Not a Mooney accident, but a relevant cautionary tale.

[Schllc]

I got an email with a link to the aopa article about the Pilatus crash in NC a few years ago. 
It was a horrible story and sadly easily preventable. 

It  made me think of a different conversation with a friend talking to his adult child.  He made a joke about never breaking two rules at once.  Such as if you are going to speed, don’t have expired tags or insurance.  
The takeaway for me anyway, was don’t tempt fate.  
I think we have all been in that spot where maybe things don’t look so bad and you’re tempted to skip a step here or there, or maybe you don’t do it intentionally because subconsciously you are evaluating the risk.  

The story is a dark and somber reminder about how quickly things can deteriorate in IMC.  
Having my flight plan in my gps is usually done right before or right after startup.  
Even if I haven’t gotten my clearance yet, and I know I’m likely to get something else, I do not taxi without that being done, even if it’s a short hop and direct.
It isn’t written on my checklist but maybe it should be.  
One last note, I took a young eagle up for a flight the other day and I was discussing the dangers of IMC .  
I asked him how long he thought it would take the plane to go from straight and level in smooth air if I let go of the controls, and how long he though it would take him to notice if he couldn’t see the horizon. He was unsure about the first but was convinced he could tell immediately.

So I put him in the foggles  (he was not piloting at all just a passenger), and I let go.  It took about 15 seconds to find us in a 30deg bank and descending at about 400fpm.  I let it go another 10 seconds or so and asked him how he thought we were doing  he said we were straight and level.

I told  him to take off the foggles, and the look on his face was priceless.  
He went white instantly.    
It doesn’t take long, it can happen to anyone, and please don’t take these things for granted.  

 

 

 

https://www.globalair.com/articles/pilot-error-spatial-disorientation-cause-of-deadly-pc-12-crash-in-2022-that-killed-8?id=6913

[kortopates]

I agree, unbelievable this was a "professional" pilot that became obsessed with entering a waypoint after departure that he got so far behind the plane he never recovered. Didn't even seem that they should need a waypoint to avoid the restricted area given they weren't having success modifying the flight plan. They still managed to fly into it while missing radio calls - just shockingly poor airmanship and lack of proficiency with his avionics on par with a beginning instrument student. Never asked ATC for help. 

AOPA did good article on this with analysis - I hadn't seen the globalair version but think the AOPA version is more thorough minus the aircraft parts pictures. 

https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2024/july/pilot/what-went-wrong-obsession-with-a-waypoint

Edited September 18 by kortopates

[Falcon Man]

Thanks for the salient reminder this article provides.

[Vance Harral]

2 hours ago, Schllc said:

So I put him in the foggles  (he was not piloting at all just a passenger), and I let go.  It took about 15 seconds to find us in a 30deg bank and descending at about 400fpm.  I let it go another 10 seconds or so and asked him how he thought we were doing  he said we were straight and level.

This is more or less what I do when teaching unusual attitude recovery to students.  Rather than taking the controls when they go heads down/eyes closed/foggles/whatever, I just ask them to keep flying the airplane however they "think" is straight and level.  Then I ask them to make a 30 degree banked turn to left, then back to straight and level, then another turn, and so on.  After about 60 seconds of this, having given them one last "now return to straight and level" instruction.  Then I have them look up and recover.  There is always some degree of amazement how far off of "straight and level" the airplane has become.

[wombat]

1 hour ago, Vance Harral said:

This is more or less what I do when teaching unusual attitude recovery to students.  Rather than taking the controls when they go heads down/eyes closed/foggles/whatever, I just ask them to keep flying the airplane however they "think" is straight and level.  Then I ask them to make a 30 degree banked turn to left, then back to straight and level, then another turn, and so on.  After about 60 seconds of this, having given them one last "now return to straight and level" instruction.  Then I have them look up and recover.  There is always some degree of amazement how far off of "straight and level" the airplane has become.

That's my method as well.       I'll also sometimes speed the process up by dropping something on the floor and asking them to pick it up while doing this.   That head motion really messes with the vestibular system.    Last time I did that I got an "Oh f*ck!" from my student when they looked back at the instruments..

[IvanP]

3 hours ago, Schllc said:

So I put him in the foggles  (he was not piloting at all just a passenger), and I let go.  It took about 15 seconds to find us in a 30deg bank and descending at about 400fpm.  I let it go another 10 seconds or so and asked him how he thought we were doing  he said we were straight and level.

Very sad story, indeed, and hopefully an oportunity to learn for all of us. The gizmos that we have in our planes can be very distracting at times. I recall a situation when I had a brain fart and could not change flightplan in my new GNS 430 (yes, it was many years ago) in IMC when ATC amended my approach clearance. I asked for vectors to final, admitting my difficulties with the nav gizmo and the controller was very helpful.  Once established, the approach was non-event, albeit close to minimums if I recall correctly. There is no shame in asking for help from ATC when things do not go according to plan. 

Just out of curiosity, your plane goes into 30deg bank and 400fpm descent in 15 sec if you let go of controls in smooth air? Rigging issues? Once I am trimmed for straight and level flight in cruise, I do not experience changes of this magnitude if I let go and not touch anything for 15 sec in smooth air. 

[Pinecone]

I used to use a combination of slow smooth motion and quicker motion to get them positive they were in a climbing left turn, when they were in a descending right turn.

[Schllc]

1 hour ago, IvanP said:

do not experience changes of this magnitude if I let go and not touch anything for 15 sec in smooth air. 

Well, it wasn’t a Mooney, it wasn’t trimmed, and it may have had a little help….

[Fly Boomer]

40 minutes ago, Schllc said:

Well, it wasn’t a Mooney, it wasn’t trimmed, and it may have had a little help….

Yep.  Saw that coming.  

[IvanP]

14 hours ago, Schllc said:

Well, it wasn’t a Mooney, it wasn’t trimmed, and it may have had a little help….

I see...