Aviation Safety

In reference to A Better Mousetrap [Reality Check, November], logic fails to explain the complete prohibition on antidepressant medication for aviation. Depression is common, especially among middle-aged men and people who have given up smoking, which is why Zyban – an antidepressant – is often prescribed as an aid to smoking cessation.

Depression is treatable but, as with most mental illnesses, it is prone to widespread misconception. Prozac, for example, is widely equated with Thorazine – a tranquilizer that turns agitated people into placid, happy zombies.

Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Celexa, drugs that combat the most common forms of depression and anxiety disorder, are selective ser…

I would like to comment about your editorial on shortage of flight instructors [Editors Log, November].

For several years I flew for a commuter airline. At 50 I was told I did not meet their pilot profile and I should quit. I also had personal problems at home, so I left to be closer to home.

I decided to go back into flight instruction. For the next three years I worked six and sometimes seven days a week, sometimes from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. in order to accommodate students. All for only a four-figure income a year.

Three years later I found a job on a assembly line. It only pays a couple of dollars above minimum wage, but it doubled my yearly income. I continued doing flight instr…

The following briefs were selected from the 111 preliminary reports filed with the NTSB in December 2000. Statements in quotes were taken directly from the NTSB documents. The information is subject to change as the investigations are completed. Click here to view “Accident Totals, December.”

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Dec. 2, Cross Keys, N.J.
Cessna 152
At approximately 11:32 eastern time, a Cessna 152 was substantially damaged during takeoff from Cross Keys Airport. The two occupants were not injured. The pilot, who held a flight instructor certificate and was flying from the right seat, reported that the controls felt spongy during tak…

Airplanes share the air with birds and the ground with animals. Unfortunately, bird strikes and animal strikes are a serious economic and safety problem.

Researchers estimate that wildlife strikes have cost the civil aviation industry more than $300 million a year every year for the last decade. Add in the cost to military aircraft, and the costs resulting from wildlife strikes likely exceed $500 million a year in North America alone. The cost isnt just financial, either. More than 300 people have been killed worldwide from bird strikes.

Many airports are located close to water and have large expanses of grass – both of which are attractive to birds and other wildlife. Many times the…

The moment of truth often comes at the end of a flight, when the rubber reaches for the runway for the first time. All too often, thats when the ride begins. Watch the traffic at any airport for any length of time and youre sure to see ballooning and bouncing – control errors when the airplane is in its most vulnerable state.

Ballooning and bouncing are related in that they are both caused by over-controlling or misjudging the descent rate. They can happen in a hurry. Lower the flaps too late or flare before lift has decreased enough and you balloon upward. Similarly, you can expect a bounce if you flare too late or otherwise hit the runway with too much energy. Each problem has a solut…

An occasional layoff from flying isnt that uncommon for most general aviation pilots. There are many possible reasons: weather, workload, a family or personal emergency, a job change or move from one part of the country to another, illness, or a host of other reasons beyond your control.

A layoff from VFR flying isnt the end of the world, although your skills can certainly get rusty. A layoff from flying IFR, however, can result in a fairly rapid decline in important skills youll need to stay ahead of the airplane during poor weather.

Whats most important – regardless of how you got here – is recognizing that youve been out of the IFR cockpit for too long and want to get back.If…

A balmy summer day. A low-and-slow taildragger. Some would say there is no better way to wind up a weekend fly-in than a leisurely trip back home, accompanied by a few friends in their nearly identical airplanes.

Flying with friends has its share of joys. The camaraderie is great when droning along. Theres always a friendly face – and someone to have lunch with – during fuel stops. And pooling experience gives some of the advantages of a multi-pilot cockpit, even if those multiple pilots are in different cockpits.

But there are also some dangers, as well. The temptation to fly in formation, even loosely, cannot be ignored. Peer pressure may lead you into weather conditions that make…

Judging from the NTSBs files, more than a few pilots have had the misfortune of encountering flutter. Whether induced by the pilots actions or by improper maintenance procedures, flutter is a very serious problem that requires instant corrective action in flight. The stakes are high. Flutter can disfigure your airframe or even rip it apart.

I personally encountered flutter in flight a few years ago – and at a speed that greatly surprised me because it was relatively low.

I was in a sailplane working an afternoon thermal with my wife in the front seat. I was circling in the thermal at about 55 knots when the wing started to vibrate. It was enough that we definitely felt it in the coc…

• Myth number 1: If you encounter an accidental spin, unload angle of attack and hold the control wheel/stick full forward.

• Myth number 2: If you snap out of control accidentally, hold full throttle to keep the air flowing over the tail and drive it out with power.

• Myth number 3: Weight and balance is not a problem as long as only one or two people are aboard.

• Myth number 4: I know the airplane is not certified for spins but I spin mine all the time so it must be safe.

• Myth number 5: In an accidental spin, use standard light plane spin recovery procedures.

Myth numbers 1 and 2 are alive and well. Consider the following mishaps:

Th…

Just imagine an early U.S. Mail pilot boarding the train with his mail pouch to continue westbound to deliver the mail. This may have been one of the earliest encounters of pilot vs. thunderstorm, with the pilot being unable to complete the flight as planned.

Have the odds changed with the advent of new technologies? General aviation pilots now have lightning detectors, improved ATC radar and communications, and some even are equipped with on-board color weather radar. Armed with these tools, should pilots reconsider the advice of their first flight instructors, who preached the merits of not even flying in the same county as a thunderstorm?

My first experiences in flying around thund…