KGL9268 "SPEED" parameter question.

[Sam26K]

Hi,

What does "SPEED" mean when you click on a plane and it opens up the info box on the left side of the screen? Is that air speed or ground speed?
Sorry if this question has been answered before but couldn't find it in the FAQ or anywhere else. In light of the disaster over Egypt with KGL9268, that difference would be quite significant.



TIA .

[Oblivian]

Relative ground speed.

[Sam26K]

Relative ground speed.

Thanks for that quick reply. So in the case of KGL9268, the initial changes in velocity versus altitude look like a stall condition, but since the speed parameter is ground speed, it could have basically dove straight towards the ground at supersonic speeds.

There are a few porpoising data points that indicate the plane might have regained lift under the wings a few times as the raw data show's large excursions in vertical speed from positive to negative. But there was no mayday call and the porposing may have been due to the physics of the aerodynamics without human intervention to control it. Something catastrophic must have happened. IMHO it is highly likely that a bomb was smuggled on board at the departing airport especially when you consider where that airport is.

The other second most likely possibility is metal fatigue and catastrophic explosion of the cabin. It happened right after reaching 32K. Either scenario could produce the same data. But since ISIS is claiming responsibility, I would not write that off to "Oh they don't have the missiles to shoot down an airline jet at 30K"..They could have used a bomb.

And of course, this does look like it could have been a missile shoot down too however unlikely that might be.

The speculation that it might be a systemic problem with Airbus "fly by wire" is the most unlikely cause.