See and be seen

[Guest SrPilot]

The NTSB (United States National Transportation Safety Board) has just released a Safety Bulletin entitled: "See and Be Seen: Your Life Depends on It Maintaining Separation from Other Aircraft."

 

It is interesting, even essential reading for pilots. The following link provides the Bulletin for reading and/or downloading and printing:

 

http://www.ntsb.gov/safety/safety-alerts/Documents/SA_045.pdf

 

The Bulletin begins with "the problem" (mid-air collisions), moves to a discussion of four mid-air collisions in the US over the past few years, then turns to how pilots can minimize the chance of a mid-air.

 

The Bulletin concludes with a list of links to a number of safety circulars and websites on the topic. The circulars can be downloaded; the websites visited for further information. One publication is "How to Avoid a Mid-Air Collision." -- available here: http://www.faasafety.gov/gslac/ALC/libview_normal.aspx?id=6851

 

AvWeb also discusses the NTSB Safety Bulletin at:

 

http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archives/101/3065-full.html?ET=avweb:e3065:429440a:&st=email#224210

 

As pilots we have great powers in a 3-dimensional world. Thus, like Spiderman, we must realize that "'With great power comes great responsibility.' This is my gift, my curse." We all have a responsibility to know how to avoid mid-air collisions and use that knowledge to do exactly that.

 

Glass cockpits and wide-open spaces can lead to a failure to look-see-and-avoid. We cannot let it be so.