What are you going to do?

[Flyer]

Since the death of our forum mate Browng a few days ago, I have been thinking about all of the accidents recently.

 

What caused them?

 

Were they preventable?

 

What can I do to make myself safer?

 

What is in my control?

 

Preflight briefings. (EFATO)

 

Radio operation.

 

Preflight checks.

 

Ability to ask questions.

 

Practice.

 

Given the list above I now resolve to

 

1. Always do a thorough preflight inspection.

 

2. Always do a preflight briefing (EFATO) that sounds like this:

 

a) should the engine fail on rolling, shut throttle and apply required braking

 

b) EFATO after lift off below 700' immediately lower nose and get best glide, select a field straight ahead or at worst no more than 30deg either side of nose...no turn back !

 

c) EFATO above 700' keep eyes open, should be on crosswind, return to runway may be an option. Get nose down and keep best glide speed. engine failure checks.

 

3. I will always use the radio to alert others of my position.

 

4. If I dont understand something I will ask questions regardless of how stupid they might be.

 

5 Apply the rules of 3.

 

At a minimum every 3 months I will do 3 forced landings, 3 stalls, 3 EFATO's on climbout (at a safe height, say 3000'), 3 precautionary search and landings and 3 circuits. I will grade myself accordingly.

 

Bare in mind that a self grading that is glowing and not in line with what you have achieved is only kidding yourself!!!:;)1:

 

Hopefully this will help me out when something is out of my control such as a major engine expiry..;)

 

What will you do to make yourself safer?? :;)5::;)5:

 

Regards

 

Phil

 

 

[Mathew Ker]

Phil, I too have been thinking about such things. I'm still training, but once (if) qualified, I'll go for a fly with my instructor on a regular basis to ensure bad habits aren't creeping in. I'll do this perhaps once every three to six months, not the mandatory two years (which some pilots seem to be neglecting anyway).

 

I will continue flying and enjoying the freedom that flight provides, but I will mitigate against obvious and avoidable risks. I will ask for help if I exceed my abilities.

 

Cheers, Mathew

 

 

[Guest Fred Bear]

Good thread Phil. A very good one ;) So many precious lives in our sport wasted this year. It is very sad Self-checking is brilliant. I personally do that. If one is not too sure about his/her flying or 'what to do' incase something does go wrong, speak to your CFI. They will be glad that you asked. They will not think that you are stupid or asking the wrong questions. It may save your life one day. Even ask your CFI to come for a fly with you and throw some scenarios your way to see how you perform. Always a good idea. A good example was the other week in the Jabiru. It was decided by our CFI to take Bruce Robins (Instructor at The Oaks) from these forums for a fly with me in the club Jabiru just to 'check me out' after my latest injury. Bruce conducted several engine failures and practiced forced landings with me. First time when the engine died in the Jab what did I do? Lowered the nose. See, thought I was in the Bantam. Nothing major this time but I had 100kts and lowered the nose. Instinctive but it meant a loss of some height. Should raise and aim for that 72kts in the Jab. Might have been over tiger country and that little bit of extra height might have saved my life. Just little things but all make a world of difference. Please all stay safe. I seriously cannot believe just how many accidents there have been of late. We all have people that love us.

 

 

[drifter_driver]

Since the death of our forum mate Browng a few days ago, I have been thinking about all of the accidents recently. What caused them?

Were they preventable?

 

What can I do to make myself safer?

 

What is in my control?

 

Preflight briefings. (EFATO)

 

Radio operation.

 

Preflight checks.

 

Ability to ask questions.

 

Practice.

 

Given the list above I now resolve to

 

1. Always do a thorough preflight inspection.

 

2. Always do a preflight briefing (EFATO) that sounds like this:

 

a) should the engine fail on rolling, shut throttle and apply required braking

 

b) EFATO after lift off below 700' immediately lower nose and get best glide, select a field straight ahead or at worst no more than 30deg either side of nose...no turn back !

 

c) EFATO above 700' keep eyes open, should be on crosswind, return to runway may be an option. Get nose down and keep best glide speed. engine failure checks.

 

3. I will always use the radio to alert others of my position.

 

4. If I dont understand something I will ask questions regardless of how stupid they might be.

 

5 Apply the rules of 3.

 

At a minimum every 3 months I will do 3 forced landings, 3 stalls, 3 EFATO's on climbout (at a safe height, say 3000'), 3 precautionary search and landings and 3 circuits. I will grade myself accordingly.

 

Bare in mind that a self grading that is glowing and not in line with what you have achieved is only kidding yourself!!!:;)1:

 

Hopefully this will help me out when something is out of my control such as a major engine expiry..;)

 

What will you do to make yourself safer?? :;)5::;)5:

 

Regards

 

Phil

good thread phil, just adding couple more of thou shell not's

#fly over tiger country with single engine aircraft

 

#exceed your aircraft's capability to handle weather

 

#exceed your capability to handle your plane-but possess thorough command over full flight envelop of your aircraft if situation arises

 

#fly with low fuel

 

#go places at sunset chasing daylight (bitter experience here)

 

among others

 

 

[Guest brentc]

I would suggest that many of the latest fatalities have involved engine failures.

 

Therefore I would suggest 'stick and rudder' skills could do with a brush-up now and then.

 

Make a habbit of practicing forced landings with a glide approach landing. Next time you are up in the circuit or coming back from a flight, ditch the power on mid downwind or later, make radio calls as per normal and time your arrival on the threshold as you normally would. You might find that you are way out of practice on conducting a power off landing.

 

I recently did half a dozen of these as I had my flight review coming up a couple of days ago. I was a little surprised that I was out of practice, but after a couple I was back on track again. With a bit of practice you'll find yourself being able to land within a metre or two of your proposed landing point.

 

That's just my idea on how to help yourself to prepare for an emergency and it could save your life. Landing on the clear spot versus the top of a tree is usually a winner.

 

 

[Guest Graham Lea]

I am with you!

 

I am always for being aware of the potential for a problem and thinking of how to avoid it.

 

Practice forced landings is good.

 

By the way, I do not know how many of the recent probs are the result of engine failures. Or the pilot in command.

 

But, if this is a problem, Raa should re certify the engines.

 

Or the pilots and their instructors.

 

It would be interesting to see how many of the recent tragedies are GA and Raa to start with. Then go from there.

 

One thing which could be a worry is that many of the ga and raa people who fly do not have recent actual experience...

 

Graham Lea

 

 

[Guest Fred Bear]

All excellent points. Keep them coming. Ian, I was discussing with another forum member on the phone tonight, how about having an Air Safety thread where we can share ideas on pre-flights, general safety info etc? I personally think it would be of great benefit with all the accidents of late. I know you have the Incidents/Accidents thread and this is related to incidents/accidents that have already occurred. How about an air safety one to prevent them? Just a thought...

 

 

[Admin]

Good suggestion Darren but that is why I set up the Aircraft Knowledge base - perhaps that is a forum that could be used for that sort of thing.

 

 

[Guest brentc]

Personally I see the Aircraft Knowledgebase as aircraft specific and as such I would look there for issues with a particular aircraft rather than piloting. Perhaps as Darren says or similarly a safety or 'piloting' section / skills updating?

 

An example thread might be that I just had my GA AFR and I would talk about what we did and what the instructor told me to do. Just an idea.