Happy Holidays!
I want to wish all of my subscribers a very happy holiday season! Whichever holidays you celebrate and however you celebrate them, I hope you experience joy. And of course, if your travel included a general aviation flight, always remember to fly like your life depends on it!
Human Factors Ground School-Live will run in January with no registration fee!
For the past few years, I have run my Human Factors Ground School live edition in January and January 2024 will continue the tradition, but with a different twist. Previously, the program has carried a fee of $199 with all proceeds going to support my safety initiative. The more I read accident reports, the more I realize that nearly all accidents result from human error. Since the purpose of my safety initiative is to prevent accidents, it seems counter intuitive to charge a fee for perhaps the most important program we offer. This year, there will be no registration fee. Those participants wishing to contribute to the safety initiative can make a voluntary donation of any amount, but a donation is not required. Click here for complete information and to register for free on GeneBenson.com.
New Episode of "Old Pilot Tips"
Our new Episode 14 of "Old Pilot Tips" is now available. The topic of this under one-minute video provides some tips on being safer during taxi and ground operations. Click here for a link to the playlist of all "Old Pilot Tips" videos.
New "Just This Once" Video - "FUEL"
Another video in our "Just This Once" series is now available. This one addresses the fuel-related accident. Check it out here.
Avoiding Holiday Travel Hazards
Planning a holiday trip in a general aviation airplane? Check out our Avemco sponsored video for some helpful, and perhaps life-saving tips. Click here to view the video on YouTube.
What Happens if we Fly into Sleet?
Winter weather us upon much of the country. Sleet is not a form of structural icing and must be handled differently than what we have been taught about icing. Click here to check out our Avemco sponsored video on the subject.
Cold WX Carbon Monoxide Caution
Most small GA airplanes rely on heat from the engine's exhaust to warm the cabin. The obvious danger here is a leak allowing the deadly CO gas to become mixed with that nice warm air. The FAA has done a great job of addressing the issue in a Safety Briefing.
Pay Attention!
Many of us, as children and young adults, were frequently told to, “pay attention!” That admonition was very familiar to me in my younger years. I recall once being sternly told that by a high school teacher during a world history class. That teacher was just a bit misguided and needed to be more specific. I was paying attention, but my focus was directed toward the cute girl in the row next to me and two seats ahead. I suppose the teacher’s intent was to direct my attention to her riveting explanation of the Chinese dynasties. Our humanness tends to direct our attention to what we perceive to be the most interesting or most important subject. For this teenage boy, there was no contest between the teacher’s lesson and that cheerleader.
For the most part, our brains are quite active and are paying attention to something. Problems can occur when our attention is not focused in the right direction. Multitasking is a myth. The human brain can only attend to one thing at a time. It can switch focus through several items very rapidly making it seem like an array of items are being attended to simultaneously, but the reality is that each item receives attention individually. The items that the brain considers to be most important or most interesting will receive the most frequent attention and that attention will remain on that item for the longest duration. A problem can arise and errors can be made when the brain chooses a less important item for more frequent and for longer duration of attention. This can allow another important item to be temporarily ignored.
Attention focused away from an important item is a frequent cause of mishaps in aviation. A pilot focusing attention toward locating traffic in the pattern or salvaging an unstable approach or correcting for a gusty crosswind can neglect to extend the landing gear before touchdown. Many pilots who have made unintentional gear-up landings report that they did not hear the landing gear warning horn blaring, even though the gear warning system operated properly in the post-accident inspection. The brain had diverted all its attention resources to a different item that was perceived to be more important than the landing gear.
And then there are mobile devices competing for the attention of pilots. The use of these devices is being mentioned more frequently in the analysis and probable cause sections of accident reports. In one fatal accident, the pilot collided with the guywires of a radio tower while posting videos to Snapchat. The brain of the 23-year-old pilot apparently perceived posting the videos to be more important than maintaining visual lookout for collision hazards.
And then there is the issue of discipline. The discipline we receive as children theoretically teaches us to practice self-discipline as adults. Part of self-discipline is to focus our attention where it needs to be rather than on the most interesting item available. Clearly, I did not have the self-discipline to keep my attention on my history teacher rather than on the much more interesting cheerleader. I believe that I have done better at self-discipline as a pilot than as a high school student.
As pilots, the stakes are higher than an admonition from a teacher. Pilots have all been taught what is important during the various phases of a flight but distractions can steer our attention away from critical items such as extending and verifying extension of the landing gear. Use of checklists and standard procedures such as aborting an unstabilized approach can greatly help. Self-discipline should include directing attention to the flight rather than posting videos or other ancillary actions involving our electronic devices. Completing a flight successfully and safely should have a higher priority than a few likes on social media.
Reprinted from NASA "Callback" Issue 455 December 2017
Corrigan Conquers Again
An RV-7 Pilot was planning ahead for the weather he observed prior to departure. The weather, distractions, and personal stress influenced his situational awareness and decision-making during the takeoff.
■ I was cleared to depart on Runway 27L from [midfield at] intersection C. However, I lined up and departed from Runway 9R.… No traffic control conflict occurred. I turned on course and coordinated with ATC immediately while airborne.
I do fly for a living.… I will be incorporating the runway verification procedure we use on the jet aircraft at my company into my GA flying from now on. Sadly, I didn’t make that procedural change in my GA flying.
Accidents discussed in this section are presented in the hope that pilots can learn from the misfortune of others and perhaps avoid an accident. It is easy to read an accident report and dismiss the cause as carelessness or as a dumb mistake. But let's remember that the accident pilot did not get up in the morning and say, "Gee, I think I'll go have an accident today." Nearly all pilots believe that they are safe. Honest introspection frequently reveals that on some occasion, we might have traveled down that same accident path.
NTSB Photo
Paying attention to the task at hand is important in many activities and that includes flying airplanes. That concept is at least quadrupled when flying an airplane at a low altitude.
The 23-year-old pilot was killed when the Cessna 182 he was flying collided with a radio tower guy wire. The crash happened in May of 2021 in Michigan.
The NTSB accident report begins like this: "The pilot was conducting a low-altitude pipeline patrol flight in day visual meteorological conditions when the airplane collided with a radio tower guy wire. According to radar data, during the final 4.5 minutes of the flight, the airplane’s altitude was between 475 and 800 ft above ground level (agl)."
NTSB Photo
The NTSB report also includes, "Two individuals reported that the pilot posted a Snapchat video shortly before the accident. The Snapchat video reportedly depicted the terrain ahead of the airplane while it was 5 to 10 miles southeast of the accident site. Although the video was automatically deleted from the Snapchat platform 24 hours after the accident, it reportedly did not include the final moments of the flight. One of the individuals provided a screenshot of the Snapchat application’s map that showed the approximate location of where the pilot posted the video. When compared to the airplane’s recorded radar ground track, the location of the pilot’s Snapchat post was about 1.5 miles southeast of the radio tower, and likely was posted about 35 seconds before the accident. The airplane’s ground track was already left of the pipeline when the pilot posted the Snapchat video. Based on the known information, it is likely the pilot was distracted while he used his mobile device in the minutes before the accident and did not maintain an adequate visual lookout to ensure a safe flight path to avoid the radio tower and its guy wires."
Photo Source: NTSB
The NTSB probable cause finding states, "The pilot’s failure to maintain adequate visual lookout to ensure clearance from the radio tower and its guy wires. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s unnecessary use of his mobile device during the flight, which diminished his attention/monitoring of the airplane’s flight path."
The loss of a young life is always sad, but when it results from such a needless crash it is especially disturbing. As pilots, our sole task is to fly the airplane. we must have the discipline to focus our attention to where it is needed. Ancillary tasks such as posting to social media while flying as a single pilot simply are not a good idea. Undoubtedly the pilot had heard that before. Perhaps his illusory superiority took over or his optimism bias took charge, Maybe he thought, It will be okay just this once."
Click here to download the accident report from the NTSB website.
Accidents discussed in this section are presented in the hope that pilots can learn from the misfortune of others and perhaps avoid an accident. It is easy to read an accident report and dismiss the cause as carelessness or as a dumb mistake. But let's remember that the accident pilot did not get up in the morning and say, "Gee, I think I'll go have an accident today." Nearly all pilots believe that they are safe. Honest introspection frequently reveals that on some occasion, we might have traveled down that same accident path.
Photo Source: NTSB
This accident occurred in California in May 2020. There were no injuries when the commercial pilot - CFI of the Cessna 182 struck a skip loader with the left wing of the airplane while taxiing for takeoff. The NTSB accident report includes the following, "The pilot reported that while taxing for takeoff, he observed a skip loader on the immediate left edge of the taxiway and noted there was sufficient clearance to avoid it. However, during the taxi, his attention was distracted by setting up the GPS for the flight, and the airplane drifted left, and subsequently struck the skip loader."
Photo Source: NTSB
The NTSB probable cause states, "The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be: "The pilot's diverted attention while taxing which resulted in his failure to maintain clearance from the skip loader during taxi."
Unfortunately, this accidents is merely a sample of the many taxi accidents and incidents that have been caused by a distracted pilot. Programming the GPS ranks high among the causes.
This pilot, being a CFI, undoubtedly was aware of the need to focus solely on taxi when the airplane is in motion. Perhaps he thought that it would be okay "Just this once."
Click here to download the accident report from the NTSB website.
Accidents discussed in this section are presented in the hope that pilots can learn from the misfortune of others and perhaps avoid an accident. It is easy to read an accident report and dismiss the cause as carelessness or as a dumb mistake. But let's remember that the accident pilot did not get up in the morning and say, "Gee, I think I'll go have an accident today." Nearly all pilots believe that they are safe. Honest introspection frequently reveals that on some occasion, we might have traveled down that same accident path.
The 54-year-old private pilot escaped with only a minor injury when he exited the runway too early after landing, and struck a sign causing the airplane to overturn. The accident happened in Michigan in August of 2020.
NTSB Photo
The NTSB accident report includes the following: "The pilot reported that he was in a hurry after landing and exited the runway early (before the taxiway). He stated that he was not paying attention and the airplane collided with a taxiway sign. The airplane nosed over, substantially damaging the vertical stabilizer and rudder. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation."
NTSB Photo
The NTSB probable cause finding states, "The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from a taxiway sign after landing."
The pilot stated that he was "in a hurry" after landing. Being in a hurry when the airplane is in motion is a recipe for trouble. We all must have the discipline to devote our full attention to critical operations such as properly exiting the runway after landing. The pilot most likely knew this, but perhaps he thought that it would be okay "just this once."
Click here to download the accident report from the NTSB website.
New Edition to the Aviation Safety Series
Thoughts on Being a Better, Safer Pilot - Vol. 3 is now available in e-book format.
Click here to purchase on Amazon for $3.99
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