The National Transportation Safety Board’s determination that a** 29-year-old Cessna pilot’s use of his cell phone to take selfies in flight caused a crash** that killed him and a passenger has a lot of folks scratching their heads. For starters, there’s no evidence that the pilot was taking pictures with his cell phone when the crash occurred. The pilot was flying in IMC on a VFR flight — at night, without being Instrument or night current, no less.
Given the preponderance of available evidence, isn’t it sufficient to say this pilot was engaging in a number of unsafe practices without jumping to the conclusion that distractions from a cell phone camera played a role in the accident?
Well, it turns out there’s plenty of evidence that distractions at low altitude are a recipe for just the type of stall/spin accident that killed the Cessna pilot and his passenger. And it doesn’t have to be a flight at night in low visibility. Even pilots flying on clear days have become distracted in the traffic pattern — by the runway, other aircraft or a passenger’s impromptu question — and ended up stalling and spinning in.
It’s one of the main reasons why we practice stalls. We need to understand all the subtle signs and symptoms of an imminent stall so we can keep them from happening in the first place.
Still, it’s equally as important that we don’t let our attention wander during these most critical phases of flight, such as on departure or when setting up for landing, when we’re low and slow and facing the greatest risk of losing control.
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