The Killing Zone
 

Hi All.

In case this is not common knowledge, "The Killing Zone:How & Why Pilots Die 2nd Edition" is now available as an audio book on Amazon/Audible - personally, I prefer audio to reading and I use Audible to feed my sci-fi habit.

It is sobering reading/listening, especially for someone like me who is at the very peak of the killing zone with >200 flying hours to survive before my risk drops to background levels!

Look at recent NTSB and AAIB accident reports. I think you will find a fatal or serious injury accident probability is not a concern for you.
Unless you are influenced by YT videos to copy without thought the flying they show.

Click.

Self preservation skills must be honed in the environment of available amateur video!

At 200 hours you think you know it all.

At 500 hours you know that you know it all.

At 2000 hours you know that you’ll never know it all.

The Killing Zone powerfully makes the point that it's not just the number of hours. A 2,000 hour PPL who has done no additional training (IR, complex aircraft, CPL etc) has likely lost a bunch of skills that were directed at coping with emergencies and has slipped into a bunch of bad habits. The book shows that you are either actively working on enhancing your skills with additional training, or they are rapidly decaying.

So very true! Even as a commercial pilot with many years and hours of experience, you need to know you never know it all. I found during my career, there were always new things to learn. Humility rather than hubris is what is needed, and the willingness to learn from others.

I think it should be compulsory reading, especially for those approaching the end of their PPL training.

A pilot friend of mine was recalling a particularly sobering moment flying IFR with his family on board. The details are unimportant but it was clearly one of those times when, as the saying goes, it is better to be in the pub, looking at the sea and wishing you were out sailing, rather than sailing in bad weather, looking at the pub on terra firma and wishing you were in it. Aaaaanyway, as he started his tale of woe, he said these words:
"I was around 2,000 hours. You know; that point where you think you know it all and then realise you know nothing."
That's stuck with me.

I know twice as much as nothing then. Time to pack in?

The day after I finished reading that book I signed up for my CPL. Not for the licence - for the training.

So the top three reviews that come up on the big river are:
Especially the last item sounds if I would have a lot of fun with the book :}.

What do you think about them?