Here is a humourous safety video (Hybrid Airplane: When Your Plane Runs Out of Gas) from the AOPA Air Safety Foundation that was posted on FlightSchoolList.com about a not so humourous subject: Fuel exhaustion. The AOPA video is a spoof about aircraft running on “hybrid” power but it also noted that that in an average week, three general aviation aircraft crash due to fuel management (or mismanagement) issues. That’s no small number and for the most part, such accidents are preventable if pilots follow proper procedures before taking off.
The number one rule in aviation: Fly the aircraft
Tracy, the blogger behind the Around the Pattern Blog, has recently written that in his 40+ years of flying, he has seen his share of aviation accidents unfold before his eyes. And in all of the fatal accidents that he has witnessed, pilots always violated the number one rule in aviation: Fly the aircraft.
Tracy then noted the above image listing five steps in an emergency that appears at the top of every emergency checklist found in aircraft flown by major airlines and he asked why its not used by general aviation pilots as it can work in any aircraft. He also made the important point that the closer to the ground that you are flying, the less important are the four steps listed after step number one. He also added:
Twice I have seen engines fail completely on takeoff. In both instances the accidents were fatal – taking a total of five lives. In one instance gliding straight ahead or turning ninety-degrees would have landed the aircraft in the water off a rocky coast rather than stalling nose-down into those rocks. Another could have made a ninety-degree turn to an intersecting runway, but the aircraft stalled and the wreckage landed next to the runway. They didn’t follow aviation’s number one rule.
Tracy then told the story of an incident he heard over the radio during a recent trans-pacific crossing where a fight had apparently broken out in the passenger cabin. When the controller tried to get more specific information, a harried and frustrated co-pilot simply told him that he will call back later as they had a plane to fly – Advice worth following.
The 2011 Pilots Without Pants calendar
General Aviation News has recently noted what was probably the most fun aviation fundraiser of the year: The 2011 Pilots Without Pants calendar. All told, 14 pilots of the Antique Airplane Club of Greater New York agreed to shed their clothes to pose for it plus they also put together a fun “mockumentary” called “Pilots Without Pants – The Making Of The 2011 AACGNY Calendar.” Certainly, the calendar makes a great Christmas gift for any female pilots or pilot wives out there!
Did a crocodile cause a Congo plane crash?
Hat tip to Sylvia and her Fear of Landing blog for pointing out a truly bizarre story about an August 25th crash of a Czech-made LET-410 in the Congo and the possible cause of it. According to news reports, a FILair flight flying from Kinshasa crashed into a building just a few kilometers short of its destination (Bandundu). The crash killed all three crew members (including the Belgian pilot and his British co-pilot, who was from Shurdington, near Cheltenham, Glocs) and 16 passengers upon impact with only two passengers being rescued (one of whom later dies of his injuries).
After the incident, the surviving passenger made a statement about the passengers panicking and rushing the cockpit – causing the aircraft, which was on a diversionary course to a different runway, to become unstable. Then the Jeune Afrique published an article (The True Reasons for the Crash of Bandundu) saying that the cause of the panic had nothing to do with the runway heading the aircraft was flying but was caused by a crocodile getting loose in the aircraft passenger cabin.
According to insider information, a passenger had concealed a live crocodile in a duffel bag which got loose as the plane was descending. The stewardess then fled to the cockpit – followed by all of the passengers. This caused the aircraft to go into an uncontrolled spin and crash.
Ironically, the crocodile apparently survived the crash – only to be killed by a rescuer armed with a machete. You can read more about the incident in Thursday’s edition of the Telegraph.
Five “real world” items to practice in a simulator
Joe Davis, the Vice President of P&C Aviation, has written a useful post for the Cirrus Owners & Pilots Association (COPA) listing five “real world” items that are well worth practicing in a flight simulator. Moreover and from an instructor’s perspective, Joe noted that the following items are commonly misunderstood and/or too-little practiced and hence, should be practiced in a simulator:
- Activating and Intercepting a Leg. Joe wrote that a fairly large number of instrument rated students do not understand the difference “between going direct to a fix and intercepting a leg between two fixes” and that the Garmin 430’s provides a great tool for “being able to intercept and track airways without ever having to leave GPS-based navigation.” Joe then noted that after a departure, flying a heading to intercept an airway also has a tendency of confusing students.
- Obstacle Departure Procedures. Joe pointed out that instrument flying is all about “connecting the dots.” In other words, you need to always be aware whether or not you are in a three-dimensional position that is also safe.
- Hoping vs. Knowing. Joe commented that if you have ever found yourself “pushing buttons and hoping that the aircraft starts to do the right thing rather than knowing what it should do and then confirming the outcome,” you are definitely in the need of additional training. In other words, you must understand the automation of your aircraft and its limitations.
- The Electrical System. Joe wrote that you should understand the basic workings of your aircraft’s electric system. Moreover, you will need to understand what to do if something should fail.
- Standardized Procedures and Checklist Usage. Joe noted that there are good reasons why both airlines and corporate aviation use standardized checklists and procedures – namely because they work. In other words, if you run a checklist before and during every flight and practice one in a simulator, you are less likely to forget it.
Joe ended his post by noting that as a pilot, you have made a big investment in your aircraft and hence, its worth your time and money to make an investment in both your safety and your education by practicing “real world” items in a flight simulator.
An old-school pilot’s love-hate relationship with VFR sectional charts
Todd McClamroch has recently written a short post on his My Flight Blog about his return to steam gauges, his love-hate relationship with VFR sectional charts and finally a useful tool (SkySectionals) for other old-school pilots who also have a love-hate relationship with their VFR sectional charts. At the beginning of his post, Todd wrote that as a cost cutting measure, he is now foregoing time in a G1000 and has been flying aircraft with good old-fashion steam gauges. Moreover, some of his recent flights were flown without the benefit of GPS but he did note that he has enjoyed his recent flights – even if it means sticking his head out of the window to try and spot landmarks.
However, he has since rediscovered his love-hate relationship with VFR sectional charts and he noted that while its fun to spend hours looking at them before a flight (“dreaming of all the cool places to fly, choosing routes and spots to fly over, plus I like the smell of sectionals even more than a magic marker…..”), its not easy to keep them folded in a nice and useful shape.
As a possible solution, Todd then mentioned a useful tool called SkySectionals that was developed by Eric Boles. SkySectionals can be downloaded and printed on demand and Todd proceeded to mention their pros and cons with the biggest con of all being all of the printer ink you will use to print them out.
At the end of his post though, Todd concluded:
All in all I think it is a creative solution and for the uber-organized it is probable a gift from above. I think for my needs I will likely stick with the standard sectional, something about the smell of them I just can’t live without.
Nevertheless and if you are an uber-organized pilot, you may want to check out Eric’s product.