bjohnson
Line Up and Wait
Bill and I are both IR and act as safety pilot for each other often. We had the same CFII and took our check rides on the same day about a year ago. Last night Bill and I departed CHA after dark to do a practice GPS approach into 9A5. Bill was under the hood and I was acting as safety pilot. We just bought a 496 in preparation for the Mooney we have under contract. About 50% of my attention was on playing with the 496 and the other 50% was looking out for traffic. While I was playing with the 496 we completely blew through one of the minimum altitudes which I didn’t catch and we kept descending. I was looking outside and noticed street lights getting brighter and closer than I remember. Bill caught the mistake just as I was starting to crosscheck the 430 with the approach plate and he corrected with a full power Vx climb back to the correct altitude of 2700. Wow what a wake up call!! I strongly feel I would not have let this happen if it was daylight. We had two more practice approaches that evening and my attention was 100% focused on our flight. After this experience I will definitely be paying more attention to the duties at hand. By not paying attention I increased the risk of danger and have let down a fellow pilot/friend.
Thoughts that come to mind after this experience are:
Thoughts that come to mind after this experience are:
- Don't let it happen again!!
- Don't get distracted.
- An IR pilot will always be my Safety Pilot
- When I act as Safety Pilot I will be focused on looking for traffic and at the approach plates.