Lordy, HH that link took me back... I felt icy fingers on my spine whilst reading that Coroners' report extract.
Originally Posted by creampuff
very close to the ground and probably reached a speed of about 100 knots at the end of the runway before he caused the aircraft to ascend very steeply... the aircraft climbed very steeply to a height of about 400 - 500 feet
A few years ago, there were some 206 jockeys (and some
extremely foolhardy 207 jockeys) in NZMF that used to use exactly this "technique" in an attempt to quickly out-climb the turbulence generated by adjacent trees in any sort of sea-breeze. I doubt very much that any of them achieved 400'-500'; closer to 200'-300', if that, with nothing on the clock (ASI) but the makers' name -certainly the groundspeed (from an observers position) was for all intents and purposes, virtually zero. The practice was so prevalent among one operators' crew that even the rookie 172 drivers were trying the same foolish thing. Every man-jack was doing it with a load of pax aboard too.
In truth, this was one of the scariest things I have ever seen since I have been flying; the tragic thing was it was a daily practice, if not encouraged then at least tacitly endorsed by the operator.
To watch those aircraft wallowing away in an incipiently stalled condition at the end of the manouvre was heart-in-mouth stuff. Sadly, it was totaly unnecessary -for the obvious reasons, and for the fact that more height was gained more quickly and safely by simply sucking up the few seconds of turb, a quick right turn into Harrisons Cove and the ride the 'Elevator' (a sheer rock face that provided heaps of lift in most conditions) as every other NZMF pilot does anyway.
I am not aware of any 'loss of control -stall' or 'loss of life' incidents as a result of this particular stupidity, but neither am I aware of this technique having been eliminated from this operators' mindset.
I used to make my opinion of this technique known (as did others) to those practicing it, with usually a very poor reception. The practice continued -possibly partly because I was from another company. I raised the issue in regular Safety Officer User-Group meetings and on one occasion I mentioned it (in a de-identified, non-personal manner) to a CAA GA Inspector. For these actions, I was decried
by my own CP! I eventually wound up with a very large knife in my back from that same CP. The ladder to success in GA is fraught with all manner of dangers...
I have no regrets of raising the issues, then or now. I would truly regret it did I
not raise it, and someone died as a consequence.
Crash reports like the one you have linked should be
compulsory reading for all CPL candidates and regularly reviewed.