Aviation Safety

I hope you’re sitting down for this: The U.S. House of Representatives actually passed some legislation a few weeks ago. Even more amazing is that the bill, the Small Airplane Revitalization Act (SARA), now has been signed into law. The new law requires the FAA to implement recommendations made by the agency’s Part 23 Reorganization Aviation Rulemaking Committee (Part 23 ARC) before December 31, 2015.

I’m a 1500-hour, instrument-rated commercial pilot and have subscribed to your excellent publication since 1991. I recommend it as required reading. I write to comment on the October 2013 issue’s article, “Real-World Nordo.”

At 1820 Pacific time, the airplane veered off the right side of a runway and collided with a hangar. The private pilot and three passengers were fatally injured, and the airplane was destroyed by a post-crash fire. Visual conditions prevailed; an IFR flight plan had been in effect.

We see it happen here all too often. The Franklin County Airport in Sewanee, Tenn., sits at the western edge of the Cumberland Plateau. During cooler months, northwest winds are thrust up the side of the plateau and swirl back down toward the airport. Tall trees surround the runway and make the airport difficult to see throughout the approach. Pilots in the pattern are greeted by updrafts followed by downdrafts that can make landing on our 50-by-3700-foot runway a challenge.

No matter how much automation we fly behind, no matter how many air-data computers are installed and no matter how simple it is, it’s likely a pitot-static system—pretty much like the one Lindbergh flew across the Atlantic—is what generates airspeed and some other basic flight information aboard the aircraft we fly. These systems are relatively simple, consisting of basic sensors, some plumbing and sensitive instrumentation. The difference in air pressure does all the work.

Too often, instrument training can focus only on approaches, those procedures at the end of a flight allowing us to find a runway and land on it. But well before we’re cleared for an approach, we have to take off, climb to altitude and get through the en route system to someplace close to our destination. Sure, approaches are sexy, but other portions of an instrument flight are just as important. Take initial climb and departure, for instance, something at which pilots routinely fail.

It’s often difficult to compare the risks imposed by different activities, but it’s reasonable to state flying a certified single-engine airplane for an hour on a severe-clear day isn’t as risky as spending that same time performing low-level aerobatics in an Experimental airplane. At the same time, and according to John King of King Schools, “you’re more likely to have a fatality in a GA airplane than in a car” when traveling the same distance. If the added risk exposure we get from flying didn’t provide some benefit—more efficient transportation, for example, or pure enjoyment—we might not do it at all. But the simple enjoyment of boring holes in the sky and other benefits outweighs that risk for many of us.

Before we can fly, we probably have to taxi. At sleepy, non-towered facilities, getting from the ramp to the runway and vice versa usually isn’t much of a challenge unless the surface’s condition poses one. Meanwhile, towered facilities and larger airports bring their own challenges.

When you think about it, the rules applying to non-commercial, Part 91 flying are very lenient. We can take off when we want, go pretty much where we want, and don’t need to talk to anyone unless the weather or the location demands it. Still, that’s not enough for some pilots, who perhaps think their skill, experience or immediate needs outweigh the need to comply with even minimal requirements.

As you may know, Congress recently demanded and the FAA implemented changes to rules on the training and experience required before someone can become an airline transport pilot. The new rules go into effect August 1, 2014, and perhaps have created an unintended side effect: Since they impose additional requirements for the knowledge (written) test, if you ever wanted it, now’s a good time to knock out the ATP.