Familiarity, Contempt

If youve been flying for very long, its likely theres a route you frequently use. It could be a quick out-and-back to the nearest $100 hamburger or cheapest avgas, or an hours-long trek to Grandmas house. Its something youve flown often and know well enough to almost do it without a chart. You understand the topography along the way, where the bolt holes are and how any weather may influence the flight. You may even have a couple of the frequencies memorized, along with expected ATC routings.

Joseph E. (Jeb) Burnside

Sunday, September 30, 2018 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Familiarity with a flight route can lead to complacency and "getthereitis," causing pilots to underestimate or ignore severe weather hazards.
A non-instrument rated pilot, despite extensive mountain experience, crashed after continuing a VFR flight into severe instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), icing, and hazardous mountain wave winds without proper weather briefings.
The accident underscores the critical importance of thorough pre-flight weather assessment and the need to make safe decisions, such as diverting or canceling a flight, rather than pushing through adverse conditions.

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If you’ve been flying for very long, it’s likely there’s a route you frequently use. It could be a quick out-and-back to the nearest $100 hamburger or cheapest avgas, or an hours-long trek to Grandma’s house. It’s something you’ve flown often and know well enough to almost do it without a chart. You understand the topography along the way, where the bolt holes are and how any weather may influence the flight. You may even have a couple of the frequencies memorized, along with expected ATC routings.

I have a few routes meeting that definition. A couple of them are relatively benign in poor weather. The sketchier routes generally involve unforgiving terrain, the kind that can combine with strong winds and/or convective activity to make flying conditions worse than might be expected over flatter areas. The Appalachian Mountains on the east coast and pretty much anything west of Texas meet this criterion.