Flying in a Thunderstorm

Pilots get a pass for confessing to the Aviation Safety Reporting System, while the private sector (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University), not the U.S. government, maintains one of the largest online repositories of NTSB accident documents. Theres no shortage of lessons to be learned and a great culture of diffusing this hard-won wisdom. So, lets delve into a few randomly selected NTSB accident reports, supplemented by any available press stories.

Tim Vasquez

Tuesday, July 12, 2016 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Even seemingly weak thunderstorms and their associated outflow boundaries or gust fronts pose significant, often underestimated, risks of severe wind shear and turbulence, leading to accidents even when outside direct precipitation.
Consistent adherence to the "avoid thunderstorms by 20 nautical miles" rule is critical, as failing to do so (whether due to "get-there-itis" or ignoring warnings) repeatedly results in fatal outcomes, regardless of pilot experience.
Pilot judgment errors, such as attempting VFR flight at night near active storm systems or underestimating the severity of local weather phenomena, are crucial contributing factors to aviation tragedies.

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There’s an ancient quote that says “wise men learn from their mistakes, but wiser men learn from the mistakes of others.” There is probably no industry or profession where this is more true than in American aviation.

Pilots get a pass for confessing to the Aviation Safety Reporting System, while the private sector (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University), not the U.S. government, maintains one of the largest online repositories of NTSB accident documents. There’s no shortage of lessons to be learned and a great culture of diffusing this hard-won wisdom.