I believe that a large part of the problem is the 'cavalier' attitude to risk highlighted in the article. I believe this is our biggest threat - it can affect pilots of any experience level. Risk is inherent in what we do, but the conscious acceptance or rejection of the different individual risks (do I focus on picking a paddock or do I try & milk this thermal, do I stretch the glide or top up a bit)is perhaps the result of our perception that these risks are acceptable, when clearly the results often indicate that they shouldn't have been.
An effective way to combat this 'it could never happen to me' attitude may be to widely publicise accidents that occur - as quickly as possible & as completely as possible. The old Aviation Safety Digests I read as a teenager still come to mind whenever I start to feel that I am reaching my limit of acceptable risk .. others misfortunes have made me aware that there is often a bad result from risks similar to that I may be about to accept. I think this is the key, and it is something that has been sadly lacking at various times during my 17 years of gliding/power flying. Lets re-vamp our reporting of accidents/incidents & make risk management a priority in our training. Richard McLean Beverley Soaring Society --- Michael Texler <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi Mike B. and others, > > > If you assume the pilots aren't all suicidal then > I can only assume they > aren't properly trained which includes developing > the judgement to avoid > critical situations and the skill to make them non > critical when they do > occur. > > Even the best trained and most experienced pilot can > go off and make a > mistake that results in an accident (history > provides illustrations here). > So to blame training is not the entire answer. > > Apart from the annual flight review (hopefully), > many pilots may fly around > unobserved and develop bad habits. An annual flight > review is only a > snapshot of a pilot's ability. Expanding the annual > flight review to include > say, on outlanding check may be commendable, but not > realistically feasible > for a small club with a small number of instructors > and members. > > It is up to the integrity and self discipline of the > pilot not to be tempted > by superficially more convenient (but more > dangerous) decisions (i.e. > stretching final glide to avoid landing out), > maintain a good look out (the > subject of a GFA ops directive), keeping ahead of > the aircraft (i.e. > outlanding paddock selection), and avoiding showing > off in potentially > dangerous situations (low altitude high speed > competition finishes when > they are not needed). > > This is stuff that is not necessarily taught, but > often aquired by less > experienced pilots from more experienced pilots, on > top of the intrinsic > personality of the pilot. > > > Some questions: > 1) A pilot may pass an annual flight review with > flying colours and then go > off and do something stupid, why? > 2) Should we mandate an outlanding check as part of > an annual flight review? > 3) Should we use psychological testing to screen > potential pilots (i.e the > suicidal ;-0 ) and exclude ones who have a careless > or cavalier attitude > (equality and discrimination issues here)? > 4) If you think training is to blame: > a) What specific critical skills training would you > propose? > b) How reproducible would it be? > c) How predictive would it be of a pilot's future > behaviour? > > Cheers, > > Michael > > > -- > * You are subscribed to the aus-soaring mailing > list. > * To Unsubscribe: send email to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > * with "unsubscribe aus-soaring" in the body of > the message > * or with "help" in the body of the message for > more information. > http://search.yahoo.com.au - Yahoo! Search - Looking for more? Try the new Yahoo! Search -- * You are subscribed to the aus-soaring mailing list. * To Unsubscribe: send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] * with "unsubscribe aus-soaring" in the body of the message * or with "help" in the body of the message for more information.
