I guess I’ve been privileged to have spent quality time in the air and on the ground with people that have been around aviation for a while. These people always seem to retain the attitude that there is always something to learn and that we are all human and can make a mistake occasionally. This attitude has been passed onto me. I guess the problem being is that we all can’t do our BFR’s with these people.
Self assessment of skills is always going to be problematic. How can you ever do an engine failure drill without priming yourself for it? I guess one option is for the front passenger to pull the throttle without warning. If that happened to me, my passenger would find themselves back on the ground in a rather expeditious manner. Therefore without waiting for the real thing, an instructor who is therefore responsible for what happens to the aircraft after they pull your throttle putting you under the pressure may be the only option.
BFR’s are a standard that ensures us, as pilots retain or can be brought back to the basic standard. Along with the Aviation Medical standard they ensure that former pilots still don’t hold a legal authority to fly. Two non -aviation examples:
First example was watching my grandmother’s newly acquired need for her hand to be covering the handbrake when my grandfather approached intersections told me that perhaps he should do a driving test or go to his Doctor.
The second example is a story of a gentleman getting a security audit of his firearms by the Police. They checked his rifle and ammo for the rifle. They then found shotgun cartridges. The Police enquired about their use when the gentleman didn’t possess a shotgun. They were shocked when he replied that due to his deteriorating vision he couldn’t shoot anything with the rifle so he borrows a relative’s shotgun (scatter gun). Apparently after further conversation the gentleman deemed it best if he handed in his licence.
We, as humans are not always so good at self assessment. We need to acknowledge that we cannot always be at the top of our game. We need to retain an industry wide standard and thus we have the BFR. It’s just a pity that they can’t all be conducted by an experienced instructor that’s known us and our aviation journey.
I can’t find the reference but I thought that we operate under the privileges of a licence. It’s not a right; therefore we can’t always presume that every pilot that has a licence retains the skills and abilities without being assessed by an appropriate person against a standard at regular intervals.