Final Aa77 Ssfdr Parameters Per Ntsb, Analysis, Overview, and Review Options

[dMz]

As so few of those defending the "official" AA77/Pentagon stance actually appear to have even inspected or analyzed that "official" data, let's review and summarize some of the SSFDR "curiosities" for the final 50-ish seconds of flight (times after 09:37:00 EDT, or the last ~45 seconds of flight data) here. USAF 84 RADES and FAA data have been discussed in other places already.

Please keep in mind this thread when considering any of the SSFDR data that NTSB and FBI allege came from American Airlines 77.

Army Corps Of Engineers In Doubt Of Official Location Of Aa77 FDR Discovery
http://pilotsfor911truth.org/forum//index....showtopic=15542

The charts that I will post shortly (and later on this thread) all come from file "AAL77_tabular.csv," which NTSB identified with 29 Jan 2002, Boeing 757 #N644AA

This source file is available here:

Download AA77 NTSB Data, DCA01MA064 Source
http://pilotsfor911truth.org/forum//index.php?showtopic=64

Also, the latitude/longitude coordinates were discussed here:

Aa77 Reported Coords?
http://pilotsfor911truth.org/forum//index....showtopic=10698
-----------------------------------
We might need this link regarding "averages:"

http://www.physics.csbsju.edu/stats/descriptive2.html

specifically:

"Fraction Number of Standard
of Data Deviations from Mean

50.0% .674
68.3 1.000
90.0 1.645
95.0 1.960
95.4 2.000
98.0 2.326
99.0 2.576
99.7 3.000

Thus we should expect that 95% of the data would be within 1.96 standard deviations of the mean (i.e., in the range Xavg ± 1.96 sdev ). This is called a 95% confidence interval for the sample. "
-----------------------------------
For starters, the .CSV file is too big to open in pre-2007 versions of Microsoft Excel and needs to be split. Some information may have been "lost" or ommitted in my previous analyses of the NTSB FDR data, and I had a couple of computer crashes, so this is a "fresh start" analysis of the NTSB "AA77_tabular.csv" data, this time with a newer version of Excel that will open the entire data file.

The more interesting FDR parameters (preceded with the Excel alphabetic column codes) that I have found so far:
----------------------------
A timestamp
[I added a derived timestamp from sampling rate of column C below]
C Vertical Accel. (G's)
D Longitudinal Accel. (G's)
E Lateral Accel. (G's)
F Pressure Alt. (feet)
G Mag Heading Capt (deg)
H Computed Airspeed (kt)
I Eng N1 Actual L (%RPM)
J Eng N1 Actual R (%RPM)
K Roll Angle Capt (deg)
L Pitch Angle Capt (deg)
AF A/P T.E. Flapposition_FCC C-A-4 (deg)
AG A/P T.E. Flapposition_FCC L-A-4 (deg)
AH A/P T.E. Flapposition_FCC R-A-4 (deg)

AU Aileron Posn-Outer L (deg)
AV Aileron Posn-Outer R (deg)
BL APU Batt Volts (VDC)

CH Bao Cor No.1 (inHg)
CI Baro Cor No.2 (inHg)
...
CM Bus AC Volts L (VAC)
CN Bus AC Volts R (VAC)
CO Bus Freq L (Hz)
CP Bus Freq R (Hz)
...
CU Capt Cont Column (deg)
CV Capt Cont Wheel (deg)
CZ Density C Tank (lb/gal)
DA Density L Tank (lb/gal)
DB Density R Tank (lb/gal)
DC Density S Tank (lb/gal)
DE DME Distance (nm)
DF DME Distance (nm)
DG Drift Angle (deg)
...
DW Elevator Posn L (deg)
DX Elevator Posn R (deg)
EC Eng EGT L (deg C)
ED Eng EGT R (deg C)
EE Eng EPR Command L (ratio)
EF Eng EPR Command L (ratio)
EG Eng EPR Limit L (Ratio)
EH Eng EPR Limit R (Ratio)
...
EK Eng. fuel flow L (lbs/hr)
EL Eng. fuel flow R (lbs/hr)
EO Eng N2 actual L (% RPM)
EP Eng N2 actual R (% RPM)
EQ Eng N3 actual L (% RPM)
ER Eng N3 actual R (% RPM)
ES Eng oil press L (PSI)
ET Eng oil press R (PSI)
EU Eng oil qty L (US pint)
EV Eng oil qty R (US pint)
EW Eng oil temp L (deg_C)
EX Eng oil tomp R (deg_C)
FC Engine vib L (scalar)
FD Engine vib R (scalar)
FO Filter 1 vib L (scalar)
FP Filter 1 vib R
FQ Filter 2 vib L
FR Filter 2 vib R
FS Filter 3 vib L
FT Filter 3 vib R
FY Flap handle pos (deg)
FZ Flt Dir- pitch (deg)
GA Flt Dir- roll (deg)

IB Indicated AOA (deg)
IV Mach [*** older Excel "width" limit at ~256 columns ***]
KF Rudder Pedal Pos (deg)
KG Rudder Pos (deg)
KP Static air temp (deg_C)
LH Throttle Lever Angle/Equiv (deg)
LI Throttle Lever Angle/Equiv (deg)
LO Track angle mag
LP Track angle true
LQ TAS (kts)
LR True Heading (deg)
ME windspeed (kts)
-------------------------------------
Because of my inserted "derived" timestamp column, the readers' results may be "offset" by a letter or so, but these spreadsheet column codes should be "close enough" for purposes of discussion.

The charts will soon follow.

EDIT: One of the FAA threads is at:

New Aa77 Animation Released By Faa Supports North Side (Sep 13, 2008)
http://pilotsfor911truth.org/forum//index....showtopic=14629

Reason for edit: Added links

[dMz]

All these charts were taken from the last approx. 45 seconds of SSFDR data as provided by the NTSB at the link in the post above and linked below.

Source file:
Download AA77_tabular.zip
-----------------------------------
Accelerometer chart
http://flickcabin.com/public/view/18801
fullsize
http://flickcabin.com/public/view/full/18801

True airspeed (TAS) chart
http://flickcabin.com/public/view/18805
fullsize
http://flickcabin.com/public/view/full/18805

Computed airspeed (CAS) chart
http://flickcabin.com/public/view/18802
full
http://flickcabin.com/public/view/full/18802
----------------
Mach chart (M, or mach ratio- dimensionless)
http://flickcabin.com/public/view/18804

True heading chart
http://flickcabin.com/public/view/18806
fullsize
http://flickcabin.com/public/view/full/18806

Engine N1 Actual speed chart
http://flickcabin.com/public/view/18803
--------------------------
Magnetic heading chart (CAUTION: beware of magnetic declination with this one)
http://flickcabin.com/public/view/18809

Pitch angle chart
http://flickcabin.com/public/view/18807

Roll angle chart
http://flickcabin.com/public/view/18808
------------------------------

Rob and others have already covered the pressure (and radar with caveats) altitude thing extensively- I will defer to him on this one for now, and please review the pinned threads in this and the Pentagon sections. I'll just say the last recorded pressure altitude value was 173 feet [should be aMSL], recorded at 9:37:44 EDT per the NTSB and/or FBI.

EDIT: Altitude is covered on these 2 pinned threads:

FDR Vertical Speed, Altimeter lag issues addressed as well.
http://pilotsfor911truth.org/forum//index.php?showtopic=106

Radar Altitude Confirms True Altitude, Too high to hit light poles/pentagon
http://pilotsfor911truth.org/forum//index.php?showtopic=4801

Reason for edit: Added altimeter threads

[dMz]

I have made some minor improvements to 3 of the charts posted in #2 above. These should have some key data points labeled, and Earth's 1-g gravity labeled, etc.

Acceleration chart
http://flickcabin.com/public/view/18836
fullsize
http://flickcabin.com/public/view/full/18836

True Heading chart (with last brg 59.8 deg [clockwise of GeoN] at 09:37:44)
http://flickcabin.com/public/view/18835
fullsize
http://flickcabin.com/public/view/full/18835

Engine Actual N1 speed chart (now with proper NAV light color coding of each engine's data)
http://flickcabin.com/public/view/18837
fullsize
http://flickcabin.com/public/view/full/18837
---------------------
Now here are a couple of new charts

Aileron and Elevator chart (also NAV color coded for L/R)
http://flickcabin.com/public/view/18838
fullsize
http://flickcabin.com/public/view/full/18838

Finally, that Distance Measuring Equipment (DME) chart (also NAV color coded for L/R)
http://flickcabin.com/public/view/18834
fullsize
http://flickcabin.com/public/view/full/18834

More to soon follow.

[dMz]

Here is a Flap Handle Position chart for the last minute or so of the data
http://flickcabin.com/public/view/18839

Here is the aircraft Gross Weight chart for the first portion of the flight (Excel doesn't like too many data points), part 1
http://flickcabin.com/public/view/18840

Here is the Gross Weight chart, part 2 (with a trendline and the final aircraft weight datapoint of 181,520 lbs. [82336.087 kg] at 09:37:04)
http://flickcabin.com/public/view/18841

[dMz]

Now for the "engine related" ones, which should probably be viewed in tandem as they are all related to each other by timestamp and the nature of engine controls. These should also be part1/part2 and also NAV light color coded for red for L/port or greenish for R/starboard. I have bolded the "part 2" files below, since those would be the "Pentagon" portions of the data.

Engine vibration, pt1
http://flickcabin.com/public/view/18842

Engine vibration, pt2
http://flickcabin.com/public/view/18843
--------------------
Engine fuel flow chart, pt1
http://flickcabin.com/public/view/18844

Engine fuel flow chart, pt2
http://flickcabin.com/public/view/18845
----------------------
NOTE: On the throttle angle columns, they were NOT labeled as either L or R in the original data. The L consistently came before R in most/all of the other data that I looked at, so I stayed with this "Left first" convention when I made these charts.

Throttle Lever Angle/Equiv chart, pt1
http://flickcabin.com/public/view/18846

Throttle Lever Angle/Equiv chart, pt2
http://flickcabin.com/public/view/18849

I also made a subset of the part 2 Throttle chart above for the last ~15 seconds of flight data:
http://flickcabin.com/public/view/18848

[dMz]

It looks like the SSFDR data has the ground warning indicator (~ column HF) flagging at 09:37:31 EDT, with a pressure altitude reading of 1362 feet.

Here are some of the interesting columns:

HF Ground Prox Warning (flagged at 09:37:31 till end)
HG Groundspeed (Capt) (kts)
JO Pitch Angle F/O (deg) [remained linked to Capt]
JT Pres Posn Lat (deg min)
JU Pres Posn Lon (deg min)
KF Rudder Pedal Position (deg)
KG Rudder Position (deg)
KO Stab Position Synchro (deg)
LM Total Air Temp (deg C)
LN Total Pressure (mb)
MD Wind Direction True (deg)
ME Windspeed (kts)

I was specifically looking at the subset of SSFDR data after 09:15:00 for all the points in this post, to determine the later data trends.

The Pitch Angle F/O (deg) appears to have stayed linked to the Pitch Angle (Capt) in the data- I didn't see any discrepancy there.

The NTSB file "AA77_tabular.csv" did have latitude and longitude data, like the unofficial "Readout2" file (although I haven't compared the two to each other yet), but these would have been truncated by the earlier Excel, as they are to the "right" of the column limit "IV" built into the earlier versions of Excel. There is also a limit near 65,000 rows in the earlier Excel.

The final lat/lon are recorded at 09:37:44, N38°52' W077°25' [N38.86667 W77.41667 deg]
http://flickcabin.com/public/view/full/18925

Google Earth places this location roughly 17.82 nautical miles westerly of the DCA VOR beacon (approx. over Chantilly, VA).
http://flickcabin.com/public/view/full/18929

The latitude ranged from N N38.5 deg to 38.86666667deg, with a mean value of 38.68267399 deg, S.D.= 0.110445298 deg. Longitude ranged from W77.41666667 deg to W80.28333333 deg, with a mean longitude of W78.57125763, S.D. =0.892487521 deg.

I have charted these positions here:
http://flickcabin.com/public/view/18930

Comparing to the RADES data, there is fairly good agreement in lat/lon position data:
http://flickcabin.com/public/view/18926

Comparing the various SSFDR speeds to my RADES-derived speed approximation, the "results" are spotty at best:
http://flickcabin.com/public/view/18927

Here is an expansion of the later portion of that chart:
http://flickcabin.com/public/view/full/18928

There were RADES radar returns at the GIB, OCA, and PLA sites, with the best results apparently from PLA (as far as agreement with the NTSB SSFDR speeds). The drastic acceleration was observed after approx 09:37:00 EDT in the SSFDR data. This doesn't clearly show up in the RADES data for whatever reason(s) for the final 50-ish seconds of flight data.

I have averaged the RADES returns (individually for each site) for about 5 approximation velocities. These show up as black/yellow circles on the charts. My final "avg 5" RADES velocity was 265.5 knots, but the NTSB final GS showed 465 kts at 09:37:44 EDT. The column HH Groundspeed (capt) ranged from 262 kts to 536 kts, with a mean GS of 407.0996337 kts and S.D. = 69.77345226 knots. The final RADES returns were observed at the PLA (The Plains, VA) site. [The NTSB data statistics were based on the post-09:15:00 EDT data subset only.]

[rob balsamo]

Here is a plot of the lat/long i did within a few days after UT offered up the NTSB csv file back in Aug 06.

(IMG:http://pilotsfor911truth.org/myPictures/PentagonFDR.jpg)

[dMz]

Well, I'd definitely call 17.82 nm about 20 miles, so that would constitute independent verification in my book. Unfortunately for the OGCT, from my post #3 above, we have the DME doing this (1.5 nm) during the same timeframe (actually one second before the lat/lon data point I plotted in Google Earth):

http://flickcabin.com/public/view/full/18834

At 09:37:43, the position was recorded as:

N38°52' W077°26' [N 38.86667 W77.43333 deg]

I have just plotted the N1, N2, and N3 Engine RPM data:

http://flickcabin.com/public/view/19000

Here is an updated True Airspeed (TAS) chart (in knots) with B757 V_mo added. I wasn't sure if I had uploaded this one from the file location on my drive so here it is too:

http://flickcabin.com/public/view/18966

[tnemelckram]

Hi dMole and Rob

Counting the four radar tracks from the four airports, does this "twenty miles west" track now make seven different tracks in the data that the 911 Commission relied on when it decided that the plane took one specific (south) path?

By the way dMole, were you able to open the latest link to the .kmz file on the other htread and look at the IAD, BWI, DCA and ADW radar data tracks?

[dMz]

The data mostly ends 17.82 nm from the DCA beacon at that lat/lon point in the "AA77_tabular.csv" file TN. Acutally there was a partial line written for 09:37:45 and a timestamp only written for 09:37:46, but there wasn't any data written after 09:37:44, except for accelerometers and avionics flight controls.

EDIT: The "4 tracks" are addressed at posts #9 and 10 on the other thread here:

http://pilotsfor911truth.org/forum//index....&p=10763129

Reason for edit: Added link

[dMz]

Ummm, from what I'm seeing in this NTSB-provided "AA77" flight data, apparently it crashed in Chantilly at 09:37:43 and 09:37:44 EDT according to the NTSB and Google Earth (when looking at the pressure altitude as reported by NTSB and ground elevation in tandem with position). (IMG:http://pilotsfor911truth.org/forum/style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

I added altitude data to the [INS?] lat/lon waypoints, and those last 2 are awfully curious (to say the least). In case you can't access the large spreadsheet, here are the last 3 location data points:

Time, press. alt(ft), lat (deg), lon (deg)
9:37:35, 955, N38°51' 38.85000 W077°27' 77.45000 [ground elev 268 ft]
9:37:43, 239, N38°52' 38.86667 W077°26' 77.43333 [elev 323 ft]
9:37:44, 173, N38°52' 38.86667 W077°25' 77.41667 [elev 314 ft]

NOTE: The lat/lon data stayed the same for several seconds, while the pressure altitude changed in the data (effectively "vertical" flight), but this could be due to INS and precision/resolution limitations, esp. since the lat/lon are only given in degrees and arcminutes (no arcseconds in data).

http://www.colorado.edu/geography/gcraft/n...or/error_f.html

EDIT: My Google Earth locations with altitude and time data embedded (for the timeframe after 09:35 EDT) are in the file here (for import):

http://www.orbitfiles.com/download/id3820751846.html

[dMz]

Ummm, from what I'm seeing in this NTSB-provided "AA77" flight data, apparently it crashed in Chantilly at 09:37:43 and 09:37:44 EDT according to the NTSB and Google Earth (when looking at the pressure altitude as reported by NTSB and ground elevation in tandem with position). (IMG:http://pilotsfor911truth.org/forum/style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

I added altitude data to the [INS?] lat/lon waypoints, and those last 2 are awfully curious (to say the least). In case you can't access the large spreadsheet, here are the last 3 location data points:

Time, press. alt(ft), lat (deg), lon (deg)
9:37:35, 955, N38°51' 38.85000 W077°27' 77.45000 [ground elev 268 ft]
9:37:43, 239, N38°52' 38.86667 W077°26' 77.43333 [elev 323 ft]
9:37:44, 173, N38°52' 38.86667 W077°25' 77.41667 [elev 314 ft]

NOTE: The lat/lon data stayed the same for several seconds, while the pressure altitude changed in the data (effectively "vertical" flight), but this could be due to INS and precision/resolution limitations, esp. since the lat/lon are only given in degrees and arcminutes (no arcseconds in data).

http://www.colorado.edu/geography/gcraft/n...or/error_f.html

EDIT: My Google Earth locations with altitude and time data embedded (for the timeframe after 09:35 EDT) are in the file here (for import):

http://www.orbitfiles.com/download/id3820751846.html

I remembered reading about this somewhere before. Here are 2 pinned threads on altimeter(s):

FDR Vertical Speed, Altimeter lag issues addressed as well.
http://pilotsfor911truth.org/forum//index.php?showtopic=106

Radar Altitude Confirms True Altitude, Too high to hit light poles/pentagon
http://pilotsfor911truth.org/forum//index.php?showtopic=4801

According to post #1 on the "FDR Vertical Speed..." thread, we need to add 300 feet to the pressure altitude to obtain actual aircraft altitude (I'm assuming aMSL here as pressure is typically referenced relative to sea level worldwide).

This would yield:

9:37:43, 539, N38°52' 38.86667 W077°26' 77.43333 [elev 323 ft]
9:37:44, 473, N38°52' 38.86667 W077°25' 77.41667 [elev 314 ft]

For that last 09:37:44 EDT data point, 473 - 314 feet = 159 feet AGL (no crash, unless there were power lines or other tall structures in this area).

EDIT: Related lat/lon "position" threads are at:

American 77 Flight Recorder Position Data, Common Arguments Addressed
http://pilotsfor911truth.org/forum//index....=10751&st=0

Looking For Flight 77 Lat/lon Data
http://pilotsfor911truth.org/forum//index.php?showtopic=5388

DCA DME And Maps
http://pilotsfor911truth.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=4620

*** NOTE: "Readout2" is a completely different, "unofficial" dataset, and off-topic as far as this "AA77_tabular.csv" thread is concerned.

Reason for edit: Added links

[dMz]

More SSFDR threads:

Ins Vs. Dme Positional Data, cross posted from ATS
http://pilotsfor911truth.org/forum//index....showtopic=15047

Aa77 Fdr Data, Explained?, Need help
http://pilotsfor911truth.org/forum//index....showtopic=14457

Fdr Data And Aa77 Positioning
http://pilotsfor911truth.org/forum//index....showtopic=13952

Putting Fdr "delay" Myth To Rest
http://pilotsfor911truth.org/forum//index....showtopic=13846

Help In Understanding Data
http://pilotsfor911truth.org/forum//index....showtopic=13697

FDR Comments, split from AA77 Forum
http://pilotsfor911truth.org/forum//index....showtopic=13227

Flight 77 Altimeter Errors, What errors are there in the cockpit data recorder
http://pilotsfor911truth.org/forum//index....showtopic=12373
---------------------------
for staff reference/convenience:

Analysis On The Pentagon Posts, Edit: PentaTroll Receptacle
http://pilotsfor911truth.org/forum//index....showtopic=15837

[dMz]

Going back to the original NTSB-released .CSV data file (which is linked in post #1 above), I have extracted the right-most columns that would be truncated by most pre-2007 versions of Excel (and the versions of Open Office's spreadsheet that I have worked with). I added some lowercase "original" column headings to row #6 (which was in the comment or header section of the original NTSB datafile and contained no data anyway that I saw). I have not labeled every column in row #6, but I have left enough information from the "trimmed" columns that one should be able to determine the "original" column reference.

NOTE: The "older" versions of Excel truncate anything to the right of column "IV" IIRC. This datafile below would be the [row #6] annotated "lost columns" due to the size limits built into many versions of Excel (and Open Office too, I believe).

The "lost columns" data:

http://www.orbitfiles.com/download/id4223269100.html

This is the zipped version, but I have an approx. 6MB .CSV version available upon request, if anyone prefers that for some reason.

[tnemelckram]

Hi Dmole!

ON your lat/lon GE plot of the FDR data from the NTSB showing the plane crash in Chantilly, put a place mark at : N38.8887° W77.4515° EDIT TO ADD: Here's a link to a .kml file incorporating those coordinates and your above plot:

http://www.orbitfiles.com/download/id4348801676.html


That's the nearby location of:

National Reconnaissance Office
14675 Lee Road
Chantilly, Virginia 20151-1715


I'm not sure what this means but:

In what the government describes as a bizarre coincidence, one U.S. intelligence agency was planning an exercise last Sept. 11 in which an errant aircraft would crash into one of its buildings. But the cause wasn't terrorism -- it was to be a simulated accident.

Officials at the Chantilly, Va.-based National Reconnaissance Office had scheduled an exercise that morning in which a small corporate jet would crash into one of the four towers at the agency's headquarters building after experiencing a mechanical failure.

The agency is about four miles from the runways of Washington Dulles International Airport.

http://www.boston.com/news/packages/sept11...ne_exercise.htm

This post has been edited by tnemelckram: Jul 4 2009, 03:45 PM