# C 130J crash caused by goggles case blocking controls **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 19, 2016, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/c-130j-crash-caused-by-goggles-case-blocking-controls/752662 "2016-04-19T18:11:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/c-130j-crash-caused-by-goggles-case-blocking-controls/752662/21 "2016-04-20T18:05:13Z")
> [@Clark\_Cello](#): > > Is this the crash that was caught on a dash cam? I had thought that one was caused by the faulty loading of the APCs (I think that’s what they were?). One of them got loose, knocked all the others out of whack, and made the plane nonviable. That was a [747](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lksDISvCmNI). man that is painful to watch. You know the minute it stalls that it’s all over, just waiting for the end. The crew must have know it, too. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2016, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/c-130j-crash-caused-by-goggles-case-blocking-controls/752662/22 "2016-04-21T01:42:47Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > I will have to look at the more detailed reports when they are available but my best guess is that the goggle case in question was still present even after the crash. Crash investigation experts are used to dealing with much more subtle clues. It sounds like a shoehorned control lock caused the problem with the elevators and would have gummed up those critical surfaces even more as the pilots tried to react against it. > > Imagine a large piece of machinery that fails and catches on fire. It seems like a mystery until you learn that someone used an old shoe as a makeshift tool and forgot to remove it before it was restarted. It isn’t that difficult to determine the cause after you learn that. Richard Pearse found the culprit. It didn’t occur to me that they were flying with the night goggles and couldn’t see the case with them. That makes more sense. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2016, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/c-130j-crash-caused-by-goggles-case-blocking-controls/752662/23 "2016-04-21T01:47:57Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > I don’t know how the trim works on a C130 but in some trim/elevator systems a jammed elevator can’t be overcome by using trim. It doesn’t have to completely overcome the problem to help mitigate it until they regain control. In a full elevator up situation you can bank the airplane to bring the nose down. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2016, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/c-130j-crash-caused-by-goggles-case-blocking-controls/752662/24 "2016-04-21T02:02:42Z")
Um, that’s called starting a spin. They’re not good. Especially close to the ground. ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2016, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/c-130j-crash-caused-by-goggles-case-blocking-controls/752662/25 "2016-04-21T02:05:12Z")
This is why you shouldn’t steam punk cosplay and pilot at the same time. Dang goggles. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2016, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/c-130j-crash-caused-by-goggles-case-blocking-controls/752662/26 "2016-04-21T02:05:35Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > It doesn’t have to completely overcome the problem to help mitigate it until they regain control. In a full elevator up situation you can bank the airplane to bring the nose down. They did do that. What I mean is that in some trim systems moving the trim is completely ineffective in countering a jammed elevator. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2016, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/c-130j-crash-caused-by-goggles-case-blocking-controls/752662/27 "2016-04-21T02:26:41Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Um, that’s called starting a spin. They’re not good. Especially close to the ground. It was used successfully by a DC8 crew when their plane went full up elevator due to a mechanical. They lost the plane on landing because it was dark and they set it down in a bad spot but the maneuver worked. The alternative is to continue to climb into a stall. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/c-130j-crash-caused-by-goggles-case-blocking-controls/752662.md?page=1)