As I read the Aspen Accident briefing I noticed multiple contributing factors that lead to the accident. Firstly the crew let the pressure from "the boss" get to them and influenced some of their decisions to keep going on the approach instead of going missed and continuing to the alternate. Another possible contributing factor, was allowing one of the passengers into the jump seat during the highest workload part of the flight. One other one was the crews situational awareness, for the co-pilot thought that the runway was to their right when in fact it was to their left.
As for the error chain I believe that this started even before the flight began, when "the boss" put the pressure on the crew to complete the flight and land in Aspen. It then continued as the crew let the passenger sit in the jump seat, therefore making the crew even more aware of the clients "get there itis". Then the chain continued even further when they decided to shoot the approach after the Challenger's had both previously gone missed. The last error that I believe took place in this chain of events was the crews decision to keep going with the approach even when they found themselves situationally unaware.
I believe that if I found myself in this same situation and my job was on the line I would have followed many of their same steps up until I heard that the Challenger's went missed on their approaches. At that point I would have gone directly to the alternate. With passengers I think that it is very important to make sure that they know their wants are important, but also let them know that you are the one making the decisions.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
Single Pilot IFR
The answer to the question of whether I would fly single pilot IFR is a simple one for me. No. The main reason that I say this is because I am currently not proficient, nor do I have any actual IMC time. These two factors combined or alone make for a very dangerous environment if you are single pilot IFR. However, I do believe that my answer to this with more training and experience will become yes, because I believe that I will be able to do it safely with the correct knowledge and experience.
The SPIFR article was a very informative and helpful article to me, not only did it teach me things that I had never known before, but it also reminded me of many of the things I had forgotten. One of these such things was how many tasks a normal person can hanle at once. For most 3 to 5 is the limit, however, if you exceed this limit or perhaps add an emergency or partial panel into the scenario, mistakes will start being made. This is why it is so important to stay ahead of the airplaneby AT LEAST two minutes. This will help to insure that when you do have an emergency you can focus your attention on it instead of scramling through your charts to find the right approach plate or frequency.
Another thing that the article was trying to get across was how important practice is. Not only for newer pilots but also for experienced pilots especially in the SPIFR environment where you have to be perfect. Practicing flight planning and flying in PCATD's or whatever you can, even if it's just a chair, will all help to prepare you for the IFR environment so you can handle it when you are actually in it. It also has the benefit of making you more confident, efficient, and proficient.
The SPIFR article was a very informative and helpful article to me, not only did it teach me things that I had never known before, but it also reminded me of many of the things I had forgotten. One of these such things was how many tasks a normal person can hanle at once. For most 3 to 5 is the limit, however, if you exceed this limit or perhaps add an emergency or partial panel into the scenario, mistakes will start being made. This is why it is so important to stay ahead of the airplaneby AT LEAST two minutes. This will help to insure that when you do have an emergency you can focus your attention on it instead of scramling through your charts to find the right approach plate or frequency.
Another thing that the article was trying to get across was how important practice is. Not only for newer pilots but also for experienced pilots especially in the SPIFR environment where you have to be perfect. Practicing flight planning and flying in PCATD's or whatever you can, even if it's just a chair, will all help to prepare you for the IFR environment so you can handle it when you are actually in it. It also has the benefit of making you more confident, efficient, and proficient.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Post #2: In Flight Electrical Fires
Having read through the AOPA electrical fire safety briefing I came to realize one main point that they really seemed to be trying to get across; STAY CALM! Although this seems like something simple, I believe that it would be much harder to do in the event of an actual in flight fire. In order to actually be calm in a situation like this (or at least calm enough to make the right decisions), I think that you have to be prepared for the emergency and have previously trained for it in the past.
When you compare the articles electrical fire emergency procedure to the Seminole's I noticed one main difference and that is the Seminole's checklist goes straight to the source of the problem by turning off electrical components that may have caused the problem, while the article's checklist says to first declare an emergency and then if you think you can identify the component that is causing the problem pull the circuit breaker as long as the breaker is not to an essential component. Overall obviously the Seminole's checklist is the best checklist for our situation because it was tailored to our specific aircraft. However, I also like the Seminole's checklist better because it first has you go straight to the problem to take care of it before it gets worse and then has you land as soon as practical instead of possibly making the situation worse by making radio calls first.
One possible way that some of these electrical fires can be started according to the article is a short circuit (or short) in the electrical system. This is essentially when a current travels along an unintended path of very low or no resistance.
In the future, I hope to never have a situation in which I have to deal with an in flight electrical fire, however if I do have to, I now know what I am going to do. Firstly I will fly the airplane and stay calm, then I will follow the aircraft's individual checklist and land as soon as practical.
When you compare the articles electrical fire emergency procedure to the Seminole's I noticed one main difference and that is the Seminole's checklist goes straight to the source of the problem by turning off electrical components that may have caused the problem, while the article's checklist says to first declare an emergency and then if you think you can identify the component that is causing the problem pull the circuit breaker as long as the breaker is not to an essential component. Overall obviously the Seminole's checklist is the best checklist for our situation because it was tailored to our specific aircraft. However, I also like the Seminole's checklist better because it first has you go straight to the problem to take care of it before it gets worse and then has you land as soon as practical instead of possibly making the situation worse by making radio calls first.
One possible way that some of these electrical fires can be started according to the article is a short circuit (or short) in the electrical system. This is essentially when a current travels along an unintended path of very low or no resistance.
In the future, I hope to never have a situation in which I have to deal with an in flight electrical fire, however if I do have to, I now know what I am going to do. Firstly I will fly the airplane and stay calm, then I will follow the aircraft's individual checklist and land as soon as practical.
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