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  • Light plane crashes

    All summer as I check the news on my computer, it seems like every two weeks there's another light plane crash. I guess mathematicily it's bound to happen but it's a shame. As a primary instructor I tried to find, for each student, a scenario that would be real world. In a small single I used to practice stall recoveries next to a small mountain. With room to recover you get a real idea of minimum recovery technique. In a light twin when you lose an engine you need to lower the nose to what looks like level. Max power on the good engine and the other feathered is like 2-300 fpm, nearly level flight. In a jet suppose you lose all three airspeed indicators. Boeing has a section in their manual that address that with pitch, power and even flap settings.

    I was in aviation for 45 years and it's not the normal emergency that you need to be concerned with but the abnormal one.

  • #2
    Acknowledged and noted.

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    • #3
      Originally posted by ATLcrew View Post
      Acknowledged and noted.

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      • #4
        Outsider ass-hat time:

        I’ve read of airliner crashes and said, “why in the hell did they do “x”…even dumbass me knows better.

        I’ve read articles by experienced & well-rated and experienced typists that conclude, “that could have been me”.

        Last month Cape Airways, a place with a bad-ass record, single pilot operation and an arguably challenging environment botched a landing/go-around and ran a 402 through a pine forrest…
        Les règles de l'aviation de base découragent de longues périodes de dur tirer vers le haut.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by kent olsen View Post
          All summer as I check the news on my computer, it seems like every two weeks there's another light plane crash.
          Has it ever been any different? There are more private aircraft buzzing around these days. I think general aviation is expanding into less capable hands due to more simplified and automated cockpits. The industry is marketing to this expanded audience by promoting how easy the new aircraft are to learn and fly. I think the intimidation people felt in the past when confronted with a panel of bewildering levers and instruments filtered out more of the frivolous candidates and limited aviation to those with a real commitment to learn very technical things. Now it's becoming inviting to anyone who grew up on video games and Red Bull. Put such people in a flying machine and there's bound to be trouble.

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          • #6
            If that was the case, then the accident and fatality rates should be increasing, which AFAIK it is not. It has always been horribly bad.

            --- Judge what is said by the merits of what is said, not by the credentials of who said it. ---
            --- Defend what you say with arguments, not by imposing your credentials ---

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Gabriel View Post
              If that was the case, then the accident and fatality rates should be increasing, which AFAIK it is not. It has always been horribly bad.
              I suspect automation is saving the day on an hourly basis.

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              • #8
                Yep. Automation works both ways. It saves and it kills (not only in the shape of automation faults, but also by letting pilots fly less, be less competent, and get away with that, until they don't).
                As long as it saves more than it kills, its ok.

                --- Judge what is said by the merits of what is said, not by the credentials of who said it. ---
                --- Defend what you say with arguments, not by imposing your credentials ---

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                • #9
                  One of the scariest statistics is how instrument ratings and planes often have higher crash (or fatality) rates than ratty old 172s.

                  It’s easy to sit back and blame $ and arrogance- BUT you have to factor in that even with good pilots- these types of flights simply expose folks to more risk.

                  Same deal with twins…doubles the odds of an engine failure on takeoff.
                  Les règles de l'aviation de base découragent de longues périodes de dur tirer vers le haut.

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                  • #10
                    PC-12 just slammed into (fortunately unoccupied) building in Milan. All 8 on board died. As did a number of cars. You can train new pilots all day on normal and abnormal emergencies and it won't save them from things like being overweight or not properly deiced. So scratch one more PC-12.

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                    • #11
                      Was it overweight and not properly deiced?

                      --- Judge what is said by the merits of what is said, not by the credentials of who said it. ---
                      --- Defend what you say with arguments, not by imposing your credentials ---

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Gabriel View Post
                        Was it overweight and not properly deiced?
                        I think we can rule out icing.

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                        • #13
                          More and more light plane crashes every week??????

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by kent olsen View Post
                            More and more light plane crashes every week??????
                            Yes, why is a super knowledgeable person like you with 5 decades of professional experience in aviation surprised about this as if this was a new trend?
                            There are about 1200 GA accidents every year, 200 of them fatal. That's more than 1 fatal GA accident every other day.
                            And when I say "there are" I don't mean there are being now. I mean there have been for years and still are.

                            --- Judge what is said by the merits of what is said, not by the credentials of who said it. ---
                            --- Defend what you say with arguments, not by imposing your credentials ---

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                            • #15
                              So true Gabe but as an instructor all those years I've always told my students that it's not the fall that hurts but the sudden stop at the bottom. I told my crews that when the door closes it's your responsibility. You can turn around, make a precautionary landing or don't even take off. I believe it's FAR 91.5 that says you can break every FAR in the book. All you have to do is make a report when you are safely on the ground. The important part is safely on the ground. Obviously a single engine plane has less options. But you still see twins crashing as well.

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