DAL191 - My bad, of course it was KDFW, landing south. I remember seeing the tail section sitting just short of the runway. I must have been looking at your name tag when my fingers did the walking.

Yes indeed, the Delta 191 crash was used by all the airlines as a training aid for recognizing the down burst. I remember flying that profile many times in the simulator when I was instructing. As CoolP asked: is that the last stage where the people in the cockpit can actually do something to influence their fate? [ ]  Will the windshear warning and weather radar help them?

CS does have a simulation of the increase shear as well as the other GPWS warnings. The GPWS computer was upgraded after this crash to give the pilot a hint of what could be happening with the plane. An increase shear gives a amber warning with the word WINDSHEAR. The GPWS has had many improvements over the years to make it a better tool. Doppler radar in the newer planes also has a warning built in for wind shear using magenta to alert the pilot.

As for the question - when was it too late to go around... we will never know. There are so many things that would have to be taken into account. One of the things we used to teach was to make use of altitude and go around as soon as possible before you got too low and too slow. If you did find yourself in the thick of it, use FULL power and rotate as necessary to avoid hitting the ground - I doubt Airbus would let you over rotate! Remember, stick shaker is 30% above stall, so you still have a great deal of energy to use to get away. FULL power means everything - including packs off.

Remember you only need as much altitude as you need.

Every foot counts!

Lou