Originally Posted by
Eutychus
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...
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.
Perhaps it is not 'commercial pressure', but 'celebrity pressure' or for want of a better description the want to please/impress somebody of high esteem to one. 30 years ago I took a flight that I personally had determined was unsafe in summer VFR as a low-time PPL with night rating therefore limited instrument time. The problem was that one of the sight-seeing passengers (brother of my landlady and uncle of her daughter who had 'pleased my eye)'was a met man from a major European airpoort who listened to the met with me and thought that it would be perfectly OK (isolated TRS). So we went. As we returned to base, ATC told me there were CBs over home base, and asked my intentions. I decided to turn back to the a/p we had just passed. ATC told me that CBs were rolling in over the lake behind me. As I was assessing alternatives, ATC suggested they could get me between two cells 10 miles apart back to home base. I took it. As I went between them, the C172 started getting such bad mechanical chop that I could not get air in my lungs to declare emergency as I did 180 in sudden IMC in controlled airspace.
Finally the cells dissipated and I landed back home, perfect landing at dusk with wet runway perfectly visible due water and reflected light from cloudy horizon. I wanted to kiss the ground. Passengers had no idea. Despite note to maintenance, plane crashed a week later due to 'freezing of controls. as PIC said at time. Fortunately none was injured.
So, no commercial pressure, incident involving plane later lost. Just trying to impress.