[maxglute]

IIRC he had no visibility so he couldn't test controls with eyeballs, can only assume out-of-control-flight scenario. Backup instruments said he was below 6000ft above ground level, aka trust instrument = potential for single digit seconds from hitting ground, and supposedly the F35 manual states ejection is the only option under those conditions.

[lloeki]

It started at 750ft

> Observe, orient: Jet still in the clouds, about 750 feet above ground, still in his control, descending glide path, about 800 feet per minute

Then brokenness again

> About 30 seconds had passed.

By then he might have been gliding halfway towards terrain.

> He felt the nose of the aircraft tilt upward. He felt a falling sensation.

Subtext is that this feels like stalling with only a few hundred feet and a few seconds left. There's no room to recover control surface.

There's only so much you can read in so little time with fallback instruments. Airspeed means squat, climb rate can be unreliable.

> Forty-one seconds.

Next loop is going to be either nothing happened or ground contact. What to you do.

[maxglute]

>6000ft above ground level

Context is I remember reading comment that F35 manual calls for ejection if out of control flight under 6000ft agl. If pilot was at 750ft, it reinforces how little time/margin pilot had to make call and that he probably did everything he can until last minute.

[russdill]

The recent video of the air ambulance impacting the ground is really "instructive" here. There are good indications that they believed they were in level flight either because of some instrument failure or lack of attention.