ASF debuts 'Ups and Downs of Takeoffs and Landings' safety seminar at Expo 2002

A new, dynamic AOPA Air Safety Foundation seminar called " Ups and Downs of Takeoffs and Landings" debuted October 25 at AOPA Expo 2002 in Palm Springs, California.

Featured in the seminar are original, unrehearsed close-up front, back, and side-view videos of landing attempts by hundreds of unsuspecting pilots at a large fly-in earlier this year. Pilots who viewed advance copies of the video used in the program describe the landing efforts as "good, bad, and ugly, with lots and lots of ugly."

"Every pilot thinks he or she knows takeoffs and landings," said ASF Executive Director Bruce Landsberg. "But I challenge you to say the same thing after this seminar. The fact is, many of us have been fooling ourselves, and this seminar proves it."

Developed using the massive 39,000-plus-record ASF Accident Database, "Ups and Downs" shows that fully half of all general aviation accidents occur in the takeoff and landing phases of flight. The research showed some disturbing facts about pilot perception versus reality, including:

• Adverse winds, almost universally blamed by pilots unable to control their aircraft on takeoff or landing, actually account for only a little over 14 percent of such accidents.
• Simple loss of control, mostly through pilot lack of knowledge, experience, or skill, causes nearly a third of all takeoff and landing accidents.
• More than 13 percent of takeoff accidents are the result of pilots wrongly positioning flaps, ailerons, rudder, or other basic control surfaces.
• Takeoff accidents caused by power loss are much more common than most pilots believe.

During the seminar, participants may "rate" the good, bad, and ugly pilot landings captured on videotape. Immediately after each landing attempt, the program host provides his own expert rating and suggests ways to improve the landing.

Topics featured in the new seminar include takeoffs and landings from short and soft fields, as well as in crosswinds, climbout performance, night operations, the truth about pilot's operating handbook performance specifications, and how density altitude can sap aircraft energy. One reenacted takeoff shown on video, on a dark night from a mountain airport surrounded by towering peaks, leaves seminar attendees on the edge of their seats.

ASF's "Ups and Downs of Takeoffs and Landings" seminar will tour the United States following its debut at AOPA Expo 2002, with eight showings in various cities throughout New York state in October and November, sponsored by the New York Department of Transportation. A schedule of the seminar throughout the rest of the country is available on the ASF Web site.

A free 2-plus-minute video clip from ASF's new "Ups and Downs of Takeoffs and Landings," showing a selection of the worst takeoffs and landings, is now available.

The AOPA Air Safety Foundation, the world's largest nonprofit GA safety organization, was founded in 1950 solely to help general aviation pilots improve flight safety. Since that time, the GA total accident rate has dropped by more than 90 percent despite a large increase in GA flight hours. ASF produces live seminars, online interactive courses, videotapes, written Safety Advisors, and other aviation safety materials for free distribution to all GA pilots.

Foundation safety outreach efforts are funded through voluntary donations by AOPA members and tax-deductible contributions from individual pilots and companies interested in promoting general aviation safety.

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