CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 2, Issue 3 - 6

See no evil
By dAVId JACK KENNy

Safety spotlight

The lOYalTY ThaT BINdS the flying community is usually one of its most attractive qualities. Pilots, mechanics, and aircraft owners will all go to heroic lengths to help out fellow aviators who’ve been stranded by weather or mechanical difficulties, even if they’re complete strangers and unlikely ever to meet again. They understand they could just as easily be on the receiving end the next time.

…other pilots witnessed the accident pilot having drinks prior to the commencement of the flying lesson.

A similar sense of shared destiny probably explains the widespread reluctance to report misconduct to the authorities, even when it’s repeated and flagrant. Ratting out another pilot to the FAA is usually seen as a last resort, to be considered only in cases of bitter personal conflict or imminent threat to public safety—and not always then. A case in point was the October 2007 crash that destroyed a Cessna 172 at the Bermuda Dunes airport in Palm Springs, California. The 52-year-old CFI was killed; his 18-year-old student, the grandson of the airplane’s owner, survived with serious injuries. Witnesses saw the Skyhawk doing touch-and-goes in opposite directions, maneuvering sharply at low altitude to reverse course. On the last takeoff, it appeared to pitch up very steeply before turning right and dropping to the ground. Winds were just two to four knots at the time. The student recalled after taking off from Runway 28, the instructor told him to close his eyes; when he opened them again 6 | www.airsafetyinstitute.org

Many of us resent outside interference, so we mind our own business and expect others to do the same. Understanding that some threats to the public interest outweigh the virtue of respect for privacy, it’s still hard to acknowledge specific cases, much less take the necessary action. But some things can’t be tolerated. And there are considerations beyond safety. For three years, this CFI had worked as a contractor for a flight school on the field. Five weeks before the accident, their chief pilot had fired him, citing “the smell of alcohol on his person while on airport grounds” in a written letter of dismissal. As luck would have it, though, the school’s owner died that same day and it suspended operations, so the instructor took the controls again. The word of the firing didn’t get around. The student’s last memory was of looking at CFI got the Skyhawk’s owner to pay him the ground from an attitude he described directly, claiming the salary the school as “weird.” owed him was tied up in probate. The NTSB found the CFI had failed to After the accident, the student and his maintain sufficient airspeed to avoid a stall. grandfather filed suit against the CFI’s No surprise there—but the autopsy results estate and also against the flight school, raised some eyebrows. The flight instrucarguing that because the flight school tor’s blood alcohol content was measured hadn’t told the CFI’s students of his firing at 0.31 percent, far beyond the level at and the reason for it, they shared liability which most people would have passed for the accident. The trial judge ultimately out. Developing the tolerance to attain dismissed that claim, noting the instructor that concentration in the first place, much was pilot-in-command and the school did less with any semblance of functionality, not employ him, operate the aircraft, or requires years of practice, and this pilot’s have any knowledge of the flight. vices turned out to have been something of While the judge commented “No evian open secret. The accident investigators dence has been provided to this Court” noted: “The Sheriff-Coroner's report states that the school was aware this CFI had other pilots were aware the accident pilot flown while intoxicated, it seems like a had a habit of being intoxicated during good bet somebody knew enough to justify instruction and while flying. On the day making a phone call. His history doesn’t of the accident, other pilots witnessed the inspire confidence that he would have accident pilot having drinks prior to the stopped flying after his certificate was recommencement of the flying lesson.” voked. Still, you have to start somewhere. An outsider, unfamiliar with the small world of a GA airport, might be shocked David Jack Kenny is manager of aviation to learn that no one saw fit to turn in an safety analysis for the Air Safety Institute, instructor who was known to teach while an instrument-rated commercial pilot, and drunk. On the inside, it’s less surprising. owner of a Piper Arrow.

they were on final for Runway 10. The instructor told him to hold the nosewheel off the ground during the landing roll, which he did. The instructor took the controls again during climbout, and at about 200 agl made hard right turns to line the airplane back up with Runway 28 before returning the controls to the student. This time the student was told to fly just far enough above the runway to keep the gear from touching down, but when he lifted the nose back to a takeoff attitude, airspeed began to decay—it’s not clear whether either of them advanced the throttle—and


http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org

CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 2, Issue 3

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 2, Issue 3

CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 2, Issue 3
Contents
ASI online: IFR Insights—Cockpit Weather
CFI tools: AOPA Aviation Summit— focus on safety
Checklist: A CFI's good grief moment
Safety spotlight: See no evil
Chief's corner: Never too late!
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 2, Issue 3 - Contents
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 2, Issue 3 - 2
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 2, Issue 3 - CFI tools: AOPA Aviation Summit— focus on safety
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 2, Issue 3 - 4
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 2, Issue 3 - Checklist: A CFI's good grief moment
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 2, Issue 3 - Safety spotlight: See no evil
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 2, Issue 3 - Chief's corner: Never too late!
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 2, Issue 3 - 8
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