Checkride Pink Slips

Joseph E. (Jeb) Burnside

Saturday, May 06, 2023 at 07:40 PM ET

Verified

Weather hazards from our winds-aloft chart to the bottom left are shown here.

Key Takeaways:

The author disputes the implication in an "Accident Probe" article that a pilot's history of checkride disapprovals is relevant to an accident, arguing it doesn't indicate a "bad pilot."
He contends that failing checkrides is common and successfully retaking them demonstrates persistence, also suggesting that disapprovals could reflect on instructors who signed off the pilot.
The author advocates for evaluating accidents based on concrete factors, similar to the NTSB's approach, rather than speculative character assessments from certification files.
The editor clarified that the NTSB, not the magazine, highlighted the pilot's record in its report, and also noted factors like an over-gross aircraft and probable moderate-to-heavy icing.

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Thank you for Aviation Safety magazine. It’s exceptional. But I do have an issue with April’s Accident Probe entry, “Exceeding Capabilities.”

As you know, aircraft certified for flight into known icing conditions, both single pilot and crew-piloted, have succumbed to in-flight icing. More recently, as you also know, an aeromedical operation flying single- and crew-piloted King Air were lost to what appears to be icing-related accidents. By all accounts, those were professional pilots in good standing.