Crash course

Understanding the fruits of hard work is a powerful motivator. Earning a pilot certificate requires significant effort, and the benefits that accrue to certificate holders justify the time, cost, and lifelong commitment to achieving that status. Fear and self-preservation also are motivators. Obviously, having an accident has consequences ranging from something as trivial as embarrassment to as tragic as death. Flight instructors need to find a balance between using benefits and fear when installing a robust safety culture within their students.

Emphasizing benefits is a more effective way to motivate students than stressing what could go wrong. CFIs should use GA’s intrinsic safety as a teaching tool.

Why does flying light GA aircraft offer a huge safety potential? The first factor—and the most powerful—involves freedom of choice. The typical GA pilot’s decision to fly is discretionary. The discretionary pilot is not beholden to the dictates of an employer or other external influence. Being unencumbered by extraneous pressures is a huge safety benefit of being a discretionary pilot.

The second factor is survivability. Provided the typical GA aircraft contacts the ground under control and decelerates from its contact speed to a stop over a finite distance (e.g., no sudden stop such as hitting a brick wall), impact forces imposed upon the aircraft’s occupants are survivable. Assuming the pilot and passengers can extricate themselves from the aircraft after it stops and before a fire might erupt, the likelihood of fatalities is low.

Knowing that a GA accident has a high probability of being survivable facilitates learning by reducing anxiety. CFIs are wise to emphasize this safety feature of flying the typical light aircraft, along with the many other positive and unique benefits available to the discretionary aviator.

Focus on the positive. Doing so is a tool for effective teaching, and identifying benefits encourages long-term participation in GA.

Teach students how to crash

Make planning a part of every lesson. Students can avoid being surprised by playing the “what if” game even when the flight is progressing as expected. Teach them to know what to do before being required to act. Prepare them for what should be done next if the engine fails, or if the weather forces a diversion, or if an in-flight emergency occurs. Emphasize checklist procedures starting with locating the appropriate checklist and proceeding with steps in the recommended sequence. Caution the student not to jump to conclusions. Following emergency procedures could eliminate the problem before an off-field touchdown is necessary. Prepare students for the unexpected by anticipating “what if” situations.

When off-airport ground contact is inevitable, the pilot must treat the approach and touchdown like all other landings—heading into the wind (to minimize forward speed on ground contact) and using available references like flying the typical traffic pattern—with one exception. Approaching the area of the intended touchdown, unlatch the cabin doors. They will open only an inch or two, but they will be unlikely to jam shut due to impact forces upon touchdown. Occupants must be able to exit their aircraft promptly when it stops on the unprepared surface and before a fire erupts, which typically does not occur within the first minute or so after ground contact. Select key points that identify a downwind, base, and final; maintain airspeed and glidepath control; flare; and make ground contact at minimum speed just like all landings.

When an open field is not available, effect a landing into whatever is available, such as treetops, an area of water, or another surface that can absorb deceleration forces. Always maintain control and achieve touchdown at the aircraft’s minimum flying speed. Accidents where light aircraft contact the ground under control are mostly survivable.

Nix the impossible turn

Instructors must dispel the misconception that turning back to the departure runway after an engine failure on takeoff is a viable option. Such action invites loss of control and disaster. Below 500 feet agl, an engine failure on takeoff requires only two actions:

1. Reduce pitch attitude sufficiently to achieve best glide speed.

2. Maintain the departure heading.

Once those two actions have been accomplished, the pilot may decide to make 20- to 30-degree heading changes to align with a suitable area for touchdown, but absolutely avoid larger heading changes, beware of stalling, and always maintain control.

Bottom line: Contact the ground under control as if accomplishing a normal landing. A significant number of the fatal noncommercial GA accidents reference loss of control in flight.