
New Webinar
"Pilot Performance - Enhancing the Most Important System in the Aircraft" will be hosted by Gene Benson with guest presenters Tammy Barlette and Lashea Bacon, both experts in their respective fields. Two sessions are scheduled. Click on the session you prefer for more information and to register. Feb. 4 at 7PM EST or Feb. 11 at 9 PM EST.
Another New Edition of "Old Pilot Tips" is Available
Episode #27 in our series explains, in less than one minute, why the longitudinal axis of the airplane must be precisely aligned with the direction of travel upon touchdown. Click here to check our "Runway Alignment."
Flying at Night
The FAA has an excellent Safety Briefing issue on night flying. The issue includes several very informative articles on the subject. Click here to check it out.
Recommended Online Course
In keeping with our theme of landings for this quarter, our free online course, Many Happy Returns - Avoiding Runway Excursions and Runway Overruns" is recommended. It presents some valuable insights and is valid for 1 Credit for Basic Knowledge Topic-3 and 1 Credit for Advanced Knowledge Topic-2. Click here to check it out. The course is presented free of charge courtesy of Avemco Insurance.
Better Radio Communications
The latest FAAST Blast from the FAA reminded us of the importance of good communications when we activate the push-to-talk button. The info is from an article posted in 2018 but it is still relevant and valuable. Check it out here.
Excellent "Callback" Issue
The NASA-ASRS "Callback" issue for January 2025 provides a look at VMC into IMC. Check it out here.
Virtual Presentations for any Size Group Available for Free!
Flying Clubs, Pilot Associations, CAP, QB, 99s, FBOs, Flight Schools can all have no-cost virtual presentations courtesy of Avemco. Wings credit is available for all presentations. Virtual presentations can attended by members of your group wherever they may be, can be projected to a group at a central facility, or both simultaneously. Click here to download my updated presentation catalog. Email me at gene@genebenson.com for questions or to discuss scheduling.

Estimation
Estimation is a critical cognitive skill for everyone, and especially for pilots. We depend on our ability to estimate speed, distance, or time. to predict the future location of an object based on its current speed, distance, and time. The brain processes the information that our eyes receive and determines what will happen and how to react quickly and when necessary.
The most obvious need for good estimation skill for pilots is obstacle avoidance during ground operations and collision avoidance while airborne. But it goes well beyond that. We estimate when and how much to flare during landing. We estimate when to initiate our level off from a climb or descent. We estimate when to begin the rollout from a turn. The list goes on and on.
This cognitive skill is learned through our experiences. Young children beginning to walk bump into things until their level of estimation is improved through trial and error. A new student pilot may not know when to flare for a landing until they learn through demonstration and practice. When we check out in air airplane of significantly different performance characteristics, we automatically apply what we know from our previous experience. This might not be successful in the different airplane and we go about learning to estimate in the new airplane. Shortly, our brain has learned the differences and applies accurate estimation to whichever airplane we are flying.
Estimation processing is done in the brain’s frontal lobe. The processing can be adversely affected by cranial trauma, brain tumor, aneurysm, MS, and more. Anxiety and depression have also been linked to degradation of the ability to accurately estimate. Also, alcohol, cannabis, and other drugs may affect our ability to correctly estimate speed, time, and distance.
We can work to improve our estimation skills using appropriate cognitive stimulation exercises. Dancing is an excellent activity since it uses and therefore provides learning regarding estimation of speed, distance, and time. Playing action video games and using a desktop flight simulator program can be helpful. To get outdoors, horseshoes, cornhole, tennis, badminton, pickleball, and golf can also be beneficial.
Click here to download the free "Aging Pilot Report."

Options
We all find it important to have options. We like to visit a restaurant with a variety of options for appetizers, entrees, and desserts. When shopping for clothes, we like to have options for styles, sizes, and colors. When purchasing a car, we look over the available options for installed features. Without options, we feel restricted and may be forced to choose from things that are less than ideal.
As pilots, it is even more important to have options available as we approach our destination airport. Available options should include proceeding to the airport and landing, diverting to an alternate airport due to weather or runway conditions at the destination, or to begin the approach and then abort if the approach is not stabilized.
When those options are not available, or if we perceive they are not available, we may feel forced to choose less than ideal paths. We may choose to execute and continue an approach and landing in unsatisfactory conditions. Our options might be limited by having minimal fuel, an urgent need to use a restroom, rapidly approaching weather, an upcoming appointment, or something else.
One word sums up how we can work to keep options available as we approach our destination. That word is planning. Of course we are talking about preflight planning. Nearly all pilots do some level of preflight planning, but to make sure we have those critical options, we must kick up our planning a notch or two.
Let’s begin with fuel. Useable fuel in the tanks means we have options. Landing accidents have occurred when the pilot was critically low on fuel and had no viable option but to land at the destination airport that had poor runway conditions. Similar accidents have also involved excessive wind and low visibility. Other accidents have included a pilot who recognized the approach is not going well but continues due to a fear that there is not sufficient fuel available.
We can make sure we are not limiting our options by ensuring we have adequate fuel by planning for adequate reserves. Personally, I choose to exceed the minimum reserves required by regulations. Whether VFR or IFR, I follow the IFR requirements that include an alternate airport and then add an additional 20 minutes. Sometimes that requires an additional fuel stop which slows me down and consumes more fuel than I would use if I went non-stop. Oh well, that’s the cost of safety.
Then there is the physiological fatigue factor. I have read accounts of pilots flying ten or twelve hours per day or even more when trying to reposition an airplane or get somewhere for a family reunion. An exhausted pilot just wants to be on the ground and get some sleep. The option to divert is not there because the pilot is too fatigued to consider it. Planning to spread the flight over two days is a better idea. The long flight in one day may seem like a nice challenge and may appear to be convenient. But as that third or fourth leg of the flight progresses, fatigue may mask all options other than landing at the intended destination.
And we must address another of our physiological needs, a full bladder. Nobody will admit it, but I highly suspect that accidents have happened because the pilot really, really, really needed a restroom. That is a very strong motivator to land rather than divert or execute a go-around if the approach is not stabilized. Again, we can plan that problem away. One option is to plan a stop along the way to fill one tank and empty another. A less attractive, but viable option may be to shop for a device for relief while inflight. In any case comfort is important to good pilot performance so give your bladder a seat at the planning table.
Passengers sometimes have a way of unintentionally limiting our options. The decision to divert to an alternate airport might be difficult if a passenger has been complaining of needing a restroom for the past 15 minutes. I have found it best, as an old charter pilot, to have an honest discussion with passengers before boarding the airplane. Ask about any medical conditions or other issues that might cause a problem or discomfort expected for the duration of the flight. Be proactive and ask about motion sickness, restroom needs, and breathing issues requiring altitude restrictions. Unless your airplane has a potty, be wary of the passenger who arrives with the 32-ounce travel mug of coffee.
We know that a good approach is essential for a good landing. An approach to a destination airport that is less than optimal is likely to be less than good, followed immediately by a landing that is less than good. The less than good landing might be much less than good and end up with a damaged airplane or worse. Let’s be thorough in our preflight planning right up to engine start so that we preserve our options at the other end of the flight.
It is generally impossible to determine if an accident error chain was begun when a pilot did not sufficiently plan for options as the destination was approached. The three accidents analyzed for this month are typical of landing accidents that occur far too frequently.

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 three people aboard this Beech F33 Bonanza escaped without injury when the airplane ground looped upon landing. The crash occurred in Nebraska in July 2024.
The NTSB report includes the following: "The pilot reported that during the landing roll, the airplane began to skid to the right for 3-5 seconds after touchdown. The pilot corrected with left aileron; however, the left wing lifted and the right wing struck the ground. The airplane ground looped to the left and exited the runway. It struck several runway edge lights and came to rest upright against a taxiway sign, which resulted in substantial damage to the left horizontal stabilizer. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions that would have precluded normal operation. At the time of the accident, the pilot was landing the airplane on runway 17 with wind from 090° at 11 knots."

NTSB Photo
The pilot's statement in the report submitted to the NTSB expressed uncertainty regarding positioning the flight controls to correct for a crosswind after landing. The pilot also stated in the report, "Also, knowing more now than I did then I should've requested RWY 14, didn't realize at the time I had the option to make that request."

NTSB Photo.
Perhaps the pilot was a bit unfamiliar with operations at a controlled airport as evidenced by his statement that he did not know that he could request a different runway.

NTSB Photo
The NTSB probable cause finding states, "The pilot’s failure to maintain directional control during the landing roll with a crosswind."
Knowing how to position the controls while on the ground with a crosswind is essential for any pilot. Beyond knowing, we must remember to put our knowledge into practice. Suddenly seeing a wing lift a tire off the ground is not a good time to try and remember the correct control position.

Control Positions for Taxi - FAA Airplane Flying Handbook
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.
This crash occurred in Florida in June 2024. The sole occupant, the 73-year-old, 2200 hour private pilot, escaped injury but the Cessna 172M was substantially damaged. The NTSB accident report includes the following, "The pilot was attempting to land and noted that the airplane seemed to be flying “fast.” She described that while she believed that the wind conditions were favoring the runway selected for landing, she also noted that a gusting crosswind was present. During the landing, when she reached to adjust the flap setting, she inadvertently increased the throttle. She responded by applying braking, but the airplane ultimately departed the end of the runway and impacted trees. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings and the fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation, and that instead of landing at the accident airport, she should have diverted to an airport with a longer runway that was more oriented into the wind."

NTSB Photo
The pilot's statement that diverting to an airport with a longer runway better aligned with the wind would have been good, indicates that options were available. This month's blog was all about planning to ensure we have those options available upon arrival. Having options is good, but we must make the decision to use them before executing the approach rather than in retrospect after an accident.

NTSB Photo
The inadvertent application of power after landing and apparently not recognizing it is a bit difficult to understand, but the NTSB probable cause states, "The pilot’s inadvertent throttle input during landing which resulted in a runway overrun."
I have always taught my students to keep a hand on the throttle when on or near the ground and not to adjust flaps or anything else until the airplane has exited the runway and has come to a complete stop. It is doubtful that any flap setting would have significantly reduced the airplane's speed and having kept a hand on the throttle would have prevented accidentally bumping it.
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.
I thought we had put this issue behind us, but apparently not. Only one pilot should be on the controls at a time and it should be decided who will be flying when, under what circumstances there would be an exchange of flight controls, and the procedure for an exchange of flight controls. This accident is an example of what can happen when that is not done.
This occurred in Kentucky in July 2024. Fortunately, the three occupants of the Cessna 172 were not injured but the airplane received substantial damage to the firewall.

NTSB Photo
The NTSB accident report Includes the following: "The private pilot (who was the pilot-in-command for the flight) was flying with two passengers, one of whom was seated in the right front pilot seat, held a commercial pilot certificate, and had more flight experience than the private pilot. The pilot-rated passenger in the right front seat reported that during the approach, she had commented to the pilot twice about the airplane’s airspeed, and that she had nudged the yoke forward with one finger as an indication to the pilot to lower the nose; however, the pilot pulled back on the yoke and added power to cushion the landing, which resulted in several bounces on the runway before the airplane traveled off the left side. She further described that the landing flare occurred while the airplane too high above the runway and at too slow a speed, about 15 ft above the runway and at an airspeed decreasing to less than 50 knots. The pilot reported that during the landing attempt, after the pilot-rated passenger pushed the yoke forward, he pulled back because he did not want the nose of the airplane to strike the runway first, which resulted in a hard landing and subsequent bounce. As the pilot was attempting to regain control of the airplane, the pilot-rated passenger increased the engine power to full in attempt to abort the landing, but the airplane then veered to the left and departed the runway surface. The airplane came to rest upright in a grass area next to the runway. The fuselage was substantially damaged during the accident sequence. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. He also stated that, “…we will need to improve the communication between me as the PIC and [any pilot-rated passengers] such as informing me of their concern rather than touching the control, especially during landing.”

KDVK (Google Earth) annotations by GB
The right front seat passenger, a commercial pilot, submitted a written statement to the NTSB which paints a different picture. The passenger statement shows the private pilot in command to have asked for advice but not followed suggestions. Neither the P-I-C nor the commercial pilot/passenger mentioned anything regarding a preflight discussion on who was flying and under what circumstances there would be an exchange of flight controls. Click here to download the passenger's report.

NTSB Photo showing damage to firewall
The NTSB probable cause finding states, "The pilot’s failure to maintain control of the airplane while landing and his inadequate communication to the pilot-rated passenger of her role during the flight."
Two lessons can be learned. First, if you have prior knowledge or experience that indicates a pilot might have some serious deficiencies, think twice about flying with that pilot. Second, prior to engine start, it should be decided who will be flying when, under what circumstances there would be an exchange of flight controls, and the procedure for an exchange of flight controls.
Click here to download the accident report from the NTSB website.
Not subscribed to Vectors for Safety yet? Click here to subscribe for free!