Originally Posted by
ve3id
Let me try to make it simple:
1) A big piece of metal such as an aeroplane may fall out of the sky and kill you if things go wrong.
True. The risk assessment part of this is about making a well-informed judgement about whether that risk is worth taking. Being a generally risk-averse person I think about that kind of thing even when I fly commercial.
Personally, having thought about it, and having read this thread,
in terms of acceptable risk I think I personally would still be willing to fly passenger on an SEP flight to the CI from France (a lot less water than from the UK) - in VMC and by day - if I was confident that the pilot was experienced with - and confident in - their aircraft and familiar with the locality.
What makes me uneasier is the apparent ease with which the impression can be given that doing so in exchange for payment is legal and insured when it very possibly is neither, all the more so if the flight is taking place for business purposes.
I think that apart from ethical issues, this makes me uneasy because what has been described as "commercial pressure" can really skew the pilot's risk assessment, especially of weather, and as a passenger I could be both a perpetrator and a victim in that. In one of the flights I mentioned I saw this in action and realise, after the fact, that I contributed to it. The thing that would most discourage me from flying that way again is the potential distortion caused by this "commercial pressure" in a neither-fish-nor-fowl situation where the pilot is neither a trusted friend nor a detached professional.
Also, while it is clearly madness to attempt to fly IFR if one is only qualified for VFR, it seems to me that qualifications alone do not a good pilot make. At least that's the impression I get from those on the commercial aviation boards talking about "children of the magenta line"...
For me this issue is really complicated because there are several interlinked but different questions - regulation, experience, pilot ability, business practices...
Originally Posted by
Sir Niall Dementia
And EUTYCHUS pro pilots are on this thread making it known, at the same time as trying to make a living, and sharing our experience with pilots who want to learn as well as paying huge fees to our regulator to ensure we're doing it right, while the regulator (who is paid to fight on our behalf) and us have our throats cut by a politician's pet plan. And if I seem angry I f***ing well am! 30 years, 17000 hours, regulated until I struggle to breathe sometimes, and a gas fitter with a poor reputation kills someone due to Christ knows what. From what I do know, I would have been protected by legislation and my employer on this trip as well as experience that can't be bought.
You make a good point, which many people don't often see I think, that legislation is ideally intended to protect us. I understand your frustration. However, while you and others are "making it known" on this thread, and I for one have learned a lot reading you (which is why I come here), it is unfortunately not realistic to expect yer average potential grey charter customer to come looking here. Time will tell whether this accident will result in any tightening of the rules or changes in popular perspective; it has certainly changed mine.