Editor’s note: For our July 2021 Accident Probe, Oshkosh Or Bust, we explored an accident involving a non-instrument-rated pilot who took off into dark night IMC and crashed into an open field near the airport, killing himself and his passenger. This month’s accident is eerily similar, except both occupants were instrument-rated commercial pilots. The underlying reasons for both accidents differ somewhat, but they share a common goal: flying to Oshkosh, Wis., for the annual air show. Get-there-itis is a real thing.
The FAA’s Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (PHAK, FAA-H-8083-25B) discusses five hazardous attitudes pilots may harbor. It defines “attitude” as “a motivational predisposition to respond to people, situations, or events in a given manner.” A hazardous attitude, meanwhile, “can interfere with the ability to make sound decisions and exercise authority properly,” according to the PHAK. As we’ll see, this month’s accident has the “anti-authority” hazardous attitude interwoven throughout.
