[Flight Deck]

[Music] this film is concerned with the causes of fatal accidents in the field of general aviation there are two primary factors involved the man and the Machine first the airplane a licensed manufacturer produces it a licensed A&E mechanic main Tiff guard of fatal accidents 5% can be traced to the power plant airframe equipment accessories or to the inadequate maintenance of the airplane this is 5% of the fatal accident total the second primary factor is the pilot he is physically fit by law he is mentally capable he is responsible for a probable 85% of the total fatal airplane accidents the remaining 10% of primary caus of fatal airplane accidents are undetermined and miscellaneous we have then 10% undetermined 5% attributed to the airplane and 85% whose cause is the pilot this is the situation we face it is the concern of every pilot of this man of you of all of us for it is upon us and our judgment that the responsibility lies it is for each of us individually to consider ourselves and our ability to make a flight decision we must examine our strong points and our weak ones our personal characteristics so often affect our decisions in this pilot can be found one of the most dangerous personal characteristics an Airman can have false Pride he is afraid other people will recognize his limitations they might but a realistic attitude is necessary to good judgment exhibitionism is a dangerous personal characteristic when affecting the decisions of a pilot it is easily recognized by fellow Pilots for the show off himself it may be difficult to coldly recognize his desire for attention and how badly it is affecting his judgment there are among us those who rebel against the rules refusing to recognize they are a matter of Common Sense such a man as the VFR pilot who flies above a cloud deck without ground references trusting blindly in Lady Luck the desire to take shortcuts is based on impatience it is a dangerous personal characteristic the Temptation may be to skip part of the cockpit procedure to skip or not to skip the growth of good judgment or of bad judgment depends upon just such decisions if a man is lazy it will affect his decisions something will be ignored or forgotten or he will decide it's unimportant this VFR pilot substitutes an autopilot and other special equipment and experience overconfident he constantly practices poor judgment the pilot Landing this airplane lacks the ability to make up his mind he is undecided here whether to make a wheel or stall Landing an indecisive person is out of place as a pilot it is a difficult characteristic to [Music] overcome let's go consider the narcotic drug ethyl alcohol which is in all alcoholic beverages it affects the central nervous system slowing down reaction perception and coordination the bloodstream carries it to all parts of the body including the brain and the effects are always subtractive alcohol is a depressant on the nervous system it reduces a person's skill and his ability to make objective decisions the only safe rule for clearing the bloodstream of alcohol is the 24-hour rule strictly adhered to by airline pilots this pilot should ground himself today but here he is with weather building up his skill and judgment impaired indiscriminate drinking is an extremely hazardous characteristic in a pilot in analyzing the pilot as a cause of fatal airplane accidents there is another element to consider let's call this the stimulus meaning the circumstances surrounding the pilot at the moment of decision he may be troubled by financial problems he may be in a hurry he may be in doubt about this flight but decide to risk it if so he made the wrong flight decision we must remember any decision made in regard to the use of an aircraft is a flight decision so we know when making our decisions we must first guard against our personal characteristics and second guard against the stimulus of the moment one of the most frequent causes of fatal airplane accidents is the decision of VFR Pilots to continue flying under actual instrument conditions why they make this decision is known only to them a pilot's decisions are his alone this pilot we will call Pilot number one he plans a flight from Chicago Illinois to Atlanta Georgia the aviation forecast for his route is increasing cloudiness but continued favorable visibility for aircraft operating under VFR or visual flight regulations south of Louisville the ceiling is unlimited a frontal system moving out of the Southwest is scheduled to reach Chicago in a approximately 2 hours from current available information he can expect the weather to improve the farther south he travels he was told that a Squall line could develop ahead of the cold front the flyer of this plane pilot number one is a nonprofessional pilot untrained in instrument flying techniques 200 miles to the east in Toledo Ohio another pilot pilot number two plans a flight to Louisville Kentucky he too considers the frontal system moving North Northeast he has been notified of the possibility of a Squall line developing ahead of the front from the available forecast information he logically decides he can beat the front to Louisville by at least two or perhaps 3 hours pilot number two is also a nonprofessional pilot untrained in instrument flying techniques pilot number one on route from Chicago to Atlanta encounters light rain squalls North of Indianapolis he maintains Fair visibility and can see the Horizon the weather picture suddenly changes at Louisville it is raining at Indianapolis the weather bureau uses a special Tel phone with direct wire to Indianapolis radio it is advised that a Squall line is building across the area the ceiling is dropped and visibility is becoming restricted weather bureau stations along the line notify CA stations and they in turn contact the aircraft on flight plans pilot number two is notified that a Squall line is building in the area he is approaching a Squall with flying conditions below visual flight regulations he knows positively only one other thing he can land this is the moment of decision he sees a hole up ahead and decides to go over the top the decision is his alone as for his reasons we can only speculate pilot number one also receives the current weather information to his right he sees the Horizon ahead he has poor visibility all the way to the ground to his left visibility is also restricted now to his right squalls are beginning to develop from what he sees and from what the weather information on his radio he too makes a decision he will notify Louisville radio he is turning back and is putting down at Evansville this pilot untrained as he is in instrument flying has somehow learned the sharp difference between visual flying and instrument flying he knows that in instrument flying all reference points for controlling the airplane are inside the airplane and he knows he is incapable of flying by the use of inside reference points only he realizes his limitations and has excellent pilot judgment a look at the weather map will show what happened in this area Indianapolis overcast with thunderstorms Evansville overcast with thunderstorms during the past hour but not at time of [Applause] observation Lexington broken clouds with towering cumulus [Applause] developing a Squall line developed 180 Mi ahead of the cold front the low reached Chicago and now unexpected thunderstorms are developing along the Squall line 200 Mi ahead of the front under such a frontal situation which is not uncommon the ceiling can change 1,000 feet within seconds holes disappear very rapidly pilot number one taxies to a tie down at Evansville he sees he has just squeezed in ahead of the storm p pilot number two is on top of the storm he has been pushed up higher and higher he is now at 13,000 ft with clouds pushing still higher he is looking for a hole to go down through he believes he is 50 to 100 miles south of Louisville he is fighting a feeling of panic panic is real and becomes a dangerous factor to be recognized and dealt with by the pilot with a feeling of desperation because of time and gas and altitude he makes his decision to go down in turning he picks up ice on the windshield within seconds he is flying in instrument conditions his years of visual flight experience are worthless he has at the utmost 8 minutes the average is three until his airplane is in a dangerous attitude within this time the airplane turns the air speed increases vertigo grips the pilot his efforts to correct compound the danger with an awful logical Precision the airplane begins its spiral so 85% of the Fatal airplane accidents are due to the pilot to his judgment the decisions he makes we can't know why he makes them we can real realiz there is something potential in all of us we can work for good judgment we can make the flight decision the right decision we can turn back land and fly another day