Flight Training - October 2014 - 50

ADVANCED PILOT»

CAREER ADVISOR

ACCIDENT ANALYSIS

See no evil

Midair risks in instrument training flights

Is 60 the new 40?
Learning to fly later in life

» By David Jack Kenney

ONE OF THE most surprising things
that emerged from the Air Safety
Institute's updated analysis of
instructional accidents (www.
aopa.org/training_report) was the
discovery that fatal accidents were
twice as common in advanced
fixed-wing training as in primary-and among all the different
types of advanced instruction, they
happened most often during instrument training.
This was startling for two
reasons. Virtually every minute of
the IFR curriculum is spent near
the middle of the flight envelope,
climbing or descending at 500 feet
per minute while limiting turns
to standard rate, and all on routes
meticulously tailored to keep
aircraft clear of both man-made
obstructions and terra firma. And
as in all advanced training, both the
instructor providing and the pilot
receiving it presumably already

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know how to fly that airplane.
The numbers are pretty stark.
More than 40 percent of all
accidents on instrument training
flights were fatal. No other welldefined course of study came close.
Stranger still, only three of 21 fatal
accidents had anything to do with
the actual execution of instrument
procedures. Instead, pilots and
their instructors were tripped up
by fuel mismanagement, inadvertent stalls before or after the
instrument portion of the flight,
controlled flight into terrain, or
loss of control in visual conditions.
Most telling, almost one-quarter
(five of 21) were midair collisions, including one between two
airplanes in which the pilot of each
was conducting hood work. Given
that these constituted the majority of the nine fatal midairs in all
advanced instruction combined, it
seems pretty clear that when the
student is unable to see outside at
all, the CFI also has to pay a lot of
attention to the panel-not exactly
the ideal recipe for practicing "see
and avoid."
Let's not exaggerate the risk.
We're talking about five fatal accidents over 10 years nationwide, just
2.5 percent of all fatalities during
fixed-wing instruction in that time.
But we put a lot of time and attention into avoiding midairs, which
might be one reason they're so rare.
The fact that they're 10 times as
likely to happen during hood work
might be reason to give a little more
thought to when, where, and how
you'll conduct that kind of training-and what precautions you'll
take before you do.
Commercial pilot David Jack Kenny is more
comfortable when he can't see outside.

» Q: I am a male, age 60, who
has always wanted to learn to
fly ( just for appreciation and
fun). Now that I can afford
to do so, am I not too
old?-Herman
» A: Age 60 too old? Perhaps
you haven't heard that 60 is
the new 40. Even Oprah
Winfrey, who turned 60 in
2014, chimes in with her personal wisdom. "I'm not one
to get hung up on numbers,
but if you say that 60 is the
new 40, I'll take that. You can
be and do whatever you want,
thanks to exercise and hair
color."
Now, here is some encouragement. Air Facts states,
"Older pilots are safe pilots."
Everyone knows about Capt.
"Sully" Sullenberger who,
at the age of 57, performed
that miraculous Hudson
River landing without a fatality. The FAA concluded, in
2009, that the maximum
age for airline crews would
be raised from 60 to 65.
There was a time when 60,
70, or 80 was old, but for
many people, that is not the
case anymore, and older
general aviation pilots are
recognized as an example for
younger pilots.
Learning any demanding
skill, such as flying or even
golf, is dependent on the individual. Only you can judge
if you are fit mentally and
physically to learn to fly.
All of us will need to hang
up our wings at some point.
Richard Collins, in his book
http://www.aopa.org/training_report http://www.aopa.org/training_report http://FLIGHTTRAINING.AOPA.ORG
Flight Training - October 2014

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