Yet another story about a careless pilot makes me want to rant a little. I was a little annoyed to read the account of a United Airlines pilot arrested before taking the controls of a 767 full of people on an overseas flight. This incident added to the one about the Northwest pilots overshooting Minneapolis back in October within a couple of days of a Delta flight that landed on a taxiway in Atlanta made me wonder what’s going on with the state of pilot professionalism.
These three examples are inexcusable as far as I’m concerned. How does someone get to the point where he would even consider flying after drinking. Or does flying get so dull that you could become distracted enough in the cockpit to forget basic airmanship? I really hope not. I’m going after my dream because I am in love with the idea that flying is an incredible experience. I hope I never get to the point where I take the miracle of flight for granted! Now I recognize flying a highly automated airliner on predefined routes could become routine but doesn’t the fact that there are a whole bunch of people depending on you to make wise decisions and apply your training with some sense of responsibility? These weren’t even remotely excusable. Equipment didn’t fail, but their judgement did.
There have also recently been a few crashes here in Northwestern Ontario one of which had some fatalities.
I know a number of people who are afraid to fly and spend a lot of time explaining why it’s perfectly safe in an airplane. Each time something like this happens someone inevitably says, “See? That’s why I’m afraid to fly.
All of us who are student pilots should commit to really taking our training seriously and become the best and safest pilots we can.
Pilots and students: Know the aircraft. Know the weather. Know your personal limitations. Know the regulations. Be disciplined about every aspect of your flight. Don’t compromise. You must never stop learning. Seek out training opportunities and resources such as The Finer Points podcast and others.
Safety and eliminating careless mistakes is up to us.
End of rant
Clear skies
November 17, 2009 at 11:10 pm
Yep. Anything can get boring. I just read a story of a Canadian extreme skier and base jumper. After doing something “impossible”, the second and third time just become boring. Mental toughness of being able to focus and stay on task is not a common trait. Do you have the discipline to kick the tire that looks perfectly fine for the 500th time? When you’re coming down with something and you just had a big fight at home and the wind is bitter? I guess you have to somehow embrace the safety routines and make them part of you … like breathing. Makes you wonder how many times a ‘lazy’ pilot has just gotten lucky.
November 18, 2009 at 9:17 am
Many, many times, I’m afraid.
I guess it’s that discipline that separates the best from the rest. I like the analogy of breathing. The more I read, the more I am convinced that establishing safe, ingrained habits is essential. Doing exactly the same thing every time even if it seems unnecessary or routine. Jason Miller of The Finer Points (see podcasts) is a big evangelist for this type of approach.