Aero-Tips!

A good pilot is always learning -- how many times have you heard this old standard throughout your flying career? There is no truer statement in all of flying (well, with the possible exception of "there are no old, bold pilots.")

Aero-News has called upon the expertise of Thomas P. Turner, master CFI and all-around-good-guy, to bring our readers -- and us -- daily tips to improve our skills as aviators. Some of them, you may have heard before... but for each of us, there will also be something we might never have considered before, or something that didn't "stick" the way it should have the first time we memorized it for the practical test.

Look for our daily Aero-Tips segments, coming each day to you through the Aero-News Network.

Aero-Tips 09.17.06

We've been reviewing what the FAA calls five "hazardous pilot attitudes" -- mindsets that can affect decision-making and lead to mishaps. We've reviewed the anti-authority and impulsive pilot, touching both on the negative and potentially positive outcomes of these personality traits. Today we'll look at the invulnerable pilot.

Invulnerability is the feeling that "it can't happen to me." How many times have you heard or read a first-hand account by the survivor of an aircraft accident, and the pilot expresses that he/she knew things were excessively risky but thought they had extra skills or experience to handle what others can't? How often have you learned a well-known or highly experienced pilot has crashed and wondered how he/she could have succumbed to the conditions or equipment failure?

How often do the "guys at the airport" say "he was such a careful pilot" when interviewed by reporters after a crash?

A survey conducted by Sporty's Pilot Shop and a popular aviation magazine several years ago revealed that something like 90% of all pilots think they are "above average". Either a few pilots are really bad, bringing down the average... or more likely most pilots have a somewhat exaggerated sense of their flying ability.

Good outcomes

I find the invulnerability trait is strong in me. It's very easy to downplay an aircraft squawk or a lack of currency by rationalizing "I've got the special skills needed to handle this."

The take-away is that by recognizing this -- or finding myself making a rationalized decision instead of objectively looking at facts and conditions -- I can step back and examine my decisions more carefully. I know this realization prompts me to look more closely at the airplane during preflight inspections and acknowledge squawks, to use checklists to back-up my flying technique and procedures, and to cautiously brief all instrument and visual landings. I do all this because I know I'm not invulnerable.

You too can turn the trait of invulnerability into something positive if it helps you remain focused on what is, not how you want things to be, and fly accordingly.

Aero-tip of the day: Unfortunately, it can happen to you…unless you take active steps to avoid the hazards of false invulnerability.

FMI: Aero-Tips