Aviation Safety

Many instrument-rated pilots struggle to maintain their proficiency for IFR. Logging the six approaches, holding procedures and course intercepts/tracking required by FAR 61.57(c) can be quite the challenge for pilots who fly infrequently or who are based in regions where good weather is routine. Simulators and training devices can be major boosts to maintaining proficiency, especially when focused on maintaining instrument scanning skills and practicing IFR procedures. But when it comes to flying personal aircraft in the clag, theres nothing that beats practicing in the real thing.

I often verbalize the last item on my preflight checklist just before taxiing onto an active runway and ask, aloud, How could this flight kill me? I run through all the Big Stuff in my mind, mentally ticking off each item that meets the criterion from an imaginary checklist. Its similar to the FAAs PAVE model- Pilot, Aircraft, environment and External pressures-but theres also a factor that doesnt quite fit the acronym: the payload. Call it PAVE-Load, or LPAVE.

Most of the time, the typical pilot flying the typical airplane will be in a straight-and-level attitude. When it comes time to join a traffic pattern, for example, enter a holding pattern or fly an ATC vector, we abandon straight-and-level for turning flight. When we turn, we change the airplanes aerodynamics-the degree of change depends quite literally on the degree of bank-and one outcome can be uncoordinated flight. Ideally, we all would be adept at maintaining coordinated flight, in turns and other maneuvers.

According to those who have done extensive research into pilot behavior, a major characteristic of a typical pilots decision-making often leading to a fatal accident is that we are highly mission-oriented. We continue to focus on getting to the destination even as weather and mechanical issues progressively go down the tubes. The accompanying stress results in tunnel vision and reduces our ability to objectively analyze the big picture. One result can be very capable pilots pressing on into conditions that ultimately bring the flight to an ugly conclusion.

under the control of a pilot

That was my inner voice screaming. My actual voice asking, What the *&^%* is going on? at least three times. It was a sudden, instantaneous event. One moment, I was trundling along in my Comanche 250 climbing slowly eastward over the Sierras, looking out at clear blue skies as the autopilot dutifully tracked the GPS toward my destination. Then, bam! The cabin filled with an acrid-smelling cloud. I could not see the instrument panel.

In recent months, weve highlighted the general aviation industrys efforts supporting federal legislation to ease existing FAA requirements to hold a medical certificate for many non-commercial flight operations. Both AOPA and EAA have worked hard on this project for several years, and U.S. Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) earlier this year spearheaded the effort with his Pilots Bill of Rights 2 (PBOR2). As this issue of the magazine was being prepared, some additional details were publicized, designed to help ensure the bills passage. Its always risky predicting Congressional action, but that could happen around the time this hits your mailbox. The results probably wont look like the original PBOR2, however.

The following information is derived from the FAAs Service Difficulty Reports and Aviation Maintenance Alerts.

Heres a question for you about ground effect, prompted by your article, Using Ground Effect, in the October 2015 issue, and specifically the statement: We all should know ground effect is only encountered…well, close to a flat surface, be it liquid or solid, but sometimes we forget.

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