PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - AAIB investigation to Hawker Hunter T7 G-BXFI 22 August 2015
Old 8th Jun 2017, 11:58
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9 lives
 
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I am aware that air accident investigators will include consideration of the pilot's demonstration of skill, precision and discipline relative to the flying task involved. Those three personal characteristics may be an indicator of the person's attitude, or may just be a demonstration of the limits of their capability. I've known pilots who flew with great precision, though were "mechanical" and did not handle the aircraft well (display with ease). I've known excellent "hands and feet" pilots, who displayed wonderfully, but were not inclined toward precision. Airshow display pilots require an extra measure of both characteristics.

My opinion of the Shoreham accident, based upon the video I saw, and the authoritative information I have seen suggests a pilot who did not apply the required precision and discipline, and when the aircraft was not where it needed to be, he did not attempt to escape, but rather continued. My opinion of the video of the Jet Provost airshow display linked earlier is that the pilot was not positioning the aircraft precisely relative to the show line. If that video was recorded by a person who was located behind the crowd line, the flying was worrisome in terms of compliance.

In my time, I've had to say to a few pilots: "You're a nice fellow, but the skill/precision/discipline you've demonstrated was not adequate for the flying task here.". I believe, from a number of discussions I've had with accident investigators about accidents I've known, that they will at least consider these foregoing pilot personality factors too as possible factors in an accident.

Like the condition of the aircraft, the pilot's medical condition, and the weather, information understood about the skill, precision and discipline of the pilot's flying in that realm, may also be a factor in an accident.
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