Some recent fatal accidents have highlighted that general aviation pilots sometimes forget where they are and simply presume they have the performance and terrain clearance to motor off toward their destination after takeoff. That’s a result of complacency in the cockpit, aided and abetted by ATC giving us vectors when departing airports served by a local radar-equipped facility. That complacency means we often fail to follow published departure procedures when they’re not part of our clearance. Even in visual conditions, we can fail to properly consider our airplane’s inability to outclimb surrounding terrain. At night or in IMC, we won’t be able to see what hit us before it’s too late.
The thing is, an Obstacle Departure Procedure (ODP) isn’t always listed as such on your EFB. Sometimes it’ll come up as takeoff minimums, which Part 91 operators can ignore. Finding the actual ODP can require digging around unfamiliar references for text-only descriptions. Some ODPs may require climbing VFR over the airport before proceeding on what passes for a departure routing. When the weather doesn’t cooperate, you’re grounded. Much of this is well-hidden from pilots who don’t make the extra effort to research it.
