Near-Fatal Accident Part 1
For my first entry in the logbook devoted to commentary on current events, I can’t avoid the topic of aviation because to an aviator, this is an attention-getting story.
AVweb is an excellent source of current events in aviation. The link on this page will take you there. As of a moment ago when I checked, the lead story includes three astonishing pictures of a twin-engine jet crash that put the pilot and a passenger in the hospital.
Learning of an aircraft accident engenders in most non-flyers a primal fear of being totally helpless and dependent upon pilots to keep them safe. Pilots often view the news from a different perspective.
First, they are curious about exactly what happened and why. This isn’t a voyeuristic impulse. From personal experience, I can attest to what might appear to be a selfish or arrogant attitude, and in a sense, it is.
Accident investigation pursues the same objective, to determine cause for the sole purpose of enhancing flight safety. Knowledge is power, and specific knowledge of what happens to other pilots involved in a crash becomes part of an aviator’s universal knowledge base. I may have never flown the type of airplane involved, but I’m looking for details that transcend the vehicle, if you will, and focus on what I can learn from any accident that will keep me safer.
It may not reflect well on me or any other pilot I inadvertently paint with the same brush, but I believe there’s another common key element feeding a pilot’s interest. After all the speculation, and pilots will almost always engage in “what if-ing,” we want to conclude when all the evidence is in that “what happened to that pilot will never happen to me.”
Do most of us think we’re better then the other guy? Yes, and that undoubtedly plays into the equation more often than not. Pilots usually have swallowed a healthy dose of confidence before they even think about doing what they do.
But there’s a downside to excessive confidence best illustrated by the term “bulletproof syndrome.”
Please visit again soon for more commentary on this and other topics.
My first trip on a plane was when I was about eight years old. My uncle, a sergeant in the air force, had picked up his pilot’s license through a program the air force had offered. He took me and my dad out of a small airport in Patterson, Louisiana.
I had that jones, at a very young age, to fly. As a boy, I never fully understood the idea that planes failed and could crash. That happened to other people. My uncle checked the plane’s single propeller and said, “She’s ready,” like the plane was a pretty woman and we could trust her. We lifted off the short runway, and I was thrilled.
I had had my dose of war movies and wanted to be soldier, really a pilot. I was impressed with my uncle’s sophistication and how he talked about going to Nam. He said he’d have to do a least a tour.
As we rose in the clear day, my confidence and enthusiasm abounded. My father, as my uncle recently told me, was petrified. I never noticed. The trip was probably all of about thirty minutes. Time seems to have eroded the specifics for me. But I remember it was a bright fall day in south Louisiana, which was really perfect weather to fly in. There were only a few small clouds, and I convinced my uncle to pilot through one of them. It was fun and daring for me. The ride, with the exception of the cloud, remained uneventful although it still remains in my mind.
However, the big takeaway was that I wanted to be a pilot. I liked how the air force’s duty was tied to complex gadgetry and the men of the air force, I thought, were the utmost in coolness and sophistication. Their sharp wits, friendliness, and good manners impressed me. I wanted to fight for my country, too. The air force pilots were heroes who brought in support for the guys on the ground. I wanted to be like them.
A few years later, Neil Armstrong stepped foot on the moon. And I wanted to be an astronaut, which meant being a pilot first. By the time I reached thirteen, I needed glasses, not uncommon for the genes in my family. All I remember about the eye exam is that the doctor said, “You’re fine, you’ll be okay, as long as you’re not thinking about being a pilot.” The words crushed my heart, and I took a new outlook on life. I considered the navy.
I LOVE IT! Especially the part about “ultimate in coolness and sophistication.” We need to go flying, Rick. Tosh