There are people who fly commercially for decades and never experience a problem, beyond a bit of turbulence. Even with the increased commercial traffic, crashes in the commercial airline industry are rare events, given the stringent safety checks from both a maintenance standpoint, and the pre-flight pursuant to the commercial airline industry.
However, the same can't quite be said for the small aircraft industry. While many pilots of light aircraft will have their commercial aircraft license, especially if they work for a small commuter airline, the majority will carry a private pilot's license, qualifying them to fly small aircraft for pleasure, or for travel.It is here that experience, and complacency, play a role.
David Jameson is a private pilot and owner of a 4-passenger Cessna 172 based at Drumheller, in Alberta. He takes an active interest in aviation accidents for the educational value, and notes that 75 percent of accidents and 80 percent of fatal accidents are caused by pilot error. And it is interesting to note that while lower-time pilots—those with fewer hours—tend to have the most accidents, according to Jameson "above 1000 hours the risk stays the same."
That seems to suggest that while inexperienced pilots may pale when compared with a more experienced colleague, sometimes that experience breeds complacency. You've been in the air so long it becomes second nature to you—and sometimes you play fast and loose with the checks and balances.
Think back to when you were a teenager, just getting your license and having the chance to take Dad's car out on your own. Yes, you lacked experience. But by then you had memorized the drivers' handbook and the rules of the road. You checked all blind spots before backing up, and you dutifully checked the rear-view mirror every few seconds, sitting erect with both hands on the wheel. Driving was a privilege, and the car could be a weapon in the wrong hands. You had a responsibility not only to yourself, but other drivers and pedestrians, too.
Cut to today. You've been driving for 35 years. It's so second nature. Check the blind spots? Nah, there's never anybody back there this time of day. You might check the rear-view mirror every once in a while to see if the radar trap picked you up doing 30 MPH over the speed limit. Two hands on the wheel? Yeah, right. And the rules of the road? What are they? I can hang a right-hand-turn on a red, but do you recall much beyond that?
If you had to take a driver's test today—right now—would you pass? Think about it.
Not to paint all drivers, and all pilots with the same brush. There are terrific pilots with decades of experience, who treat the airplane, the checklist and the need for common sense with as much respect as in the beginning. But complacency is human nature too, and it does happen.
Jameson observes that flying a small plane carries about the same risk as riding a motorbike, "and in both cases the risk mostly depends on the driver."
So—you've been invited to fly. What are the things to keep in mind, to avoid becoming a statistic? First, a couple of fast facts. Jameson makes the observation that most people worry about engine failure, but it is actually quite rare—and if it happens, you just glide down and land in a field. The age of the plane is a non-issue, even considering the fact most small aircraft are more than 30 years old. All certified aircraft require an inspection once each year, and statistics show that older planes are no more likely to have a problem than newer models.
The real problems with air crashes, according to Jameson are flying too low, flying into bad weather, and overloading.The latter is a key consideration. Each plane carries a load limit for safe operation, and it's not hard to exceed that load. For example, for a long flight the plane would have to have full tanks. How heavy are the passengers? Even in a six-seater, there is no guarantee that the plane can safely carry six passengers if the load has not been properly determined. With full tanks, a few hefty passengers and baggage could easily put a plane above safe payload levels.
Jameson observes that it's not too difficult to check the load numbers for the plane you are about to fly in, if you know the type, and year of the plane. The Internet will give you all you need to know. Jameson says there will be slight variations depending upon installed equipment, but that variance is usually in the neighborhood of about 50 pounds.
If you think the plane might be overloaded, Jameson suggests it never hurts to ask the pilot for the numbers. If the pilot says "...P'shaw, a bit of overloading is never a problem, these planes are built to take it..." don't set foot in the plane.
Jameson notes that pilots have been known to treat their planes like pickup trucks and fill up the baggage compartment, the seats and the fuel tanks without giving a second thought to weight. Thankfully, they're in the minority. However, such cavalier conduct where weight is concerned is risky business, as the stall speed increases with weight, and low-altitude stalls are almost always fatal.
It is interesting to note that two crashes involving a Piper PA-46 Malibu, one in Alberta this year and the other in Missouri in 2007, both developed trouble in the air early in flight. With the Canadian crash, the pilot was flying at 27,000 feet when he reported a problem with the autopilot. Eight minutes later the plane veered off course, rolled to the right and plunged into what investigators describe as a hellish, spiraling decent that literally tore the wings from the fuselage. The investigation of the crash, which killed all five on board, is expected to take three months to complete. Jameson notes that high-performance planes such as the Piper Malibu are more susceptible to structural failure stemming from overload.
Center of gravity is also a factor, Jameson says. The baggage compartment, for example, is usually behind the rear seats. If the plane is heavily loaded, and the center of gravity is too far back, the plane will likely stall on takeoff. Jameson notes that this exact event happened to an experienced cargo pilot in the Yukon last year, after a load of lumber he was transporting shifted on take-off. It hadn't been tied down properly. Same with baggage. It should be well stowed, so it doesn't shift on take-off or in flight, affecting the plane adversely.
A couple of other points that could save your life:
Don't ever get into a plane where the pilot is seen to have been drinking. Even one beer. Each individual's tolerance to alcohol is different, and whereas one person can put away a case and still walk in a straight line, for others a single beer or a glass of wine can do them in. Any consumption of alcohol within eight hours of flight should preclude that pilot from flying.
Same with fatigue. A pilot who is tired will miss something: a simple check, or an ill-advised decision in flight due to confusion bred from fatigue could prove costly.
Fatigue could easily breed the wrong decision about weather. If the weather is marginal, the safest course of action is to not take off at all. Wait until weather improves, or fly another day. If weather unexpectedly deteriorates while in the air, the safe thing to do is turn around and head home, or put the plane down at the first available airport. Minimum conditions for visual flight rules (VFR) flying is clear of cloud, in sight of the ground with a mile of visibility.
Accidents happen when a pilot loses sight of either the ground, or the horizon—and in both cases becomes disoriented. In Canada many years ago, a pilot trying to navigate a small plane in the fog slammed into the transmitter tower for CKVR television in Barrie, Ontario. The collision toppled the tower and knocked the television station off the air for weeks. The pilot, tragically, was killed.
And what of that which you see in the movies, where the pilot switches to instruments? Well, that's just in the movies. In other words, plane and pilot have to be rated for instruments, together with the requirement for an instrument flight plan. Accidents have happened when pilots have attempted to fly through inclement or worsening weather, darkness, too low—or all of the above.
As for low flying, one might be surprised at the hazards. Telephone, or hydro wires are often hard to spot, or can disappear for the pilot entirely in certain light conditions.
Jameson stresses that for ultimate safety, a pilot should never fly below 500 feet, unless she is landing.
Never allow yourself to fly in any plane that has snow, or ice on the wings, even if it has de-icing capability. Even a few millimeters of ice on a wing can mitigate the wing's lifting ability.
READ MORE LEGAL NEWS
Jameson notes that he has never met a pilot who is not completely conscientious and safe, "both in their flying, and the maintenance of the aircraft.
"It is only a small minority who take unnecessary risks, or make poor decisions that lead to unnecessary accidents." Of course, those are the ones you hear about. You don't hear about the thousands of flights per day that go off without a hitch. The one that doesn't is splashed across the headlines.
Sadly, those headlines will often suggest that someone has been seriously injured, or has died.Even more tragic, is that many of these accidents could have been prevented.