Pilot Proficiency

Sky Kings: Safety Cause du Jour

Monday, March 13, 2017 at 07:49 PM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

The Colgan Air Flight 3407 crash, which killed 50, resulted from pilots performing an incorrect stall recovery (pulling back on the yoke and reducing flaps) that defied standard wing stall training.
This incorrect recovery was attributed to mandatory airline training that required viewing a NASA video on tailplane stalls, which taught the exact actions the pilots took, despite the Q400 aircraft not being susceptible to tailplane stalls and the recovery being inappropriate for a wing stall.
The article critiques governmental "zeal" in aviation safety initiatives, arguing that actions like the inappropriate training video or the 1,500-hour rule can have dangerous, unintended consequences that ultimately undermine safety.

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Martha King and John King take turns writing Sky Kings. They have shared flying and teaching aviation for more than 50 years.