CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 8 Issue 2 - 18

CFI TIPS

The flight had departed one hour and 20
minutes later than planned, and the reason
for the delay is not known. It is also unknown
whether the 650-hour CFI or 17-year-old 18hour student pilot had checked the weather.
After departing and heading north they flew
to Scappoose Airport near Scappoose, Oregon,
then visited a couple of other airports in
the area. About half an hour after departing
Scappoose, the aircraft struck a tree in a hilly
area in Oregon.
The weather at nearby Portland International
Airport, about half an hour before the flight
departed from Pearson, was a light easterly wind,
10 miles of visibility, a broken ceiling at 2,800
feet and overcast at 3,700 feet. The temperature
and dewpoint were 6 degrees and 4 degrees C.
But half an hour after the flight took off from

Pearson there was light rain in the area and a
temperature/dewpoint spread of 8/7 degrees C.
At Scappoose, there was light rain, fog, a broken
ceiling at 2,000 and overcast at 2,500 feet, and a
temperature/dewpoint spread of 8/7 C.
Local residents reported that in the winter
when the wind was easterly, fog from the
Columbia River would blow over the hills and
that had occurred on the day of the accident.
The visibility was down to about a quarter of a
mile and thick fog covered from the ground to
the tree tops near the accident site. The aircraft
impacted terrain in a hilly region and the NTSB
determined the probable cause to be the "flight
instructor's decision to continue flight into
the area of reduced visibility and the pilots'
subsequent failure to maintain clearance from
the hilly terrain while operating in an area of
low ceilings, rain, and fog."

It's up to CFIs to understand the weather and
teach it thoroughly to their students. The Air
Safety Institute has conveniently packaged its
many programs by topic as Safety Spotlights
(airsafetyinstitute.org/safetyspotlight).
These spotlights include online courses, videos,
and safety quizzes that cover icing, IFR flying,
thunderstorm avoidance, VFR into IMC, and
more. This free information is an invaluable
resource for both CFIs and students...so please
take an active role in reducing weather-related
accidents by participating in these programs
and sharing the link with others.
Kathleen Vasconcelos is Senior Director
of AOPA Foundation Communications. She
is an instrument-rated flight instructor and
a commercial pilot with multiengine and
instrument ratings.
http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org/safetyspotlight
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 8 Issue 2
