The REAL Pilot Mistake That Got Brittney Killed!

The Burley airport was warned of safety deficiencies as far back as 2014 (unrelated to the stacks). They lost all federal funding in 2018. There was a LOT of data to cover in this tragedy in such a short video and this is a story that needs to be told. If you want to watch a story about a pilot that made a reckless mistake and killed almost everyone onboard the plane, then click here 👉https://youtu.be/mztjyYBnCos

“It isn’t dangerous because it will make us money” 🙄

This situation is crazy. If you consider the FCC regulations on how high an antenna tower you can build in proximity to an airport, there's no way you could have erected a structure that high. For short runways (less than 3200 feet), there's a 50:1 slope that defines the height of a structure. If the exhaust stack was 2600 feet from the runway, it couldn't have exceeded 52 feet of height above the runway surface. And these stacks are built at twice that height, pretty much exactly off the end of the runway? It's all nuts.

Great analysis Hoover! This accident hits very close to home, and as I mentioned on Juans channel. I am Brittney's instrument instructor that had the pleasure of working with her and witness her acheiveing her Instrument Rating. I wanted to thank you for covering Brittney's accident. Your example of the Swiss cheese model in reference to her accident is accurate. She was a FANTASTIC student, and to this day I still brag about how much of a joy she was to teach instrument. Her attention to detail, desire to be the best pilot she could was very evident from day one. Sadly, the chain of events leading to her loss are hard to stomach especially the exhaust stacks and how everything was a perfect storm for this event to happen. I hadn't seen the report that depicted her different airspeeds between the approach and how that could have greatly affected her second approach! What I can confidently say is that while going through her instrument training she was hyper focused on being precise with every approach, landing and maneuver she attempted. Being human does have the propensity to make mistakes, and combined with an approach that should have been discontinued is truly gut wrenching. She's greatly missed, however, I will forever be grateful to have known and had my stamp on her professional pilot career. Fly high Brittney! Thanks Hoover!

Thanks for posting her tragic end of life story,i met her at the SLC airport working as a A&P on the cargo Ramp,she was a good kind ,smart and capable pilot and woman, she is missed 😢peace to her Family.

The FAA said it was a hazard and magically said it is no longer a hazard after they increased the height of the stacks. That company, the city and FAA should have never allowed those stacks to be built in the path of the runway. This is insane.

Factory is negligent, City is negligent, the position of the stacks leaves an approaching aircraft almost no margin of error to recover from a problem. Never should have been allowed to build those stacks. The fact that the city said the financial benefit was more important (than safety i.e. Brittney's life) is damning and I hope they get sued for millions.

Thank you so much for putting this video together. I personally knew Brittney from flight school at Utah State. Its so heartbreaking to lose a fellow aviator and friend. She really was one of the most driven, and kind people I knew while flight training. She was loved and will be missed. Stay safe out there guys.

I came upon your channel a few months ago by accident and this is only the third episode I have watched. I was Naval Aviator, and then spent 31 years at FedEx plying the trade prior to retiring. I greatly appreciate your extreme professionalism in describing these incidents! IMHO…. In this case, with the flaps up(accidentally), and the low airspeed led to the nose high attitude while descending from the clouds, likely resulting in a “feeling” of being higher than she wanted to be, likely causing her to increase her rate of descent to get to a place where the “visual” view matched what she wanted to see. Thank you again for your professional presentations Hoover! Your site should be required viewing for pilots!

Even with 2200 hour of private pilot flying, I do not fly to minimum in weather. I do not fly single engine at night. Not anymore. I’m debating with myself if watching all these videos scare me or make me a safer pilot. These videos have changed the way I fly and think. Thank you to all the YouTubers that bring this knowledge today. In the old days all this content was not available due to internet simply not there. Keep your airspeed up and be safe.❤

FAA: 70’ stacks: ☠️ 100’ stacks: 👍

25 years ago I was a 30 year old commuter turboprop Captain and like you said, "wrong time, wrong place". This could have happened to anybody.

I’m not a pilot but I’m a huge air craft enthusiast. I love your debriefs. You spare no details while remaining unbiased. Keep up the good work. My heart goes out to all Brittany’s loved ones and family. May future innovations provide safer skies and less accidents in the future.

I'm a pilot - so of course I love these videos. But I'm really struck just how well done they are from a production and organization perspective - which make them very easy to watch.

This is one of the saddest debrief stories I’ve seen. My thoughts and well wishes are with the family.

Hoover, I’m not a pilot, but rather a police officer and avid motorcyclist. I want to give you kudos on your ability to make informational, educational, and professional YouTube content. I’ve been watching your videos at the gym as do my cardio on the treadmill. You are a true example of quality in social media, which unfortunately is rare these days. Thank you for being a valued content creator.

I'm not a pilot nor in aviation, but when I see a new Pilot Debrief, I click as quick as I can. The level of professionalism, quality of detail, level of compassion make this one of YouTubes best content . God Bless 🙏

City Logic "We have confirmed the stacks are safe because it brings in money."

How could they allow stacks like that next to an airport. Someone dropped the ball, several times. Having to fly thru a steam cloud just sounds negligent.

Shortly after this tragedy, there was a group of us (all pilots) trying to deconstruct what happened. The two biggest questions we were left with were "Why is there a stack on final to begin with?" and "Why did she experience the high rate of descent on short final?" This analysis really helps what we could only guess at with limited information. In the Hierarchy of Controls, removing the hazard is always the best answer. In this case, remove the stack and you not only remove the obstacle, you remove the steam. My condolences to Brittney, and her family and friends. Ty for the breakdown.