AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2015 - 104

NEWS & NOTES

AOPA FOUNDATION

You're passionate about flying and safety. Why not be passionate about
giving, too? Your donation to the AOPA Foundation helps fund the Air Safety
Institute's free aviation education products such as those below that keep us
safe in the air and on the ground (aopafoundation.org/donate).
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AIR SAFETY INSTITUTE

IFR QUIZ

Wishful thinking
The price of unrealistic expectations can be dire
ON MAY 26, 2012, N4640L DEPARTED on a cross-country flight from Lodi, California, to
Mountain Home, Idaho. On board the Cessna 172 were the noninstrument-rated 300hour private pilot, his wife, and one of their daughters. The pilot, Brian Brown, had
carefully checked weather conditions the week before the flight. On the day of departure he noticed that some adverse weather had moved across their flight path over the
Idaho mountains. But he felt confident it would clear out of the region by the time they
reached the area, so the family launched on the trip.
Unfortunately, that confidence became wishful thinking as the flight proceeded: Only
25 miles away from their destination the pilot descended below the cloud layers-at 1,000
feet above the inhospitable terrain to stay out of the weather.
In "Real Pilot Story: From Miscue to Rescue", Brown takes you along on a personal
and emotional journey as he reflects on how a series of delays, poor decisions, and lack
of preparation turned the four-hour cross-country flight into a 30-hour survival crisis
for his family.
Brown shares several hard lessons learned, including the importance of matching
expectations with experience and skill levels, not to press on in adverse conditions, and
to be prepared with a Plan B and use it. After their forced landing in a ravine in the unforgiving Idaho backcountry, he knows you can't count on luck alone. Watch the video story
(www.airsafetyinstitute.org/rps-frommiscuetorescue).

INTO A BLACK HOLE
Sometimes our eyes play
tricks on us, especially
during flight at night in
instrument conditions.
Top it off with an
approach to Runway 33 at
Griffiss International Airport in Rome, New York,
in a sparsely populated
environment and you'll
have an opportunity to
experience several optical
illusions at once. Think
you're ready? Take this
Air Safety Institute quiz
to test your savvy
(www.airsafetyinstitute.
org/quiz-intoablackhole).

RAMP UP FOR RAMP OPS WITH THIS SAFETY BRIEF
IT'S A GORGEOUS DAY, and you've met your
friends at the FBO to take them up for a
short flight around the area. Do you all
just make a beeline from the FBO to the
tiedown? Or, as pilot in command, will you
brief them (and remind yourself ) of some
of the hazards that can be encountered on
your way to the airplane?
Knowing what will keep you and your
passengers out of harm's way on the ramp
is the key to conducting each flight safely.

104 | AOPA PILOT July 2015

Obstacles such as tiedowns and chocks,
sharp wing surfaces, spinning propellers,
and jet blasts can bite, so explaining some
of these common dangers found on the
ramp will help you all navigate to and from
your aircraft without incident.
Ramp Operations examines the things
you can do to protect yourself, and your
passengers, each and every time you go
flying. Download the publication online
(www.airsafetyinstitute.org/rampops).

http://www.aopafoundation.org/donate http://www.aopafoundation.org/donate http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org/quiz-intoablackhole http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org/rps-frommiscuetorescue http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org/rampops

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