CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 2, Issue 2 - 6

what can you do?
BY DAVID JACK KENNY
while mAny Forms of student-induced

Safety spotlight

aggravation are nuisances rather than real problems, some pose dilemmas that can lead you to question whether training these would-be pilots is really a good idea. In “Getting it” (see page 7), J.J. Greenway takes up the question of how to handle the student who just can’t seem to master the material. But what about the student who can learn to fly, but maybe shouldn’t?

Landings were only authorized at Pell City or Talladega. At that point he had 6.5 hours of night time (all dual), no training in cross-country flight planning, and no experience with towered fields. He did have a handheld GPS, though he hadn’t been trained in its use. He told his girlfriend to expect him around 11:30. When he still hadn’t arrived by 2:00 a.m., she reported him missing.

…His girlfriend and His fatHer told investigators tHat He’d taken tHem flying; neitHer knew tHis was against regulations…
One CFI, a Civil Air Patrol volunteer, had the unhappy duty of helping organize the search, which found the wreckage about 4:00 p.m. on Christmas. The airplane had covered a little more than a third of the 87-nm route before crashing downslope into a heavily wooded hillside in the Talladega National Forest. According to the NTSB, “All components of the airplane were located in a compact area, there was no wreckage path, and trees in the surrounding vicinity were not disturbed.” In other words, he’d piled it in. Both instructors noted this young man’s outlook carried the potential for mischief, and they’d tried to impose some restraints. The CAP pilot described “a macho attitude…that needed work and more evaluation” as the reason for delaying his initial solo endorsement until the student’s judgment seemed more mature. Before signing him off for the practice area, the two spent a good hour drilling him on the pre-solo exam and the restrictions attached to his solo flying privileges. There was no doubt he understood. But, this was also the day he closed the airplane purchase. The afternoon of the accident, one CFI had seen him refueling

Around 10:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve, 2009, a Cherokee 140 took off from Pell City, Alabama. The 21-year-old, 26-hour student pilot had been training in the airplane for a little less than two months and had bought it from one of his CFIs just the day before. Weather was bad: High winds and heavy rain brought down power lines in much of northeastern Alabama that night, and ceilings were generally below 2,000 feet. Nevertheless, the new owner decided to fly to the Atlanta area to visit his girlfriend for Christmas. When she tried to talk him out of it, citing the rain and a high wind advisory, he told her: “I’m a pilot.” He’d logged his second official solo the day before and his first one three days earlier, both in the Pell City traffic pattern. After the second, he’d received a more general solo endorsement. Both his instructors sat him down to make sure he understood all its limitations: Only daytime flights within a 25-nm radius of Pell City, with ceilings at least 3,000 feet and winds less than 10 knots. 6 | www.airsafetyinstitute.org

the airplane (presumably after a solo flight) and told him that with bad weather moving in, he “needed to be through flying for the day.” The student had agreed. Afterward, both his girlfriend and his father told investigators he’d taken them flying; neither knew that this was against regulations. No one saw them, leading one instructor to guess that this must have been done at night. The father described his son as “a bit of a risk taker,” while the girlfriend characterized him as “hard-headed.” Investigators also learned that he’d been prescribed amphetamines to treat attention-deficit disorder, though he hadn’t reported either the diagnosis or the prescription on his medical application. Toxicology findings were positive for amphetamines (at roughly twice the prescribed dosage) and alcohol. Of course, most of this was unknown to his instructors, although they’d received one troubling indication early on. In mid-November another Pell City pilot told them that he’d flown the Cherokee with their student, who’d claimed to have bought it. He’d logged that flight and a number of others that he never clearly explained. This episode not only led the seller to reclaim the keys, but forced the student to reconstruct his logbook following detailed explanations of what may and may not be logged. It’s hard to see that alone as enough reason to refuse further training and it’s hard to fault a seller who’s found a willing buyer for wanting to close the deal. In this case, however, access to the airplane was probably the most effective leverage available. Could the CFIs have used it to instill some instinct for self-preservation, or would the young man simply have gone elsewhere? David Jack Kenny is manager of aviation safety analysis for the Air Safety Institute, an instrument-rated commercial pilot, and owner of a Piper Arrow.

http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org

CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 2, Issue 2

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