreckage of the plane on March 20. Upon investigation, one of the cockpit radio was found to be tuned to 123.0 MHz which is the airport's CTAF/UNICOM. Preliminary results strongly suggest that the Beechcraft pilot received incorrect and faulty data from a Digiwx AWOS weather reporting station on the field at Butte (BTM) airport. FAA and NTSB continue to probe the weather data being disseminated from this Belfort Instruments Digiwx AWOS which has never been formally FAA commissioned. Cary Gates from the Northwest Mountain Region of the FAA in Helena, MT notes that the barometer setting is the only FAA Approved weather sensor on the Digiwx AWOS weather station; all remaining weather sensors on the Digiwx AWOS (wind direction, wind speed, temperature, dewpoint, relative humidity, visibility, ceilometer, density altitude, condensation altitude) are all "advisory." According to the FAA, "Advisory Use ONLY" means not for actual in-flight aviation use. It should be noted that Belfort Instruments website even makes mention in a disclaimer that "weather readings shown on the Internet are advisory only." Sources: 2 killed in crash of cargo plane (Billings Gazette 20-3-2006); FAA NTSB Back to top Matt Barrow Guest Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 1:06 am    Post subject: Re: Just call it a Belfort Instruments Digiwx AWOS DEATH MAC "Bob Gardner" <bobmrg (AT) comcast (DOT) net> wrote in message news:JYGdndt0O_aEjZLbnZ2dnUVZ_r-onZ2d (AT) comcast (DOT) com... Quote: To be honest, I have been ignoring all of the threads about Belfort until now, but the Sclairs are friends of mine and I have written for the General Aviation News, so I had to get involved. Bob Gardner Ignore the trolls, especially those who have, IIRC, lost courts case. 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