On 11/3/05, Raj Bholanat <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > You tell me. Was it poor circuit planning, or pilot fatigue, or poor > paddock selection or pilot dehydration or an unsighted star-picket or > .............................. > > I think this is the sticking poing between the two train of thoughts. > Ok, lets pick one - anyone (or one of the _many_ other reasons for heavy > outlanding). Now what? > > do you just concentrate on _that_ one the next time you outland? Unless > there is something NEW what's the point?
>From following reports of incidents (almost-accidents) and actual accidents in Israel, I can say for myself that: 1. Every "yet another" report (prepared by professionals) keeps reminding of procedures which were neglected by the pilot and reminds me why they were invented in the first place (examples below). A report done by a professional many times highlights a "first sin" which happened a few minutes ago and, through a chain of errors made in order to fix it, arrived to the final undesired outcome. 2. Hearing people talking about the incidents, especially the more senior pilots, and having accurate information about the incidents, gives an atmosphere of "safety" around the operation and keeps me (and I think others around me) "on the edge" and aware of all the "protocols" and procedures and looking around for things that can go wrong beyond the "required minimum". Concrete examples of what can happen if a procedure or a recommandation is neglected helps remember the procedure. This "mindset" of reporting incidents and accidents (and encouraging pilots to report errors of themself without fear of sunctions) was copied from the Israeli air force, which managed to significantly decrease its accident rate when it startted using this protocol. Examples of accidents I can think of right now: 1. Not a glider but still - an Extra 300 aerobatic plane used for instructing aerobatics didn't pull out of a loop, both people on board died when the plane dived 90 degrees into the ground. It turned out that the student haven't tightened his belts enough and when they reached a 90 degrees angle he slipped onto the stick and couldn't pull it back. 2. A couple of the very few glider fatalities ever in Israel happened to newly-solo'ed pilots when turning from base to final - they though they were too low and tried to trade speed for altitude (unaware or didn't remember that they better speed up in such a case), then stalled a wing when they turned into final. Since then the curriculum has changed to stress the importance of speed in the circuit and *why*, and there haven't been such accidents for the last 30 years. I remember how as a new pilot myself I arrived low to the field and remembering the warnings I kept "sticking the glider's nose into the ground" against my instinct and arrived safely to the final. I don't know how or who is going to do these reports, I'm new here and not familiar with the bodies involved and their responsibilities, I just want to explain why I believe that accident and incident reports seem very important to me in order to keep this sport as safe as possible. > [now back to lurking on the list] Ditto :) --Amos -- "We wanted proper outback: a place where men were men and sheep were nervous." - Bill Bryson, "Down Under" _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [email protected] To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
