Risk Management

NOTE: This narrative was compiled from interviews with the pilot, Jim Hawley, and one passenger who played a key role in the incident, Jens Lundy. All times are local; Loreto, Mexico is one hour ahead of Phoenix, Arizona. It was supposed to be just a fun father and son weekend, fishing off the coast of […]

 Some pilots who hear the term “humanfactors” dismiss whatever comes afterward because they think it is all a bunch ofpsycho-babble. But if you take the time to think about aviation accidents it doesn’t takelong to realize that every one of them has some form of human input — whether the resultof actions by the pilot, […]

Parts of this book are disturbingly familiarfor those who follow the FAA’s internal infighting, politicking and intrigue.Mary Schiavo, as the Inspector General of the Department of Transportation,tried to dig into the inner workings of the FAA, intrude on the good-old-boynetwork and root out mutual hand holding between the inspected and the inspectee.Unfortunately, she achieved only […]

Moving is difficult for a family, but in these days of “upwardcorporate mobility” it’s not unusual for mid-level managersto change domiciles routinely as new opportunities arise. Severalyears ago, a private pilot moved his family and household goodsfrom California to New Jersey, then returned to the West Coastto pick up his Bellanca 260A and bring it […]

Pilots transitioning from one type of aircraft to another havea responsibility to themselves and to their passengers to ensure that theyare comfortable and safe in the new aircraft. Others, from instructors todesignated check airmen to company managers, have the job of overseeing theprocess and ensuring that when a recently upgraded pilot makes his firstflights in […]

Most of us have been taught to hand rotate the propeller before normalstartup or after shutdown for the following suggested reasons: But few of us have been properly trained about the proper precautionsthat need to be taken before touching that propeller. Few CFIs or pilotexaminers provide guidance about propeller safety, apparently assumingthe aircraft manual provides […]

The following is the full text of a letter sent by the author to the FAA. This letter is to inform you of an incident that occurred during a routine flight from Austin, Texas (AUS) to Addison Airport, Dallas, Texas (ADS). This incident in no way deals with any violation of current FAR’s or use […]

Gone are the days when pilots were expected to know every nut and bolt intheir aircraft. These days, pilots aren’t expected to retain minute mechanicaldetails, but there is still much we need to know about our aircraft to staysafe_including enough systems knowledge to understand what the various cockpitannunciator lights and buzzers mean, and how to […]

April 19, 1996. There I was, 5,000 MSL (about 4,000 AGL) with my wife besideme in our 1954 Piper Tri-Pacer. The problem was that I was at full throttleand pitched for a standard climb, but we were descending.. I’d been cleared to 7,000 and instructed to contect Center upon reachingthat altitude TriPacer Zero Seven Papa […]

Situational awareness is more than knowing your position. It’salso about knowing what’s going on or anticipating what’s aboutto happen. There have been tragic results from the lack of situationalawareness. Some accidents/incidents haven’t ended tragically,but have resulted in FAA enforcement actions against the pilotsinvolved. Let’s review some of the occurrences and try to profitfrom the misfortunes […]