Risk Management

One of my fondest memories in aviation was the first flight I took in a Skyhawk. Even though my parents kept a kindergarten assignment where I said my goal in life was to be a pilot (after my career as an astronaut and a monster truck driver), I did not pursue aviation until after my […]

Due to Alaska’s wide-ranging geography and limited road system, residents are heavily dependent upon air travel. In October, the FAA released the final report of its Alaska Aviation Safety Initiative (FAASI), which provides an up-to-date look at the continued problems plaguing the state’s aviation infrastructure. Completed in response to a 2020 recommendation from the NTSB, […]

One thing all pilots feel at some point on any flight is a sense of pressure. On a good-day local flight, it could be something as simple and routine as wanting to make an “are-we-down-yet-smooth” landing to impress someone. At the other extreme might be a boss who absolutely, positively needs to be at a […]

A lot of ink and pixels have been spilled over the years to discuss, explore and define what is called aeronautical decision-making, or ADM. The overall topic has its own chapter in the FAA’s Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (PHAK), a rather dated Advisory Circular—AC 60-22, “Aeronautical Decision Making”—and a series of FAA FAASTeam courses […]

Stop me if you’ve heard this story before. Some of the details may vary here and there, but the general plot is always the same. I had a morning departure time, right in that sweet spot where you are going to hit rush hour traffic no matter what time you leave. We rush to get […]

When considering the industry’s take on risk management, one of the arrows in the quiver is something called personal minimums. One idea behind personal minimums is that the FAA’s regulations are minimum standards—we’re free to exceed them: If VFR requires three miles and 1000 feet, why not bump that up to five miles and 2000 […]

I’ve long maintained that one of the most dangerous things in general aviation is two pilots trying to fly the same airplane at the same time. The problem is that, eventually, one pilot will come to think the other one is flying the plane while the second pilot knows they’re not flying it. The inevitable […]

On September 5, 2013, a hunter near Glenallen, Alaska, was killed in a crash while searching for a moose he had earlier shot and field-dressed. According to a friend who was hunting with him, the pilot had failed to mark the area where the carcass could be found before hiking away from the site and […]

Over the years, I’ve cancelled several planned flights, answering the go/no-go question in the negative. Many other flights got rescheduled and were completed—either earlier or later than the original plan—while only a handful were attempted but never completed, at least not in keeping with the original plan. Weather has been the most frequent reason for […]

Every certificated pilot has had the pleasure of flying with the FAA or an agency-designated pilot examiner. It can be a stressful experience. The plane, the pilot and the preparation are all under a higher level of scrutiny than on a normal flight. You want to do everything right, and generally portray yourself as a […]