AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2015 - 36

PILOT BRIEFING
UPDATE

Tornado Husky's
bad day

FROM THE EXPERTS

TRAVEL TIP #1

Lessons the pilot learned

By Chris Rose

B Y D AV E H I R S C H M A N

Packing an aircraft for flight
over land is typically dictated
by three things: weight and
balance, need for access, and
simply trying to make it fit.
Flight over water, however,
should involve a fourth consideration-what if I have to
make a water landing?
None of us like to think
about a worst-case scenario,
but a bit of preflight organization can go a long way toward keeping a bad situation
bad, and not tragic. Begin
with an honest and
detailed egress
plan for your
passengers.
Explain how
the life raft
(which you are
carrying, right?)
works. Pack the
raft on top of everything else
and practice the movements
for retrieving, deploying, and
securing it.
Wear an inflatable life preserver the entire time you're
over water, and pack a survival grab bag with basic items
such as water,
energy bars,
sunscreen,
a flashlight,
and signal
devices.
These
steps will
help ensure
that your
survival gear
isn't just whatever floats to
the surface.

THE AOPA 2013 SWEEPSTAKES Tornado
Husky's fateful flight took place on a perfect
autumn day in the Arizona mountains. The
wind was calm beneath a cloudless blue sky,
the airplane was in top mechanical condition.
The pilot, David Dunteman, a military-trained
airline captain and ATP who had logged more
than 100 tailwheel hours during the preceding 12 months-was superbly qualified.
His plan to fly to the Red Creek Airstrip,
a narrow, 1,200-foot dirt strip, was carefully
researched. He familiarized himself with the
place on Google Earth and visualized landmarks, abort points, and contingencies. He
brought a highly experienced backcountry
pilot with him who had been to Red Creek
many times, and they overflew the strip at low
altitude to check its condition before landing.
"I had anticipated that the landing would
be the most difficult part of the flight," he
said. "It went according to plan, and I was
elated. This was exactly the kind of flying
I had looked forward to when I bought the
Tornado Husky."
After a morning hike in the Tonto
National Forest, Dunteman and his passenger
got back in the airplane for the flight home.
On the takeoff roll, the airplane's 26-inch tires
fell into ruts that pulled the airplane to the left
side of the dirt strip. Then the left tire became
fouled in brush, and the left wing struck a
mesquite tree. The airplane veered into rough
terrain and scrub that knocked out the main
landing gear, destroyed the three-blade MT
propeller, and severely damaged both wings.
The pilots were unhurt, but the wellknown Husky, which got its name from a
close encounter with the March 2011 Sun
'n Fun tornado, was a total loss. The pilots
were stranded at a remote strip where there
was no cellphone coverage, and they hadn't
filed a flight plan. Fortunately, they had told
friends and family members where they were
going, and when they failed to return, those

36 | AOPA PILOT February 2015

people notified authorities. A rescue helicopter retrieved them before the sun went down.
Dunteman faults himself for failing to
devote as much attention to the departure
from Red Creek as he had to the arrival. If he
had carefully considered the takeoff, he said,
he might have accounted for the deep ruts in
the uneven surface and avoided them. Also, he
had removed his survival gear (water, first-aid
kit, sleeping bag, and satellite messenger) he
usually keeps in the airplane. "I figured it was
a local trip so I wouldn't need all that," he said.
Dunteman was concerned the incident
would result in certificate action. His formerly spotless military, airline, and GA record
was now marred. But there were no repercussions from the FAA, his airline employer,
or insurance company. "I made the required
notifications and was completely candid,"
he said. "The system worked the way it's
supposed to, and everyone I talked to was professional, cooperative, and understanding."
Dunteman talks to aviation groups about
his Husky mishap and the things he learned
from it, and he calls his presentation "Lessons
from My Beloved Dog." It's at times surprising, funny, insightful, and poignant.
Dunteman takes aviation culture to task
for a code of secrecy and reluctance among
pilots to fess up to errors that peers can learn
from. His openness is meant to provide an
example of what he hopes will become a more
safety-oriented flying culture in which pilots
evaluate their preparations and qualifications
for every flight in a clear-eyed way, and share
lessons learned without fear of judgment.
After his talks, other pilots seek him out
to confess their own lapses-most of which
he suspects they've never spoken openly
about. "I learned some painful lessons," he
said. "But if I can help other pilots avoid
repeating them, I'm happy to do it."
EMAIL dave.hirschman@aopa.org

Chris Rose is a photographer
for AOPA who makes many,
many trips for the association.

AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2015