I say equivalent because, based on the Koch chart for calculating aircraft performance at
density altitude and assuming standard temperature in the following cases, a 1000-foot ground roll at sea level would require a 1200 feet at 1000 feet elevation, and 2000 feet at 5000 feet elevation.
YouTube has several notable examples of crashes tied to high
density altitude, perhaps the most vivid one being the 2012 crash of a Stinson 108 in Idaho.
Small Griswold, "Climate impacts on
density altitude and aviation operations," in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology.
The Kestrel 4000 NV measures every major environmental condition: barometric pressure, altitude,
density altitude, temperature, humidity, wind speed, wind chill, dewpoint, wet bulb temperature and heat stress.
Pressure Altitude/Density Altitude (PADA)--computes the following parameters: sea level pressure (SLP), altimeter setting (ALSTG), pressure altitude (PA),
density altitude (DA) and the standard atmosphere based on the upper/lower station pressure and the following optional data fields: station elevation (for ALSTG, PA, DA), 12-hour mean temperature (for SLP), temperature (for DA) and dew point for DA.
Aircraft performance is affected by
density altitude, which is a function of atmospheric pressure, temperature, and altitude.
The combined effects of being slow, with a tailwind, in an environment of high
density altitude, and in a high gross weight configuration, placed the CH-53D in a hover-out-of-ground-effect situation without sufficient power.
The elements to be controlled and understood must include the changes in the daily
density altitude along with the different barometric pressure levels that occur in different geographic locations.
It's easy to be complacent about
density altitude, but there are some things we need to keep in mind.
The FLT function handles pressure altitude and
density altitude calculations.
The rescue team which comprised Wg Cdr DC Tiwari, Flt Lt A Agrawal and Flt Lt A K Bharmoria, led by Wg Cdr S Srinivasan knew well the challenges they were about to face but upholding the unit tradition they decided to take on the mission and operated their machines to the fringes of their limits as the mission involved flying into unknown territory and landing at a
density altitude of approximately 23000 ft over an inhospitable glacier.
Recognizing the risks of a single-engine, heavyweight landing on a wet runway at high
density altitude with weather near ILS minimums, Capt Lanto made the decision to emergency jettison his munitions on a controlled range.
