Thanks
Excellent previous post on the development and history of the single pilot exemption...Thanks.
Some other thoughts:
Only around 500 pilots have ever had the exemption, and about 200,000 flight hours were logged.
Exemption expires every year and requires and intial checkride in actual aircraft, subsequent can be accomplished in sim.
Flight hours are sent to Cessna for forwarding to FAA.
Insurance rates vary for single pilot ops, with most being less not more then two pilot crews, due not to single vs two pilot, but rather one guy good enough to take the ride every year, tends to be a known quantity with the insurance companies. Very few pilots have the single pilot twin and turbine hard IFR experience to step up to single pilot jet ops, fewer still actualy use it. My informal study of the 100 or so pilots that hold it per year generaly keep the exemption, easier then a new ride in aircraft, but use it to move the plane to maintanance, ect and most fly with an SIC anyway.
As stated previous, Part 23 aircraft don't require a waiver, and besides being under 12500 lbs, all are generaly slower then the Part 25 aircraft. Part 25 aircraft are generaly heavier and faster, carry more people.
As far as crew incapacitation, or work load issues. Very few pilots crap out during a flight, crew or otherwise. Statistics being so rare and hard to come by it's tough to even calculate. As far as workload issues, single pilot capts have to pass a very stringent ride every year. Colleagues Citation reccurent is typicaly 2-3 days, mine is 5, with a real ride, two actualy, proficiency, then a single pilot ride.
Accident statistics for exemption holders don't exist except for the latest accident in Ca(Cable Airport) Fresh exemption holder decided to fly his Encore into a short field, landed long, with a tailwind, tried to make it. Killed his wife, burned him and his daughter. I flew that aircraft and trained with him, he went to Simuflite twice that year prepping for his ride.
Since he is the only exemption holder ever to kill someone, much less have an accident as a single pilot captain, and I know the guy, and the plane, I can say from experience that he could fly a plane in a training environment, and he was a business owner not a professional pilot, which fortunately puts him into THAT category of pilots who will soon be flying the Eclipses, Mustangs, ect.
Accident data is pretty sparse on Citations, but the consensus is pilots like to crack them up on approach or final, and the latest is no exception.
I never met the guys wife, but I heard she was nice, the plane was beutifull and now it's destroyed along with a perfect accident record for the single pilot exemption.
There is a lesson here somewhere, and I keep asking what it is, but I am left with the same conclusion, that single or two pilot ops have the same human factors issues, many times being egos, bad communication, laziness at looking up numbers, or just plain complacency and lack of discipline to go around, whatever. So before everyone beats up on single pilot ops keep looking at why two pilot planes keep cracking up, and the same stupid reasons keep coming up all over again.
Our latest Citation crash in Carlsbad was just plain silly with an approach speed of 160+ kts, or the Circut City Citation getting too low, way to low on a simple vor/dme approach.
Anyway, back to the point, any single pilot capts out there got an idea on money, pay, flight hours ect?
SSG