US Airways Flight 1549
So, the plane-in-the-Hudson thing. At the risk of tempting fate — because as more than one person has noted, many a captain has been hailed as a hero on Sunday only to be hung out to dry on Monday — it looks like Cactus 1549 was one of those rare cases where an airliner gets totaled and the flight crew’s careers don’t. Hundreds of articles have already been written about this incident — some by people who actually know what they’re talking about. So I’d like to focus on two things which really piqued my curiosity. Glider Training: Did It Make a Difference? Much has been made of the Captain Chesley Sullenberger’s years of experience in the cockpit, but one thing on his resume stands out: he holds a commercial...
Read MoreMOA Flying
There are many types of “special use” airspace out there. One of the most prevalent is a Military Operations Area, or MOA. According to the Aeronautical Information Manual (Sec. 3-4-5): a. MOAs consist of airspace of defined vertical and lateral limits established for the purpose of separating certain military training activities from IFR traffic. Whenever a MOA is being used, nonparticipating IFR traffic may be cleared through a MOA if IFR separation can be provided by ATC. Otherwise, ATC will reroute or restrict nonparticipating IFR traffic. b. Examples of activities conducted in MOAs include, but are not limited to: air combat tactics, air intercepts, aerobatics, formation training, and low-altitude tactics. Military pilots flying in an active MOA...
Read MoreLimitations
I think Harry Callahan said it best: a man’s got to know his limitations. Loathe as we may be to admit it, we all have limitations. Our bodies can only go so long without food, water, and sleep. The mind can only process so quickly, the memory retain so much, the senses absorb so much input before they cease to function properly. Likewise, the equipment we fly has limits, too. Airspeed, temperature, pressure, altitude, RPM, weight, center of gravity, and other limitations must be understood and respected if we want our aircraft to respond in a predictable manner. This is something every pilot learns from the very first day of training, and those limitations look him or her square in the face on every flight. From color coded markings on the gauges to...
Read MoreAnother Reason to Fly GA
As a pilot, it’s my job to consider everything that might go wrong on a flight and have a plan of action for dealing with it. But I can honestly say I’ve never thought about this scenario: British Airways has issued an apology to a first class passenger on a flight from Delhi to London last week who woke up to find himself next to a dead body. The cabin crew had used an unoccupied seat in his row for the body of an elderly woman who had died in the crowded economy section about three hours after takeoff. Paul Trinder, 54, told the Mirror and Sun tabloids that he woke at 30,000 feet to discover the flight crew strapping the body into the seat near him. “I woke to see the cabin crew manoeuvring what looked like a sack of potatoes into the seat....
Read MoreLegacy/Gol Accident: Ignorance Is Bliss
Selling crazy on the internet is nothing new, but for some reason it’s really getting under my skin as it regards the Legacy/Gol accident. I got into it the other day on an internet forum with someone who was sure the bizjet crew had to be at fault, yet couldn’t explain why. Can anyone out there explain to me why the Legacy crew was under house arrest for two months? Whatever the suspected cause of the accident, the detainment was a violation of the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) 1963 Tokyo Convention, something to which every ICAO signatory subscribes. As far as I can tell, the crux of the detainment stems from the fact that “the pilots did not stick to their flight plan”. To those who are not aviators, that...
Read More“Over The Airwaves” and the GA Fatal Accident Rate
Many of us in the aviation world have recently come to know the name Robert Miller. Mr. Miller is an east coast CFI and the author of Over the Airwaves. OTA’s masthead describes it as ”the bi-weekly journal for the proficient pilot”. I’ve been reading Over the Airwaves for about a year and find that I agree with Mr. Miller on many points. He’s obviously dedicated to the issue of flight safety and a proponent of realistic, recurrent training which exceeds the Practical Test Standards and embraces the real-world aspects of flying. I continue to read OTA and learn a lot from it. And I should note that his dedication to publishing Over the Airwaves is admirable. One can’t help but stand in awe of the many hours it...
Read MoreBells and Whistles
I perused the recent archives here at the House of Rapp and was surprised at how often I write about aircraft accidents. It may seem morbid. But ever since I started working as a CFI, I am conscious of the fact that with my own personal approval, pilots go hurling off into the clouds in new, high tech, 3/4 ton aircraft crusing at nearly 200 mph. That’s a big responsibility, and as such it occupies a lot of my thoughts. When an incident occurs, I want to learn everything possible from it so that I — and more importantly, those I’m charged with teaching — avoid the same fate. John’s Killing Zone article got me thinking about the recent Cirrus SR20 accident in New York City. I’m not sure what happened there. I’ll...
Read MoreForced Landing
Conventional wisdom – and statistics — tell us that a mechanical engine failure in a properly maintained aircraft is quite rare. Engine stoppage is usually caused by the dummy in the pilot seat. Fuel exhaustion is by far the leading cause. Engine and fuel system mismanagement are also possibilities. There’s no shortage of creativity in this department. Until recently, I didn’t know very many people who’d ever experienced a mechanical failure of a certified aircraft powerplant. But at the last aerobatic contest I encountered no less than three people who’ve recently had one (there were also two prop strikes, but that’s a story for another time). The reasons were varied: cylinder failure, fuel...
Read MoreKeep It Flying
I spent the weekend up in Susanville with some friends. We departed out of Oxnard Airport on Friday and apparently made the front page of the newspaper as we did so: That’s our Skylane in the background. According to the newspaper article, the Warrior in the foreground had experienced an engine failure after takeoff and the pilot elected to return to the airport. Unfortunately, he didn’t have enough altitude to make it all the way back. The aircraft touched down in a field west of the runway and collided with an SUV as it crossed a public road. Considering the open farm fields that litter the west end of OXR’s runway, attempting to turn around may not have been the best option. On the other hand, I give the pilot credit for resisting...
Read MoreAccident Investigation Leads to TFR
FDC 6/4280 ZLA CA.. FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS 25 W PALM SPRINGS, CA. EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. PURSUANT TO 14 CFR SECTION 91.137(A)(2) TEMPORARY FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS ARE IN EFFECT WITHIN A 3 NAUTICAL MILE RADIUS OF 340223N/1165315W OR THE PALM SPRINGS /PSP/ VORTAC 281.0 DEGREE RADIAL AT 25.0 NAUTICAL MILES AT AND BELOW 11000 FEET MSL TO PROVIDE A SAFE ENVIRONMENT FOR ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION. The TFR text says it’s for “accident investigation”. I wonder if this is the accident they’re referring to: YUCAIPA, Calif. – Authorities have located the wreckage of a plane owned by Cessna Aircraft that crashed Tuesday in steep terrain in San Bernardino County. Both men on board, a Cessna employee and the president of an aircraft sales...
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