Downright Scary...

Whilst supping a cold one with friends at our hangar not long ago, a
short-lived yet intense summer storm blew through. High winds, heavy rain,
and impressive lightning caused us to lower the door a tad, but didn't deter
us from our appointed beers.

Right as the storm passed, we watched in amazement as a Skyhawk entered
downwind for Rwy 12. We all commented how we were glad not to have been in
that poor shmuck's shoes, and then returned to our conversation.

A few minutes later our hotel courtesy van went zipping past, obviously on
the way to pick up our wayward pilot. We toasted my night manager as he
went roaring by, and did it again as he drove back with our new guests, en
route back to the hotel...

The next morning I sought out our brave and stalwart guests, and was
surprised to meet a newly minted Private Pilot, off on his first long cross
country trip in a rented 172 with his wife. He nonchalantly mentioned the
"rough ride" into Iowa City, but soon the conversation drifted to local
attractions and our theme suites.

I then turned my attention to his wife, and asked her how she had enjoyed
the flight. She confessed that it had been pretty scary, so we started
giving her the usual pep-talk about how the bumps really aren't anything to
worry about, and how turbulence can be bothersome but not really dangerous.
We were pretty well along into our speechifying about how safe flying is,
when she stopped all conversation by saying "Things got pretty spooky when
we couldn't see anything....I just covered my eyes and couldn't look out!"

We kind of looked at each other, stunned, and asked her what she meant.

She went on to say that about 15 miles out, just past the nearby town (and
airport) of Tipton, IA, their windshield had gone completely white -- and
then almost immediately totally black. It was at this point where she
covered her eyes in fright, and couldn't look.

She then mentioned how her husband had called Cedar Rapids approach, and how
they had "given them directions to Iowa City."

Uncomfortable silence followed this revelation, as we realized how close to
dying this poor woman had come. Not wanting to scare her any more than
necessary, I asked what Cedar Rapids had done. She replied that the
controller had asked what their intentions were, since conditions were
rock-solid IFR with thunderstorms from their present position all the way
into Iowa City. She said her husband had announced his intention to land in
Iowa City, and that the controller then gave them a vector towards the
airport.

At this point our hapless pilot piped up about how he had "flown
instruments" down the heading until they popped into the clear, pretty much
right over the airport. This must have been when we spotted him on
downwind.

I told them both how lucky they were, and left it at that. After all, they
were here for a good time, and it wasn't my position as innkeeper to be
lecturing my guests. In fact, I didn't even mention the "Tipton Towers" --
twin TV transmission towers that reach some 1700 feet into the sky right
near Tipton.

However, this man's complacence in the face of stormy IFR conditions is
exactly what we all read about in the NTSB reports each month. The guy
over-flew a perfectly good airport (Tipton) in order to fly head-long into
the clouds, a thunderstorm, potential death, and (almost coincidentally)
Iowa City. He had risked his life (and his wife's life) in order to
penetrate a fast-moving, short-lived storm, just so he could get here in
time for...dinner?

God was on his side that day. Downright scary, I tell you.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:

I told them both how lucky they were, and left it at that. After all, they
were here for a good time, and it wasn't my position as innkeeper to be
lecturing my guests.

It's tough to be caught between your need to behave as an inkeeper and your need to
talk some sense to someone who really needs a good talking to. As an inkeeper, I
suppose you have his home address? Perhaps you could write the man and suggest that
he discuss his experience with his old CFI.

George Patterson
In Idaho, tossing a rattlesnake into a crowded room is felony assault.
In Tennessee, it's evangelism.

Jay Honeck wrote:

snip
God was on his side that day. Downright scary, I tell you.

Wow. My thoughts and prayers go out to the wife. She doesn't deserve
to die from her husband's foolish and blatant recklessness.

--
Peter







----== Posted via Newsfeed.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet News==----
http://www.newsfeed.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 100,000 Newsgroups
---= 19 East/West-Coast Specialized Servers - Total Privacy via Encryption =---

Do you know a local volunteer Aviation Safety Counselor in your area? It
would be appropriate for you to give him a call and suggest he contact the
pilot and tell the pilot someone at the airport saw him land in a
thunderstorm. Remember this is NOT equivalent to reporting him to the
FSDO; an ASC is NOT an FAA employee and will not initiate enforcement
proceedings but instead will offer advice in a non-confrontative way.

--------------------
Richard Kaplan, CFII

www.flyimc.com

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:JSmGc.14184$JR4.8572@attbi_s54...
I told them both how lucky they were, and left it at that. After all,
they
were here for a good time, and it wasn't my position as innkeeper to be
lecturing my guests.

True, but it wouldn't have been lecturing to inform the non-pilot of the
reckless and illegal risk her husband was subjecting her to. She surely has
a right to know, so she can make an informed decision whether to fly with
him again.

--Gary

True, but it wouldn't have been lecturing to inform the non-pilot of the
reckless and illegal risk her husband was subjecting her to. She surely
has
a right to know, so she can make an informed decision whether to fly with
him again.

That would not have been a tenable position for us, as I'm sure you suspect.

Later in the conversation, however, I did go into my usual spiel about
spatial disorientation, how my old primary instructor demonstrated it to me
(at night, over Lake Michigan, with my panel covered), and how dangerous it
is. Hopefully he/she got the message that they were in grave danger.

Our attitude and obtuse comments, in combination with his wife's instinctive
fear, may have done the job of quietly kicking him in the pants for
subjecting his wife to such an ordeal.

Or maybe not. It's hard to tell.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

True, but it wouldn't have been lecturing to inform the non-pilot of the
reckless and illegal risk her husband was subjecting her to. She surely has
a right to know, so she can make an informed decision whether to fly with
him again.


There are two possiblilties.

1: The pilot can learn from his mistake. In this case, taking the above
action would probably ensure that the wife will never fly with him again, and
will forever be scared of airplanes and distrustful of her husband's abilities.
It may even end his flying career right there, and thus his ability to make
use of what he learned (or will learn). Remember that just because the pilot
learns something doesn't mean that the passenger will learn that the pilot
learned something.

2: The pilot canNOT learn from his mistake. In this case, Darwin will have
his due, and taking the above action may save a life. But maybe not (his wife
may figure this out soon enough, or may not be on the fatal trip).

You don't know which of these two possibilities it is. Have you never made a
stupid mistake you learned from, even if the learning took place some time
later, especially as a newly minted pilot? Would you like your passengers to
be let in on it so they can see what a dangerous jerk you were in the air?

I'd say that a word to the pilot (not a lecture, but a two-way side
conversation about flight conditions and consequences and luck) might be
appropriate. Calling an Aviation Safety Counselor might also be a good idea.
But I would under no (conceivable) circumstances berate the pilot to his wife,
the passenger. That will likely backfire.

Jose


--
(for Email, make the obvious changes in my address)

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:JSmGc.14184$JR4.8572@attbi_s54...
I told them both how lucky they were, and left it at that. After all,
they
were here for a good time, and it wasn't my position as innkeeper to be
lecturing my guests. In fact, I didn't even mention the "Tipton
Towers" --
twin TV transmission towers that reach some 1700 feet into the sky right
near Tipton.

Arghhh... Made me shudder!

I surely hope that the newly minted PP learned something on that flight and
hope that he's makes better decisions in the future.

"Teacherjh" wrote in message
...

True, but it wouldn't have been lecturing to inform the non-pilot of the
reckless and illegal risk her husband was subjecting her to. She surely
has
a right to know, so she can make an informed decision whether to fly with
him again.


There are two possiblilties.

1: The pilot can learn from his mistake. In this case, taking the above
action would probably ensure that the wife will never fly with him again,
and
will forever be scared of airplanes and distrustful of her husband's
abilities.
It may even end his flying career right there, and thus his ability to
make
use of what he learned (or will learn). Remember that just because the
pilot
learns something doesn't mean that the passenger will learn that the pilot
learned something.

2: The pilot canNOT learn from his mistake. In this case, Darwin will
have
his due, and taking the above action may save a life. But maybe not (his
wife
may figure this out soon enough, or may not be on the fatal trip).

You don't know which of these two possibilities it is.

So it's best to err on the side of the possibility that might well kill an
unsuspecting person?

Have you never made a
stupid mistake you learned from, even if the learning took place some time
later, especially as a newly minted pilot?

I wouldn't characterize it as a mere "mistake" to deliberately continue VFR
in IMC, and to deliberately continue into thunderstorms (and to do so with
an unsuspecting, non-pilot passenger, no less).

Would you like your passengers to
be let in on it so they can see what a dangerous jerk you were in the air?

If my passengers had been in serious danger, I would certainly want them to
know about it. I might hope they'd have confidence in my potential to
improve, but it would never occur to me to deny them the right to make their
own informed choice. I would never try to trick them into continuing to fly
with me by witholding such critical information from them; I'd consider that
a profound violation of their trust.

I'd say that a word to the pilot (not a lecture, but a two-way side
conversation about flight conditions and consequences and luck) might be
appropriate. Calling an Aviation Safety Counselor might also be a good
idea.
But I would under no (conceivable) circumstances berate the pilot to his
wife,
the passenger. That will likely backfire.

Whatever choice she would make if she knew what had almost happened to her,
it's her right to decide--not her husband's, and not yours or mine.

--Gary

On the other hand, he could be brought up on charges of attempted
involuntary manslaughter.