Insights

Aviation's Bad Boys

Place me in or near an airplane and like most good pilots I become an extreme pessimist. In other circumstances, I am an eternal optimist, well aware of the voluminous safety and procedural information published monthly by commercial and government sources. I would like to think that all pilots heed this information and use common sense, but unfortunately this is not the case.

I'll never forget the pilot who purchased a beautiful light twin from an aircraft dealership where I worked. An instrument rating from our school was part of the deal, but after the pilot had received about 15 hours of instrument training from one of my best instructors, he stopped scheduling lessons. About three months later, the FAA came in and requested the pilot's training records. He had loaded his family aboard the airplane, filed an IFR flight plan, and attempted an IFR flight to an airport in mountainous terrain near a ski resort. The airplane wreckage was found during the spring thaw.

Another pilot whom I knew was cantankerous and extremely opinionated. He owned a single-engine, high-performance airplane, and he acted like God's gift to aviation. On his last cross-country flight, he ran out of fuel about 50 miles from his destination and did not survive the forced landing.

Brilliant pilot number three learned to fly and became obsessed with aviation. With minimum time in his logbook and truckloads of cash, he obtained his instrument rating and immediately purchased a high-performance single-engine airplane. That lasted about six months. Against all advice from those who knew him, he sold that airplane and purchased a medium-size twin turboprop. That, too, lasted only six months. He was forced to sell the airplane because no one would fly with him, including his family. Fortunately he's still alive.

My most recent encounter involved a pilot who had flown a single-engine, fixed-gear airplane for several years. After he sold that airplane and purchased a single-engine retractable-gear airplane, I was asked to fly with him "a couple times" for a checkout.

He started our first session by telling me stories about his harrowing experiences in his previous airplane. When my turn came - I don't mind getting paid to hear stories - I started asking him basic questions about the new airplane, none of which he could answer. I asked if he had read the pilot's operating handbook, and he said, "I've thumbed through it." Needless to say, we did not fly that day. I spent the time reviewing the POH, cockpit orientation, and the preflight inspection.

An improvement in knowledge was not evident at our next session, but as a favor to the person who had asked me to do this, I told the pilot to preflight the airplane.

I monitored his cockpit setup and preflight inspection, and when complete I asked if he was going to drain the fuel sumps. He said, "I don't have a fuel strainer." When I said, "No drainee, no flyee," he drove to the pilot supply shop and bought a strainer.

We reviewed the typical checkout maneuvers, performed the emergency landing gear extension procedure, and returned for landings. On his first attempt, he abruptly increased the pitch attitude when 20 feet above the runway, which resulted in a rapid loss of airspeed and a dangerously high sink rate. He was surprised when I took the controls and executed a go-around, because "everything looked OK" to him. On the next approach, I talked him through a poorly executed landing, terminated the flight, and stated that he would need far more than the five hours of instruction that his insurance company required.

Two days later, while taxiing out for a flight with a student, I heard the same pilot abort a takeoff on the ground control frequency - his airplane had a weird audio panel, the operation of which I had explained and demonstrated. I keyed the mic and asked if he had an instructor with him. After a long pause, he said, "No." I then reminded him and everyone else on the frequency that he was not checked out in the airplane. Sheer insanity!

We all have a responsibility to personally challenge any pilot who does not uphold the standards that are dear to the hearts of most pilots - standards that put aviation safety first and foremost. You should never encourage or fly with such individuals. To do otherwise is just asking for trouble.