Lessons Learned From Flying the Mail

After more than 30 years and 25,000 hours of flying as a freight dog, this pilot knew the unexpected and unplanned would happen.

Frank Perfetti

Tuesday, March 14, 2023 at 10:57 AM ET

Verified

[Credit: Joel Kimmel]

Key Takeaways:

After a close call with unforecast zero-visibility fog and insufficient fuel, the pilot learned the critical importance of always carrying adequate fuel for alternatives, carefully selecting alternate airports, and understanding all legal landing options like contact approaches.
Incidents involving a failed de-icing boot during severe icing and a turbocharger failure highlighted the necessity of deep aircraft system knowledge, maintaining situational awareness, and prioritizing "flying the airplane first" before making critical decisions in emergencies.
Throughout a 30-year career, the pilot emphasized that unexpected challenges (unforecast weather, mechanical failures) are inevitable, and the key to handling them is to stop, think through the situation, and apply accumulated lessons learned to make safe and informed decisions.

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In 1976, I was an inexperienced 24-year-old pilot when I got my first “real” flying job. I was hired by a small commuter airline to fly mail at night and passengers during the day in Piper Navajo and Navajo Chieftain twins.

A normal sequence started on day one at 10:30 p.m. in Charleston, West Virginia, flying east to Baltimore, Maryland, then back west to Martinsburg, West Virginia, then further west, ending in Cumberland, Maryland, at 3:30 a.m. the next morning. At 11:30 a.m. on day two, I would fly passenger runs until 9 p.m., then at 9:30 p.m., pick up the airmail run back to Charleston, finishing up around 1:30 a.m. on the third day. At every stop, I had to unload and reload 1,600 pounds of mail and somewhere find time to check the weather and get something to eat.