Good new CFICast

[TMetzinger]

Just heard a new (to me anyway) CFIcast where Ron, Tony, and Rick discuss an event in Farmingdale following a mid-air collision.

Without spoiling the cast (too much), it was an excellent reminder that we don't practice evacuating our airplanes as part of our normal instruction, and we probably don't ever practice it post-instruction unless (like Ron and I) we were trained in the military where egress procedures are part of the training of all crew - pilots or not.

I'm gonna make it a point next time I'm at the airport to time how long it takes me to run the secure checklist, exit the airplane, and get at least 100 yards away. I'll probably also make my wife and I practice getting our kid out in of the back in a hurry too.

Might be a good drill for CAP too - make it a competition.

Wait - I can see it now - for the 2012 games, we'll have "GA aircraft egress" as a sport!

Edit: I spent some quality time today with the ASF and FAA/NTSB databases, and in GA there's a surprising number of accidents where everyone survived the off airport landing, only to die in the ensuing fire. All the more reason to know how to evacuate your airplane in a hurry.

 

[mikea]

I don't think CFIs tell students often enough what to do if something is going wrong. Check six, sure. Lift the wing. Clearing turns. What if you see a conflict?

I asked my CFI - a lot after I had the PPL - exactly what are you supposed to do if say, you see a plane too close on downwind when you're coming in the 45. On my own I figured out to make a 90 and head right back out on 45 away from downwind, do a wide teardrop and try entering a on a 45 to midfield again.

I'm still iffy on the exit strategy and we shouldn't be. We should have the escape plan ready to execute.

 

[t0r0nad0]

Wow, great point Tim. I actually just got a job teaching an Aviation Safety class for the fall semester at a nearby community college, and I'll be sure to include the need for egress practice as one of my topics of discussion.

 

[dmccormack]

Without spoiling the cast (too much), it was an excellent reminder that we don't practice evacuating our airplanes as part of our normal instruction, and we probably don't ever practice it post-instruction unless (like Ron and I) we were trained in the military where egress procedures are part of the training of all crew - pilots or not.

I'm gonna make it a point next time I'm at the airport to time how long it takes me to run the secure checklist, exit the airplane, and get at least 100 yards away. I'll probably also make my wife and I practice getting our kid out in of the back in a hurry too.

Might be a good drill for CAP too - make it a competition.

Tim,

In our CAP wing we brief egress as part of the PAX brief -- how to egress (C172N with the add on seat latch), who gets out first, last, and where to rally.

I made it part of my personal checklists and teach the pre-takeoff safety brief to all students -- to include emergency egress and rally.

A couple of students have wondered "Will it scare the passengers?"

But each who has flown with a pax on board and used it later said the passenger said it didn't bother him/her in the least.

 

[TMetzinger]

In my opinion, it's not enough to brief it - that's required for every flight anyway. I think it needs to be practiced. Perhaps not by all passengers on every flight, but all crew should have practiced it for the airplanes they fly.

 

[Arnold_O]

Could we start an EAA-sponsored event at future EAA Events ? And we all get a certificate after one or two egresses ? We could call the program "Young Egress".

I jest but if we had the appropriate devices, and it was allowed to be upside-down, and side-on it would actually assist in preparation for sometingg I hope we never have to be part of.

 

[Arnold_O]

Just heard a new (to me anyway) CFIcast where Ron, Tony, and Rick discuss an event in Farmingdale following a mid-air collision.

Without spoiling the cast (too much), it was an excellent reminder that we don't practice evacuating our airplanes as part of our normal instruction, and we probably don't ever practice it post-instruction unless (like Ron and I) we were trained in the military where egress procedures are part of the training of all crew - pilots or not.

I'm gonna make it a point next time I'm at the airport to time how long it takes me to run the secure checklist, exit the airplane, and get at least 100 yards away. I'll probably also make my wife and I practice getting our kid out in of the back in a hurry too.

Might be a good drill for CAP too - make it a competition.

Wait - I can see it now - for the 2012 games, we'll have "GA aircraft egress" as a sport!

Edit: I spent some quality time today with the ASF and FAA/NTSB databases, and in GA there's a surprising number of accidents where everyone survived the off airport landing, only to die in the ensuing fire. All the more reason to know how to evacuate your airplane in a hurry.

I agree with you; It was an interesting podcast, also what to anticipate if the tower is still keen to keep everything going as usual.

 

[TMetzinger]

That's not a bad idea for a project - find a wrecked airplane with an intact cockpit, put it in a frame that will let you rotate it, and make an egress trainer. The trick will be to make it relatively safe.

At CG medic school, we had an old wrecked DC-3 as well as some ships that we used for rescue drills.

 

[dmccormack]

That's not a bad idea for a project - find a wrecked airplane with an intact cockpit, put it in a frame that will let you rotate it, and make an egress trainer. The trick will be to make it relatively safe.

At CG medic school, we had an old wrecked DC-3 as well as some ships that we used for rescue drills.

You can do that almost as realistically with chairs and tape.

We used to do egress drills from Tanks and BFVs as "Chalk runs" before entering the vehicle.

 

[brcase]

I usually include egress instructions in my preflight briefing of my passengers.

One has to be careful about this as well. When I did my CFI Checkride the examiner told me about a 135 Charter flight he did once when he noticed flames coming out of the side of the cowling. He informed is passenger that they had an engine fire and would be making an emergency landing. At that point the passenger decided that she did not want to be in a burning airplane and tried to open the door and get out. Now the pilot not only had to deal with an airplane on fire but also had to keep the paniced passenger from jumping from the airplane.

Brian
CFIIG/aSEL

 

[tonycondon]

thats just natural selection right there...

 

[TMetzinger]

You can do that almost as realistically with chairs and tape.

Except the inverted part.

We did the chairs and tape drill at E-City before we got into the aircraft mockups.

Most fun - trying to observe which way the bubbles went by the glow of your chemlight so you'd know which way "up" was, while doing an inverted nighttime underwater egress.