Stupid Pilot Tricks

Sure as the BRS Save-O-The-Month calendar flips to a new year, we here at the Department of Self-Righteous Finger Pointing, present the best of the dumbest ways pilots have contributed to keeping the skies safe by rendering as many aircraft as possible unairworthy. Today, we review the year 2016, which reflected a modest improvement in not crashing but still logged 1627 accident/incidents worthy of NTSB note. Thats 4.46 events per day or roughly one prang every 5.3 hours. As with past Stupid Pilot Tricks, we use NTSB probable cause results and dont report on fatal accidents.

pberge

Thursday, December 26, 2019 at 12:00 AM ET

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Key Takeaways:

The article humorously reviews a variety of "stupid pilot tricks" from 2016, detailing numerous preventable aircraft accidents and incidents.
Common pilot errors highlighted include runway excursions, dangerously low-altitude flying often leading to collisions with obstacles, and misjudging aircraft performance in challenging conditions.
Many incidents stemmed from poor pilot judgment, inadequate pre-flight checks, improper assembly of homebuilt aircraft, or attempting flights without proper training or despite clear safety warnings.
The author uses a sarcastic and irreverent tone to underscore the recurring pattern of pilot error, often suggesting a failure to learn from past mistakes.

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Sure as the BRS Save-O’-The-Month calendar flips to a new year, we here at the Department of Self-Righteous Finger Pointing, present the best of the dumbest ways pilots have contributed to keeping the skies safe by rendering as many aircraft as possible unairworthy. Today, we review the year 2016, which reflected a modest improvement in not crashing but still logged 1627 accident/incidents worthy of NTSB note. That’s 4.46 events per day or roughly one prang every 5.3 hours. As with past Stupid Pilot Tricks, we use NTSB “probable cause” results and don’t report on fatal accidents.

Having written, edited or read these stupid highlights for 20 years, I’ve concluded that some things are inevitable. Examples: If you own a Luscombe Model 8 two-seat taildragger you will crash it. Inevitable. Those flying Cessna 180/185s—especially in Alaska—will ground loop and nose-over. In fact, if you fly anything in Alaska, you’ll crash. Can’t be avoided. And if you think you’re safe in the dullest of airplanes, the Cessna 172, you are … until you run out of gas, because it seems—and I’m basing this scientific analysis on NTSB data—every Cessna 172 runs out of gas and crashes. No one knows why.