There will undoubtedly be an investigation over an Cessna 172 that took off against the traffic on a taxiway at AirVenture on Thursday. The confused pilot was apparently spotted by marshals taxiing in the opposite direction to the flow on taxiway Papa, and they tried to get him turned around on the grass. Instead of following the directions, he complained to controllers about being directed to the “wrong runway” and then took off from the taxiway. There were numerous aircraft on the taxiway and in the air around the airport.
There has been no comment by the FAA but plenty of chatter online about the incident that actually was an extension of a fraught arrival by the same aircraft earlier in the week. In a rare move, AirVenture controllers provided active control and even headings to Runway 9 for the wayward pilot after he ignored their direction to divert to either Appleton or Fond du Lac. The aircraft is registered to a man in Bismarck, North Dakota.
Perhaps this poor unfortunate soul should be taken outside, drawn behind a pair of strong Percheron horses and castigated to satisfy our penchant for correctness. Or maybe not. How about some thoughtful instruction and review to bring awareness of this action to the fore. We are all now aware of how poorly someone made choices and has their sins revealed for all the world to reflect on. I certainly never did anything like this, or did I? Who hasn’t? This is probably a pilot with their heart in the right place and their actions for who knows what reasons in the wrong place. As someone said “Dear lord, please don’t let me f..k up”. Probably never again seen at Oshkosh…
Was there open fire or something that qualifies as a Jack Roush arrival? No? Then on and upwards we go. Who cares.
Whatcha going to do ?
How about suspending/revoking his certification at least temporarily, pending further review and medical evaluation, before he kills himself and/or someone else. There. I said what needs to be said.
I am sure everyone agrees that we are glad no one at AirVenture got hurt, including this pilot.
After caring for a loved one for 17 years who suffered from dementia, I find myself wondering if that may be in play here. To the family of this pilot, I say, “I know what you are going thorough, but you are in the best position to save this pilot’s life, and perhaps someone else’s. This is your sign that it is time to have him evaluated by a neurologist. Yes, this could result in you motivating him to surrender his pilot’s license, and perhaps his driver’s license. Don’t wait for something worse to happen before you step in. You need to get involved today.”
I will once again suggest that anyone flying to AirVenture (OK, Oshkosh…) read Rick Durden’s article from AVweb 2001. Search for ‘Rick Durden Yes Pogo, the Enemy is Us’
Jim hit the nail on the head. I have no knowledge of this pilot or the reasons behind what happened. But I do know that we are an aging population, and we owe it to each other to step in when issues present. Dementia doesn’t mean we need to leave our aviation community behind, but there will come a day for all of us when we shouldn’t be PIC anymore. If you see someone struggling, help them. If someone sees something in you, be grateful.
Hmm, when was his last flight review? I expect the FAA’s ASI in ND will have an interesting interview with the pilot and his instructor.
While working as a tower controller at Stapleton Airport in Denver the early 1980s, I cleared the pilot of a small single engine airplane for takeoff from an intersection on runway 35 Left, just a few hundred feet from the end, which was blocked by a Boeing 727. “How many feet of runway remaining?” the pilot asked. “At least 10,000 feet” I said. “Doesn’t look like that much” he replied. Then he proceeded to turn the wrong direction and start his takeoff roll with only a few hundred feet of runway remaining. I noticed what was happening and quickly got him stopped and turned around.
The problem is, from the article it sounds like several attempts were made to help the pilot out in real time and he ignored those attempts. Sometimes, some pilots reach a point where the only help that can be provided to them is to ground them permanently. That may or may not be the case here, so I’ll let the investigation figure that out.
It’s ironic that on the same day MOSAIC is announced, the poster boy of why you need a regular evaluation by an AME, makes the news this way. Social media is a huge enabler of very bad ideas and can inspire folks to foolishly overestimate their abilities with misplaced confidence. We only need a few more instances like this in quick succession to kill off MOSAIC and all the good potential that came with it. An old time Captain told a fresh faced me a long time ago, “I’m paid to say “No!”” and he took that responsibility seriously. But responsibility is incompatible with our Instagram and TikTok world. If we want the freedom of Sport Pilot privileges it’s up to us to have tough discussions with guys who shouldn’t be flying.
My sympathy on this lies close to zero. This is not some “fuddy-duddy” that wandered into the world’s busiest airspace. He purposely left North Dakota with the intent of going to Oshkosh and navigated his way there. That he did not likely read and/or understand the NOTAM is on him. He was cognizant enough to follow a controller’s instructions to a specific runway and obviously remembered “pitch and power” to arrive safely. This speaks more to self-determination than dementia. Sort of aviation’s version of road rage. Lastly, as a nit Russ, its “a Cessna 172”, not “an Cessna 172”.
Predictable in general.
FAA should definitely be having strong words with that pilot - incompetent, disobeying instructions, ignoring warnings, …
I’m pretty sure any pilot, no matter what age, who feels the urge and then acts on it to, “F it. I’m just going to takeoff” should not be a pilot.
If there weren’t any bad pilots there wouldn’t be any good pilots. Think about it.
Possible causes of mental confusion include:
Both disqualifying for the particular takeoff.
The controllers were top notch - especially on his confused and apologetic arrival - and reminded me of most first responders - we’re here to help without judgement.
And my opinion of this ‘event’ and others that will come is that they will have no affect on MOSIAC in the future. I’m taking the win and relaxing my aviation sphincter.
Rick Durden wrote an excellent article for Aviation Consumer on when to stop flying. If you can find it online, it is a great read and provides a blueprint to use for yourself or others to help determine when a pilot may no longer be up to the task.
There are a few vendors that do serve alcohol at OSH (both on and off the grounds), and why shouldn’t there be. Every pilot I’ve ever met knows that there are rules against flying while intoxicated, and that it’s just as dumb as taking off directly into a thunderstorm (and controllers will let you do that, if you so desire).
Or he was extremely lucky,
Everyone is allowed one(or two)screw up. No harm, no foul.
Thanks, I found Vector
(Which BTW has an error in the instructions about approaching a helicopter - the S76’s rotor is low in front of it.)
And I found The Pilot’s Lounge #38:Yes, Pogo, the Enemy Is Us - AVweb.
In over his aviation experience head. Going into Oshkosh is no different than you first trip into ORD or something similar. Lots of ground study first. Flying it on simulation first is very helpful. Have an informed and Oshkosh experience person go over the Notam carefully. And only then give it a shot keeping in mind an escape if you still get totally confused.
I hear what you are saying. When I was an Instructor Pilot in the Air Force, I taught my students the difference between a mistake and a crime. A mistake can include forgetting to lower the gear, or missing a checklist item. We all make mistakes. A crime is a willful act, like flying under a bridge, or taking off without having read (and mostly memorized) the OSH NOTAM and thinking “I’ll just figure it out when I get there”, knowing full well you shouldn’t. One is forgivable, the other is not.
His FlightAware picture says it all.
This guy was a dumbass endangering others. I have a friend with horses …
So difference is foolishness vs intentional?
Ah, trying it in simulator is a very good idea.
At the very least, sit in your aircraft and walk through it mentally, pointing to instruments and areas of them you will use.
Going opposite traffic, ignoring controller, ignoring waved warnings?
You don’t describe it correctly, dead is a foul.
This man is apparently a CFI and has a Wright Brothers award for flying 50 years. From what I’ve read, it seems that he is no longer cognitively capable of flying. If I were king of the FAA (maybe it’s just as well that I’m not), I’d send a very cordial pair of examiners out to visit him with a letter for him to sign, voluntarily relinquishingthey all his licences. If he declines, they’d give him the second letter, which is an emergency revocation of all his licences. No point in being mean about it, and these events were so egregious that this course of action seems well justified. By the way, I’m the same age, same licenses, same Wright Brothers award, and monitoring my own flying closely as to when to hang it up…
Well, I don’t know about an evaluation by an AME. You have a lot more faith in doctors and the medical profession than I do.
The guy has some problems, but so do we. Some of the memes on Facebook and elsewhere are unhelpful to say the least. What’s more we are simultaneously asking that towns don’t use ADS-B data to charge us for landing fees while, collectively, stringing this guy up using flight tracking services. Our collective hypocrisy is off the charts here. Having seen this, nobody with sense is going to let their plane be publicly trackable knowing that an influencer is waiting to ruin their day. And the Fisk arrival, which is really easy, will become that much more fraught for the weekend pilot who really wants to attend the show. So what have we really achieved here?
Every Oshkosh there are a few people who screw things up royally. Often there are fatalities. This year we are focused intensely on a guy that seemed confused about his orientation on arrival and departure. A 709 ride might be in order along with retraining. I’m not saying he should be given a free pass.
What I am saying is the schadenfreude around this is pretty gross. It’s also unhelpful and possibly detrimental. I hope he filed an ASRS report. The group think that we get into so often is exactly why I avoid going to meetings.