I was sad to read an article in the Houston Chronicle this week reporting that a pilot died after colliding with another airplane near Lake Conroe outside of Houston, Texas. The report said the two airplanes were flying as part of a formation flight of seven homebuilt airplanes. While I have no knowledge of the pilots’ level of formation flying experience or why they collided, I do know that this type of flying is a skill that requires a lot of training. By that I don’t mean any practice, but training obtained by a highly skilled formation flying instructor.
Formation instruction is not legally required. FAR §91.111, which governs operations near other airplanes, states that: “No person may operate an aircraft in formation flight except by arrangement with the pilot in command of each aircraft in the formation.” This minimum legal requirement for formation flight should be obvious, but apparently pilots have been foolish enough to fly in formation without prior communication with the other pilot or pilots. A very thorough and detailed briefing covering objectives, limitations, frequencies, and procedural details for each segment of the flight from startup to shutdown is necessary so that all the pilots in the formation (whether they’re two or 20) know exactly what to expect during the flight.
