MolaKule
Staff member
Butler Skydiving crash By Juan Browne
- Thread starter MolaKule
- Start date
Juan is particularly, uncharacteristically, feisty in this one.
I share his frustration, though, as pilots who never learned to stall/spin really don’t understand what happens at or past the stall AOA.
And pilots who never learned that, are just foolish enough to try and turn after a loss of power on takeoff at low altitude.
The POH in this case is blunt and accurate, goal of a power loss on takeoff is to preserve life.
Not the airplane.
I share his frustration, though, as pilots who never learned to stall/spin really don’t understand what happens at or past the stall AOA.
And pilots who never learned that, are just foolish enough to try and turn after a loss of power on takeoff at low altitude.
The POH in this case is blunt and accurate, goal of a power loss on takeoff is to preserve life.
Not the airplane.
One of the first things you learn is that if power is lost in a single at low altitude the only option is to land more or less straight ahead. If you get to a stalling angle of attack there is no holding the airplane up. It will stall and if the nose is not lowered at once things will get very ugly.
All the pilot can do is try for the most level ground he can find ahead and to try to aim between the trees.
A 270 (not just a 180) to return to the departure runway is not possible without some altitude to work with.
This was a really tragic accident and the pilot may not have been well enough trained or sufficiently experienced.
All the pilot can do is try for the most level ground he can find ahead and to try to aim between the trees.
A 270 (not just a 180) to return to the departure runway is not possible without some altitude to work with.
This was a really tragic accident and the pilot may not have been well enough trained or sufficiently experienced.
Hard to believe that someone flying an airplane with 11 skydivers would be inexperienced enough to make a mistake this seemingly basic.
Sadly, it’s pretty easy to believe. Low time pilot gets his commercial rating, no instrument, no multi, and works hauling skydivers to build time. The commercial requirements are pretty minimal, 250 hours, written, check ride.
Hard to know how well they were trained. Harder still to know how a person responds under pressure.
Lots of people seem fine, and say all the right things, but under pressure, when the adrenaline spikes (and it was spiked on this day, I am certain), they do something completely different.
It’s the fight/flight response. Amygdala hijack. When the adrenaline hits, people freeze, or act out of instinct. Frontal cortex activity is reduced. Auditory exclusion takes place. Tunnel vision. Increased heart rate and respiration. Increased muscle strength.
Great for our ancient ancestors facing a Sabre-tooth tiger, not so great in a complex, technical environment, particularly the frontal cortex function loss.
This is what makes simulator training so valuable. You can create all the stress of a situation like this engine failure. Over and over. Pilots become de-sensitized to it. They learn to respond correctly. They overcome the Amygdala hijack.
But you generally don’t get simulator training at the experience level of this pilot, or as part of the commercial pilot track, until your at an airline that can afford simulators.
