whereisrandall
Pre-takeoff checklist
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2016
- Messages
- 333
- Location
- Wiscasset, Maine
- Display Name
Display name:
Randall Williams
Based on the rest of the report, I'd say it can be taken as a stand-alone statement.I'm sure context is everything with that quote....
Based on the rest of the report, I'd say it can be taken as a stand-alone statement.
It appears the instructor suffered from ignorant indifference.
Cmon? No jokes about his advanced degrees being in two fields where you never have to actually be right about anything?
Nobody's biting on that bait?
Unfortunately, the "something" missing could easily be a history of procedural noncompliance.It can't possibly be that simple.
Something is quite wrong here. No charts at night? Not even an iPad? Even the first timer I flew a few weeks ago knew better than that, and this guy has 6000 hours. And the student pilot in question apparently knew it, too.
Something is missing from this story.
It can't possibly be that simpl.
This had me saying "WTF?"...
"The student asked the instructor about terrain elevation in the area, and the instructor responded that he was not certain of the elevations because the airplane was not equipped with a G-1000 navigation system."
But then this at the end had me saying, "Ahhh..."
"The flight instructor was 49-years-old, held an ATP certificate, had nearly 6,000 hours total flight time with nearly 1,200 hours of dual-given experience. He also had earned a master's degree in world politics and a PhD in economics."
LOL.
Cmon? No jokes about his advanced degrees being in two fields where you never have to actually be right about anything?
Nobody's biting on that bait?
I'm joking but kinda not. World politics and economics -- people die and the experts just shrug.
Intuitively there has to be some crossover in a brain that thinks that way into other endeavors...
Joking aside -- I agree. Something still isn't right about the whole story. I can't fathom anyone teaching, being quite that unconcerned with knowing where terrain was.
His teacher, sitting next to him in the cramped cockpit, pushed in the throttle, accelerating the aircraft with such power that it rocked Hicks’s head back.
Sorry, tough crowd, anyway...
Anyone else read that story and think it very odd that even the reporter who wrote it said that every person who ever met the instructor and all of the investigators, none of them believe the story?
If you're looking for anything funny in this article it's right here:
You really need to hold on tight when you push in the throttle on a C172.
While it sounds unbelievable to some I've seen enough strange, out of character, behavior to believe the facts as presented may be true. Is it likely some facts are missing? I think so.
I've seen instructors do strange things such as night flight into forecast icing with a ppc student, having a post first solo student demonstrate a stall over the only substantial tower for 10 miles, or ignore a maintenance concern. The fact remains that humans do strange things for no apparent reason. The elusive secret is to recognize and correct things before incident or disaster.
All I can say is, I do hope not to be THAT instructor. I don't get it. Teaching people bad decision-making can lead to attending funerals, if the family will even let you get anywhere near the funeral home. And people learn by emulating...
But my spidey sense doesn't like something about this article.
I see all of the good being done by the student and all of the bad being done by the deceased, and can't tell if that's the way the student portrays it, or if it's an odd spin the storyteller (I can't really say "journalist" in this case, it doesn't seem to be a factual story more than a feel that the author wants to sensationalize it a bit...) added.
I do know we'll never hear the other person in the airplane's side of the story. That alone raises the yellow flag. The sense that the good/bad behavior is all one-sided, flashes the red light intermittently for me.