Most hazardous jobs -- Pilots & Navigators No. 3

[LatviaCalling]

Here is what the U.S. Labor Department just put out about the most hazardous jobs in the United States, according to CNN/Money. Being a pilot/navigator ranks No. 3. To see the story and the whole list, the following is the link.

http://money.cnn.com/2003/10/13/pf/d...ex.htm?cnn=yes


Flight risk
Another often owner-operated job -- commercial pilot -- comes in third on the list of the country's most dangerous jobs, with 70 fatalities per 100,000 workers.

Most pilot fatalities come from general aviation; bush pilots, air-taxi pilots, and crop-dusters die at a far higher rate than airline pilots. Again, Alaskan workers skew the profession's data; recent National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety (NIOSH) stats indicate that they have a fatality rate four times higher than those in the lower 48.

"Alaskan pilots have a one in eight chance of dying during a 30-year career," says George Conway of NIOSH. "That's huge."

Conway reports that the most common scenario in fatal plane crashes in Alaska is, "controlled flight into terrain." A pilot starts out in good weather then runs into clouds, loses visibility, and flies into a mountainside.

Even though pilots flying small planes have a much higher fatality rate than pilots flying big airline jets, they're not financially compensated for the added danger; non-jet pilots average about $52,000 a year in pay while jetliner pilots make about $92,000.

[tarbaby]

No pilot who had me as a nav flew into high ground:-))

[andrewc]

I was taught by an ex-RAF pilot who survived, along with
his plane a CFIT.

In the Gulf in the 60's he plowed into the top of a
sand dune and either bounced off or went straight thru
the top...he wasn't sure which,

-- Andrew

[reynoldsno1]

There are some instrument approaches in Alaska that come with the CAUTION: Missed approach is unlikely to be successful....

[Onan the Clumsy]

I heard it was so bad in Alaska that there are even some that say "CAUTION: Completed approach is unlikely to be successful...."

[freezelander]

I am a bush pilot in Alaska. You don,t have to fly into a mountain if you don,t want to. 2 main reasons pilots die here:1:you don,t get paid if you don,t complete your trip, so some pilots press on in bad wx with VFR only airplanes and get cfit, while the IFR guys just file IFR and get in fine. 2eople with their own airplanes decide to go hunting in the fall after not having flown since last hunting season so needless to say that every fall we got a bunch of ELT,s going off. It is just about making decisions and stay current.