Accident Probes

No matter what its called-flight following, VFR advisories or the FAAs official term, Radar Traffic Information Service-the radar-based assistance ATC provides VFR pilots to help them identify and avoid nearby traffic often can be a mystery to pilots. The reasons why are complicated- often involving lazy instructors and low-level training flights that rarely use ATC-but its not uncommon for a freshly certificated pilot to not know how to obtain VFR flight following.

Out flying about here in Idaho, its amazing the kind of useful cargo that gets thrown into a typical personal airplane. Personally, Ive flown white gas, propane, butane, isobutene, bear spray, flares, magnesium metal, petroleum jelly-soaked cotton, windproof matches, fire starter, resin wood, radioactive materials, guns and ammunition. And thats just my emergency kit. I also usually carry (mostly) full tanks of aviation fuel and an engine filled with oil. You probably do, also.

For almost as long as Ive been flying, the general aviation industry has been in upheaval. By the mid-1980s, product liability concerns and tax law changes helped remove what was propping up things, and the bottom fell out. Among other outcomes, Cessna stopped making piston-powered airplanes altogether while other manufacturers discontinued numerous models, preferring to concentrate on one or two.

At one time or another, weve all passed an FAA knowledge test requiring us to calculate aircraft performance for various phases of flight, such as takeoff, cruise and landing. Even though weve been trained and tested on our ability to interpolate the answer down to the foot, mile, minute or gallon, these calculations alone dont ensure were always operating the aircraft prudently. For one thing, they dont account for poor technique, worn equipment or errors.

There is nothing wrong with the traffic pattern as it stands today. Just like with the emphasis on AOA indicators, we are not concentrating on proper training, which is the only way to reduce LOC-I accidents. Your article on slow flight (Revising Slow Flight, February 2017) was a great example of what CFIs should be adding to their flight reviews and checkrides.

For almost as long as Ive been flying, the general aviation industry has been in upheaval. By the mid-1980s, product liability concerns and tax law changes helped remove what was propping up things, and the bottom fell out. Among other outcomes, Cessna stopped making piston-powered airplanes altogether while other manufacturers discontinued numerous models, preferring to concentrate on one or two.

The FAA in late February released an updated list of reports detailing sightings of unmanned aircraft systems, or drones. The sightings were reported by pilots, air traffic controllers, law enforcement personnel and citizens concerned the drones posed the threat of potential collisions or other encounters with the drones. The latest data covers February through September 2016, and includes a sharp increase-1274 new reports compared with 874 for the same period in 2015.

Most of us fly from nice, long, level and wide paved runways with minimal obstructions. Whether for fun, variety or vocation, others of us use less-developed runways and airports, most notably back-country airstrips. All of us know that whenever were off the beaten path-a term holding different meanings for different people-the risk of whatever flight operations we engage in goes up. While Ive done my share of off-pavement operations, most of them were to or from well-maintained grass runways with clear approach and departure paths, or from sometimes-remote lakes using a seaplane. So Im a little familiar with the roll your own style of flight operations in which many pilots engage.

At about 0937 Mountain time, the airplane was destroyed when it collided with mountainous terrain. The private pilot and three passengers were fatally injured. Instrument conditions prevailed.Radar data show the airplane reached its cruising altitude of approximately 8000 feet msl some 12 minutes after takeoff. The airplane subsequently descended about 1300 feet in one minute before entering a momentary climb, which was followed by a shallow descent. In the remaining two and a half minutes, the airplane maintained a 300 fpm descent rate, with some intermittent climbs. The final two radar targets show the airplane climbed about 425 feet in 12 seconds. The airplane maintained a straight track from its departure airport to the last radar target, which was within 0.1 nm of the 6670 feet msl accident site.

Every instrument approach procedure we fly ends in one of two ways: We either see the runway environment and land, perhaps after circling to align ourselves with a runway, or we dont. When we dont, we fly a missed approach procedure designed to get the aircraft back to a safe altitude and position from which the next steps can be taken. Those next steps can include trying the same approach again, shooting a different one or diverting to a different airport. Its not that hard.