More Stupid Pilot Tricks

Just talked electronically to one of the pilot’s former CFIs and friends. She was reminding everyone to do a thorough preflight.

We also briefly discussed the importance of not shutting down engines and creating emergencies unnecessarily, something one of my CFIs made sure I understood about twins and the training environment.

Shutting one down out of exuberance to show friends and passengers just how “easy” it is to restart and how well it flies on one engine, just isn’t smart. Maybe it won’t restart.

The CFI wasn’t his multi CFI but it still hurts. You know you taught them better... :(
 
This fellow us to tie down behind me in Juneau. Nice fellow, sad accident for sure. The folks in Haines did a good job, quickly bringing a loader down to the beach to move the plane and save the surviving passenger.

He was not that far from the airport, limping it to the airport would have been a better choice than an off airport landing on a beach.

He got low and slow and stalled
 
Good golly. Stuff like this is why I don't worry too much about the ga safety statistics.
 
I actually find this more nutso... having to use jumper cables to start the plane.

The examination of the wreckage revealed that, according to the positions of the landing gear, flaps, and their controls, the airplane had insufficient electrical power during flight.

A friend who flew with the pilot on the day before the accident recalled that the pilot had installed a battery that had insufficient electrical power. The pilot then parked his motor vehicle near the airplane, plugged in the airplane's jumper cables, and successfully jumpstarted both engines from the vehicle's battery to continue that day's flight. It is likely that the battery was not replaced before the accident flight.

The post accident examination also found that the left engine alternator belt was not attached to the alternator, and no belt was recovered within the confines of the engine cowling. The alternator drive pulley was damaged and had a residue, indicating that the belt had not been attached to the left engine alternator for some time. Thus, the left alternator was not operational.

The right engine alternator drive shaft rotated freely by hand, but the drive belt remained stationary with the crankshaft. The alternator drive belt was loose and excessively worn on the pulley contact area. The right engine inlet cowling section had rubber filings in the forward right interior surface. Rubber filings were also found on the back side of the starter ring gear and surrounding areas. The rubber filings were likely due to the loose fit of the belt on the pulley during engine operation. Given this evidence, the right engine alternator was probably intermittent with a loose belt.

A thorough pre-flight would not have prevented this accident. This was pure neglect.

The airframe maintenance logbook indicated that the last annual inspection was accomplished 2 years and 9 months before the accident. The engine maintenance logbooks were not located; thus, it could not be determined when maintenance personnel last inspected the engine.
 
I actually find this more nutso... having to use jumper cables to start the plane.



A thorough pre-flight would not have prevented this accident. This was pure neglect.

Agreed! The cavalier disregard for even basic maintenance is pretty staggering. He was being serially stupid even before he got in the plane that day. From jump starting the plane the entire flight was a symphony of stupid.
 
I actually find this more nutso... having to use jumper cables to start the plane.

Never done that? I’ve done it for a battery that’s plenty new and sat a little too long with old mechanical clock drain ticking it down slowly in stupidly cold weather. Would rather charge it slowly but not a big deal if the battery isn’t badly sulfated or frozen.

I doubt reading the other stuff, that this was a healthy battery with a couple of weeks of drain in cold weather on it, though.

Same 12VDC comes out of the power cart as any other car battery.

Of course some of us also know the correct voltage for a lead acid cell, know how to multiply it by number of cells, and know how to use a simple voltmeter to make sure the top off actually worked... (testing is how you catch those two items above, for example... especially if you have a load tester, but there’s a built in one in most airplanes... the flaps.)

Lead acids and alternators aren’t exactly rocket science in the electronics world. The stupid solid state voltage regulators do fail in odd ways, occasionally.

28VDC complicates things a little just getting the right charge gear. Can’t really use the 12VDC car for those. But an airplane 12VDC system is less complicated than my 1976 Toyota Carolla’s electrical system was. :)
 
The pilot was a very good friend and he did screw up big time. I signed him off for his PPL checkride in 2013 and rented an apartment from him at one time. I was not his multi CFI but do know that gentleman. I believe he was demoing the airplane for a prospective buyer, though I'm not completely sure of that. I do know he wanted to sell the plane. He had 2 float planes besides the Twinkie. Neither of those were in the best of shape. But I'd flown them and they were airworthy. I was truly surprised about the Twinkie being so far out of annual and apparently needing so much electrical work. His best friend since boyhood was/is a very good A&P in Juneau for one of the local 135 outfits. Both boys learned to fly about the same time and each purchased their first planes then as well. The accident pilot had just learned that his girlfriend was pregnant and he couldn't have been more thrilled.
 
Good golly. Stuff like this is why I don't worry too much about the ga safety statistics.
Exactly! We just had that other guy recently who was completely plastered plow into a mountain.. and not long ago the con artist who spiral dove his twin out of the clouds near LA, or before that the guy in a Mooney who was in the clouds, not instrument-rated or on a flight plan drill into the Lake Hughes VOR mountaintop... I take the whole "about as safe as riding a motorcycle" thing with a "massive boulder" of salt..
 
The folks in Haines did a good job, quickly bringing a loader down to the beach to move the plane and save the surviving passenger.

It was a real stroke of luck that there was a backhoe nearby with the key in it. Had it not been for that and some locals quick thinking, the surviving passenger, (the pilot's business partner) would have drowned. The plane had crashed in shallow water with the tide rising rapidly and no way to get the trapped survivor out. He was in the rear seat. The backhoe/loader was used to drag the wreckage above the high tide line until more help could arrive.
 
The backhoe/loader was used to drag the wreckage above the high tide line until more help could arrive.

Did anyone think to use the backhoe to open up the plane to get the survivor out.??

Or was that deemed to risky.?
 
Did anyone think to use the backhoe to open up the plane to get the survivor out.??

Or was that deemed to risky.?
Having destroyed things with a backhoe (sometimes intentionally) I'd not risk it on an airplane unless it was literally the last hope.
 
Did anyone think to use the backhoe to open up the plane to get the survivor out.??

Or was that deemed to risky.?
They needed the loader to drag the fuselage above the high tide line. After that was done the rescue folks used saws and other tools to cut him out.
 
Did anyone think to use the backhoe to open up the plane to get the survivor out.??

Or was that deemed to risky.?

You can see, with a rising tide, time was a critical factor in saving the survivor.

PlaneCrashHaines-03.jpg
 
I take the whole "about as safe as riding a motorcycle" thing with a "massive boulder" of salt..


You may not be aware of this, but drunks and idiots also kill themselves on motorcycles. You should read some motorcycle accident reports. I suspect that the comparison between flying and riding is still pretty good.
 
You may not be aware of this, but drunks and idiots also kill themselves on motorcycles. You should read some motorcycle accident reports. I suspect that the comparison between flying and riding is still pretty good.
Sure, I guess my point was that I hate to think that my (theoretical) daughter is equally likely to die sitting next to me a on plane vs riding on the back of some dude's motorcycle. Maybe the stats work out, but given that I don't do stupid pilot tricks or fly and drive after drinking, or fly pipeline inspections, etc.,.. that already makes me safer than the group
 
Sure, I guess my point was that I hate to think that my (theoretical) daughter is equally likely to die sitting next to me a on plane vs riding on the back of some dude's motorcycle. Maybe the stats work out, but given that I don't do stupid pilot tricks or fly and drive after drinking, or fly pipeline inspections, etc.,.. that already makes me safer than the group


What do the odds look like if that same dude is flying the plane she’s on? How about if she were on the back of your motorcycle?

Three simple things make a huge swing in the odds for motorcycle accidents: (1) eight hours bottle to throttle, (2) completing a motorcycle safety class, and (3) wearing a helmet and proper gear. Just like with airplanes, you can tip things in your favor pretty easily.
 
Sure, I guess my point was that I hate to think that my (theoretical) daughter is equally likely to die sitting next to me a on plane vs riding on the back of some dude's motorcycle. Maybe the stats work out, but given that I don't do stupid pilot tricks or fly and drive after drinking, or fly pipeline inspections, etc.,.. that already makes me safer than the group
Statistics mean squat when applied to individuals. Your theoretical daughter's safety is almost completely tied to whether you or the theoretical "some dude" fly/ride safely, with well maintained equipment and all of those other factors we like to pay attention to. There's a higher likelihood of getting smacked on the motorcycle by other idiots, though again -- it's not completely out of your control.
 
Statistics mean squat when applied to individuals
That's my whole problem with it though, and because GA is not nearly as standardized or regulated (thank God) as commercial operations, you really can't just compare "pilots" against each other..
 
What do the odds look like if that same dude is flying the plane she’s on? How about if she were on the back of your motorcycle?

Three simple things make a huge swing in the odds for motorcycle accidents: (1) eight hours bottle to throttle, (2) completing a motorcycle safety class, and (3) wearing a helmet and proper gear. Just like with airplanes, you can tip things in your favor pretty easily.

The variable you can’t control is the most deadly, the other drivers. I can’t tell you how many times I almost bought the farm because of some stupid A$$ not paying attention and either pulling out in front of me or turning left in front of me. I sold my motorcycle 8 years ago and will never ride on the road again. Way to many idiot drivers out there now. Sad thing is that I’m now seeing the same trend in a high percentage of new pilots. In my line of Wk I’m able to listen to ATC most days. The frequency of ridicules and and dangerous things I hear is increasing daily
 
The variable you can’t control is the most deadly, the other drivers. I can’t tell you how many times I almost bought the farm because of some stupid A$$ not paying attention and either pulling out in front of me or turning left in front of me. I sold my motorcycle 8 years ago and will never ride on the road again. Way to many idiot drivers out there now. Sad thing is that I’m now seeing the same trend in a high percentage of new pilots. In my line of Wk I’m able to listen to ATC most days. The frequency of ridicules and and dangerous things I hear is increasing daily


True, but I see it as similar to weather and flying. I can't control the weather but I can choose whether to fly in it.

Similarly, I can't control other drivers, but I can choose the traffic areas and roads where I ride and improve the odds quite a bit. I won't ride into Orlando, for example, but where I live there are lots of pleasant country roads with light traffic.
 
Just wondering what types of things are you hearing?

probably one of the most shocking things is the amount of people in the air that don’t know east from west when announcing their approach to an airport!!
 
Darwin Award 4 sure. Knew and flew with known deficiency an then showboated. Nearly killed his pax, too.
 
Darwin Award 4 sure. Knew and flew with known deficiency an then showboated. Nearly killed his pax, too.

He actually killed his front seat pax. It was the rear seat pax that survived. More hostages to stupidity.
 
True, but I see it as similar to weather and flying. I can't control the weather but I can choose whether to fly in it.

Similarly, I can't control other drivers, but I can choose the traffic areas and roads where I ride and improve the odds quite a bit. I won't ride into Orlando, for example, but where I live there are lots of pleasant country roads with light traffic.
Sorry, but the comparison between flying and driving makes no sense at all, even less so with motorcycles. You can check the weather. You can’t do a pre-ride check for idiots. Distracted, dumb, drunk or complacent, every time I go out in a car I’m amazed at what I see in other drivers. I live on a residential street in a quiet neighborhood in a podunk town in upstate NY, and I see people all the time rolling through stop signs, flooring it from one stop sign to the next (how fast can I get to Stewart’s!), looking at their phones. I saw one dude drive by smoking a bowl. It’s insane. We had a Turkey trot 5k a few years back that a buddy of mine organized, he asked me to man the main intersection in town to stop drivers briefly when groups of runners went through. I stood there for an hour. It is one stoplight, traffic from 3 directions (one road is a one-way). The number of times I almost got ran over, much less how many near collisions I saw, was just astounding.

You cannot in any way, shape or form compare the risks of driving to the risks of flying.
 
^^^If we put as much effort into teaching people to drive as we do into teaching them to fly, we might change this. ;)
 
^^^If we put as much effort into teaching people to drive as we do into teaching them to fly, we might change this. ;)
I think the flip side is a near total lack of enforcement of traffic laws. Why do people drive down the road, totally oblivious to everything around them as they busy themselves with their phones? Because they can do so with zero chance of getting ticketed for it. And even lacking specific laws about cell phone use while driving, I’ll bet every jurisdiction has laws regarding careless, negligent, and/or reckless driving. All that’s needed for enforcement is already there, except for cops that aren’t already staring at laptop screens as they drive down the road.

I don’t know how it is in other areas, but where I live you’re on your own unless you’re involved in a personal injury wreck or a gang shooting.
 
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I think the flip side is a near total lack of enforcement of traffic laws. Why do people drive down the road, totally oblivious to everything around them as they busy themselves with their phones? Because they can do so with zero chance of getting ticketed for it. And even lacking specific laws about cell phone use while driving, I’ll bet every jurisdiction has laws regarding careless, negligent, and/or reckless driving. All that’s needed for enforcement is already there, except for cops that aren’t already staring at laptop screens as they drive down the road.

I don’t know how it is in other areas, but where I live you’re on your own unless you’re involved in a personal injury wreck or a gang shooting.

I’d settle for what Australia does with car insurance — it’s linked databases and plate scanners in every cop car. You’re driving without insurance you will be caught and stopped. This is so easy to implement but of course we won’t.

The need for uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage just isn’t a thing there like it is the massive ripoff of law abiding people paying for the law breakers here.
 
Sorry, but the comparison between flying and driving makes no sense at all, even less so with motorcycles. You can check the weather. You can’t do a pre-ride check for idiots. Distracted, dumb, drunk or complacent, every time I go out in a car I’m amazed at what I see in other drivers. I live on a residential street in a quiet neighborhood in a podunk town in upstate NY, and I see people all the time rolling through stop signs, flooring it from one stop sign to the next (how fast can I get to Stewart’s!), looking at their phones. I saw one dude drive by smoking a bowl. It’s insane. We had a Turkey trot 5k a few years back that a buddy of mine organized, he asked me to man the main intersection in town to stop drivers briefly when groups of runners went through. I stood there for an hour. It is one stoplight, traffic from 3 directions (one road is a one-way). The number of times I almost got ran over, much less how many near collisions I saw, was just astounding.

You cannot in any way, shape or form compare the risks of driving to the risks of flying.

Still, with all that going on, it is safer to drive than to fly GA - some folks out there are racking up these stats ...
 
Still, with all that going on, it is safer to drive than to fly GA - some folks out there are racking up these stats ...

The survivability of the modern automobile is what really throws these stats. I believe ga and cars were fairly comparable fatality-per-mile wise 40 years ago, but cars have gotten much, much safer, especially in terms of occupant safety, while we are still flying the same airplanes.

I would bet you are still more likely to be in an automobile accident on a per mile basis, but you likely wouldn't be injured. I've seen a big difference in the 18 years I've been a volunteer firefighter in my small town. We have a 10 mile stretch of interstate in our district. When I joined, we usually saw at least one fatal accident per year. Even at that time it was usually in an older car. We still have approximately the same volume of accident calls, but almost never see serious injuries anymore. Seat belt use has improved greatly, and safety cages, crumple zones, and airbags work amazingly.

Cars have become much more forgiving of stupidity, even outpacing the increasing levels of stupidity. Airplanes are still unforgiving as ever.
 
Stupid is as stupid does,you can’t make this stuff up.
 
I would bet you are still more likely to be in an automobile accident on a per mile basis, but you likely wouldn't be.

Yes. Roughly 4 times more likely to be in an accident in a car on a per mile travelled basis, but 16 times more likely to be killed in a plane crash, so roughly 4 times more likely to be killed in a GA plane on a per mile basis.
 
Yes. Roughly 4 times more likely to be in an accident in a car on a per mile travelled basis, but 16 times more likely to be killed in a plane crash, so roughly 4 times more likely to be killed in a GA plane on a per mile basis.
had someone blow a stop sign and make a turn in front of me today. Talking on a cell..o_O Dam near mad it a bad day for both of us.
 
Yeah, the last thing I want to do is stop an engine with a balky battery. I learned the interesting way that jump starting my Navion with the APU plug won't result in the battery being charged. The contactor coil is powered from the battery side, so the battery is not ever put back in the circuit after such starts (though the contactor is accessible so a short piece of wire will fix that problem if you are aware of it).
 
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