Flying brings pilots into all kinds of unexpected meteorological hazards. Normally we present you with introductory articles about these topics so you can understand what they are, where they occur, and how they work. But sometimes presenting an actual case study from NTSB reports really drives the point home. We see the hazard vividly from the perspective of those who faced this same sort of trouble. We can see actual data reconstructed from that day, challenging us to ask questions for, hopefully, a safer outcome for ourselves.
To illustrate: You’ve probably forgotten the fog information we went over in May 2013, but many of us have pored through pages about the events that took place on a foggy runway in Tenerife in 1977, and pondered what we might have done in the same situation. We tend to not forget this kind of information very easily. So this month, we turn to the NTSB archives, special data collections, and my own expertise to study the mistakes and oversights that led to weather-related tragedies. Our goal is to recreate the event, discuss the underlying weather, and find the lessons that can be learned.
