Accident Analysis: Cockpit hygiene

(Or a motor vehicle accident, despite tens of thousands of them every year.) But aircraft do go down short of their intended destinations, with results ranging from embarrassing to catastrophic. An underappreciated factor in determining the severity of the damage is the way the pilot managed baggage stowage before takeoff and cockpit organization during the flight.

Don’t believe it? Maybe you should consult Sir Isaac Newton, who first defined “force” as the product of mass and acceleration. The mass is under your control while loading the aircraft, but if that machine comes to a sudden stop, the resulting forces’ “acceleration” components can propel things in unwelcome directions. This is another risk thoughtful flight planning can minimize.

Distributing cargo is the first step, but only the first. Weight-and-balance calculations frequently fall so clearly within familiar ranges that detailed computations are redundant; still, the ready availability of phone- or tablet-based calculators leaves few excuses for guesswork. But even when gross weight and center of gravity are within limits, the way the load is packaged merits attention. Suppose you’re hauling cases of canned goods into a disaster zone. If an engine hiccup on short final brings you down in the grass, is the back of your skull likely to be better off if that cargo is stacked in paper bags on the back seat, or inside latched plastic tubs tied down by straps?

Bulk cargo isn’t a prerequisite for mayhem. How often do you toss suitcases into the luggage compartment rather than taking the time to secure them? At least put the heaviest stuff at the bottom, so if that bag of hammers does launch itself forward, your sweatshirts might cushion the blow.

What you carry up front might be more likely to damage equipment than threaten your life, but that’s not a reason to ignore it. Even a plastic water bottle turns into a brick in a 3-G deceleration. A cup of coffee that’s no longer scalding hot won’t put you in the hospital, but it could double the cost of a nose-gear collapse once its contents find their way inside the panel.

We’ve advised owners of airplanes not fitted with shoulder harnesses to install them without delay; by the time you actually need them, it’s too late. The same argument applies to other preparations for the crash we all hope never to experience.