Originally Posted by
FAR CU
to possibly find a way to reduce the number of careless accidents in the year ahead....
the future was one that would be driven and held together by a new breed of men and women more attune to pressing buttons than discovering the roots of their craft. !
You don’t even need a pilot pushing buttons anymore in some aircraft - drones can do the job! With other forms of flying a good amount stick-and-rudder skills are needed.
I think some basic aerobatics should be part of all pilot training. I don’t think pilots even need to do spins in most countries to get a CPL ? I’ve come across many pilots who appear to think the rudder pedals are really only for taxing.
It's too early to assume the pilot was at fault in this accident, but stalling at low level in a turn is one such ‘carless accident’ that simply does not have to happen in 2018. “Speed is life” has always stuck in my head from my Ag rating. It’s a moto I used in all flying activities.
I think we naturally get more cautions with time, and probably we can all admit to doing one or two silly things when flying. Especially when not restricted to Airways and Published Arrivals and Departures.
“No turns below 400 feet” was another rule we had in the Maldives, which I always try to adhere to when flying floats, even if there in nothing but open water all around.
Discipline can be very difficult to self-monitor for single-pilots. Two crew: a take-off briefing is standard, but as a single pilot it’s easy just to start a take off run without any self-brefing, especially if VFR. I think in training this should be addressed. Maybe today it is, but when I did my PPL/CPL training, I never had to say, "if the engine quits at 100 feet I’m going to land straight ahead. If it quits at 400 feet, I’m tuning 30 degrees left and heading for the golf course, however the wind is from the right so i’m going be extra cautious with the loss of airspeed ...and so on”
I’d be curious to know if instructors today make their students give a brief prior to each phase of flight?
This is something I get lazy with when flying alone - which obviously isn’t good. I need to work in that in 2018. So thanks for your post. It’s timely to ask how to "possibly find a way to reduce the number of careless accidents.” This is something well worth thinking about as individuals and collectively. It’s just a shame it sometimes takes a tragic accident before we reexamine our own flying habits.