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How to prevent Pilot induced accidents


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This is a huge topic between my wife and I.  She is an A&P and I am a pilot.  When we lived in TX she worked with the Commemorative Air Force restoring WWII aircraft.  The pride and joy of the squadron was a C-47 (DC-3) named Bluebonnet Belle.  Last summer that aircraft was destroyed due to pilot error during takeoff.   The only good thing is that all 13 on board made it out alive.  Below is the link to the crash video.  As long as pilots are human, there will be human error in the cockpit.

 

 

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2 hours ago, MilitaryAV8R said:

This is a huge topic between my wife and I.  She is an A&P and I am a pilot.  When we lived in TX she worked with the Commemorative Air Force restoring WWII aircraft.  The pride and joy of the squadron was a C-47 (DC-3) named Bluebonnet Belle.  Last summer that aircraft was destroyed due to pilot error during takeoff.   The only good thing is that all 13 on board made it out alive.  Below is the link to the crash video.  As long as pilots are human, there will be human error in the cockpit.

 

 

Along with the humans in the cockpit making mistakes, the same holds true for the humans on the shop floor making mistakes.

Clarence

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So no video running but coming back from my FR.  lined up behind a mooney to land.   He was turned off.  Standard landing on 16 with winds reported 6 at 180.    Getting ready to flare and suddenly I was 15 feet off centerline.    Then I was 5 feet off centerline the other way with the bottom dropping out.   Kind of did a dead turkey flop on the runway.   Ask the other mooney that was taxiing back if he had the same experience he confirmed.   That eliminated wake turbulance from the Mooney in front of me.   There was some rain about ten miles NNE of the airport.   There is lots of piloting that goes on close to the ground.

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everyone needs to bring their A game for sure, but the day humans are removed from the equation is the day I stop getting in airplanes, I dont want to be taken out by an IF statement on some line code

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1 hour ago, M20Doc said:

Along with the humans in the cockpit making mistakes, the same holds true for the humans on the shop floor making mistakes.

Clarence

I have caught numerous maintenance goofs over the years. Scariest was the missing cotterpins on the pitch links on a Schweitzer 300. I never blame the mechanic. Humans goof up. If I’m honest, I’ve nearly killed myself many more times than anyone working on the craft I fly. And, who knows how many times they caught and fixed stuff I didn’t even know about on airplanes I rented or flew Part 135?

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A few years ago when I had my AOA installed, they showed me a big ol bucking bar they pulled out of my wing, that apparently had been clattering around in my wing since it came new from the factory and one of the workers must have misplaced it and sealed it in.  It was heavy and pointy and with the right rolling action in turbulence, I figure it coulda poked a hole right in the skins and fallen from the skies right in the middle of someone's lawn one day.

Luckily it lodged itself somewhere tight in my wing to be found 25 years after new stuck in my wing.

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2 hours ago, aviatoreb said:

A few years ago when I had my AOA installed, they showed me a big ol bucking bar they pulled out of my wing, that apparently had been clattering around in my wing since it came new from the factory and one of the workers must have misplaced it and sealed it in.  It was heavy and pointy and with the right rolling action in turbulence, I figure it coulda poked a hole right in the skins and fallen from the skies right in the middle of someone's lawn one day.

Luckily it lodged itself somewhere tight in my wing to be found 25 years after new stuck in my wing.

Dude!  That's scary, I've dropped one of those suckers on my feet and it's no fun.  Can't imagine it falling 10,000 ft on my head :o  Glad for everyone's sake it stayed put.

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  • 11 months later...

 

On 7/2/2019 at 8:44 PM, PT20J said:

I have caught numerous maintenance goofs over the years. Scariest was the missing cotterpins on the pitch links on a Schweitzer 300. I never blame the mechanic. Humans goof up. If I’m honest, I’ve nearly killed myself many more times than anyone working on the craft I fly. And, who knows how many times they caught and fixed stuff I didn’t even know about on airplanes I rented or flew Part 135?

Skip

 

If the mechanic kills me, I'm blaming them.....

http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2020/06/systemcomponent-malfunctionfailure-non.html

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1 hour ago, skykrawler said:

I thought I had read that the braking system had problems from the previous flight, and there was a way for the pilot to configure the system using emergency brakes to stop, but he set it up as if the regular brakes worked? So the blame must be shared with the pilot, too.

Was there also poor communication about the braking issue between flight crews? Lots of places to spread the blame for this one besides the poor A&P . . . . . Although only one flight crew (Capt & FO) both paid the price. :(

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Airlines have, for years, dealt with the reality that pilots are definitely a major link in most accident chains.  The response has been to install more and more technology to "help" the pilots.

This is one area where general aviation is woefully behind in safety.  Most of our aircraft are not equipped with the best and most effective technology.  We can't even stop all the gear-ups and running out of gas accidents much less wind shear and CFIT accidents!

You would think that the insurance industry would be all over this, but, hey, without accidents, who would buy insurance!  Is there a conflict of interest here?

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On 7/2/2019 at 10:47 PM, aviatoreb said:

A few years ago when I had my AOA installed, they showed me a big ol bucking bar they pulled out of my wing, that apparently had been clattering around in my wing since it came new from the factory and one of the workers must have misplaced it and sealed it in.  It was heavy and pointy and with the right rolling action in turbulence, I figure it coulda poked a hole right in the skins and fallen from the skies right in the middle of someone's lawn one day.

Luckily it lodged itself somewhere tight in my wing to be found 25 years after new stuck in my wing.

I have yet to bring home a new airplane, open it up and not find at least a couple tools if not more in the airplane. I remember bringing home a brand new Beech Duchess and we found 7 different tools left in it. Another time, found an entire tool box in the tail of an Aztec E. I delivered a couple 737NGs that I could have stocked a Snap On truck with.   ALWAYS open up a new aircraft before you put it in service. I always considered delivery flights high risk. Ditto post maintenance. A couple years ago I failed to notice that the mechanic had not cotter pinned the throttle linkage on a PA-18 after engine replacement. I lost the throttle. The engine stayed at 2300 RPM fortunately when the bolt fell out but I had to dead stick it to make the landing. I could blame the mechanic, but I was just a culpable as it was a visible item for preflight.

 

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On 7/2/2019 at 4:51 PM, MilitaryAV8R said:

This is a huge topic between my wife and I.  She is an A&P and I am a pilot.  When we lived in TX she worked with the Commemorative Air Force restoring WWII aircraft.  The pride and joy of the squadron was a C-47 (DC-3) named Bluebonnet Belle.  Last summer that aircraft was destroyed due to pilot error during takeoff.   The only good thing is that all 13 on board made it out alive.  Below is the link to the crash video.  As long as pilots are human, there will be human error in the cockpit

OK, I'll bite.  What exactly was going on there?  

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1 hour ago, steingar said:

OK, I'll bite.  What exactly was going on there?  

The pilot flying was still very new to the C-47 (DC-3).  He had just gotten his type rating and simply messed up.  From the FAA reports I think it even went as far as to say when the other pilot took the controls he did not fully release them.

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