James Sleeman wrote:
On Aug 20, 2:20 pm, "Morgans" wrote:
I feel certain Jay know the difference between being too tired to fly
safely, and being ragged out after a long day. This was a 17 minute flight,
remember, with another full and current pilot in the front seat with him.

We lost a pilot and passenger locally a few years ago (not fatigue
related, but a similar silent killer, over-confidence), after that,
everybody who knew the pilot well said something like "gee, I wish I'd
said something earlier because there were some troubling aspects of
his flying lately, but I never liked to criticise".

As pilots, IT IS THE JOB OF US ALL to keep our eyes open with regards
to our fellow aviators and to freely, quickly and clearly point out
any possible flaws in thier practice to which they may have become
unaware, no matter how small or insignificant they may seem.

I'm sure Jay was perfectly safe, I'm sure he was well aware of his
level of competence, I'm sure Mary was equally alert and competent,
but Jay mentioned in his post that he was fatigued from work but
"damn[ed] the fatigue" and went flying.

It seemed to me, knowing that fatigue is an insidious killer to which
many have fallen prey, that this decision was something he perhaps
needed to reflect on, to ask himself, "was I really fit to fly."

They answer from Jay's inner conversation was probably, "yes I was
fine", but maybe, just maybe, he might have thought, "now I think
about it, I was pretty tired and I perhaps wasn't flying my best, next
time, I should think harder about it", and if that saves some damage
to an aircraft, or himself, or his lovely wife, or valued children,
then isn't it worth it to point out these little, tiny, things
whenever we see them.

Here endth the lecture.

Please allow me to expand on your point just a bit here if I may please.


It goes without saying that a pilot under stress is in no condition to
fly, but tagging this condition to a pilot making a local flight to
"unwind" after a long day dealing with hotel guests might be a bit of a
stretch.
Almost every pilot getting into an airplane will be under some kind of
stress level. It could be nothing more than the guy who gave you the
finger as he passed you on the road on the way to the field, or it could
even be the "personal stress" that most pilot feel when getting ready to
fly.
The point here is that pilots should naturally avoid flying under
excessive stress, but that flying under some degree of stress is
perfectly normal and indeed necessary.
No pilot should get into an airplane totally relaxed. There should
always be an element of stress involved in flying an airplane. It's
working within this normal stress framework that allows a pilot to
function correctly and professionally.
Getting into your private plane to unwind after working all day is not
necessarily an undue stress situation. Getting into the airplane after
experiencing an event that is outside the norm stress wise for a days
work can easily fall into the danger area.
Bottom line here is that Jay, as the pilot, has to know and recognize
where he is on his PERSONAL stress ladder at any given time and fly or
not fly based on that personal assessment.
Where Jay Honeck is safe or not safe to fly based on stress does not
equate with any other pilot other than offering a general "reminder" as
you have done here.
--
Dudley Henriques