Fellow Pilots,

 

Most of the accidents we have had in the Lancair community are not due to lack of skill, but poor judgement.  We've had people fly into thunderstorms, do low passes and high G pull ups into stalls, fly with engine problems, stretch a glide while passing over a perfectly good runway, etc.  While recurrent training is important it doesn't solve the problem of poor judgement.

 

I attended a seminar a few years ago put on by the Kings at AOPA.  The Kings showed accident statistics for GA vs. the airlines.  GA is about 50 times more likely to have an accident than the airlines.  Their reason was not training, but our attitude towards risk taking.  John King said we should look at everything we do in our airplanes and ask ourselves, "Would we do this with a couple hundred paying passengers in the back?"

 

He went on to say that pilots are achievers.  We always want to accomplish what we start.  We wouldn't be pilots if we weren't achievers.  That goes double for pilots who build their own airplanes.  We don't want to back down from a goal we've set, to fly to Oshkosh, to get home on time.  The exact same personality trait that got our planes built can kill us when we go flying.

 

We are also successful in life.  We wouldn't be flying a $200K airplane unless we have been successful in business.  People tell us all the time how sharp we are, how bright we are.  We end up with a very high opinion of ourselves.  We know we are smart.  But smart people can do some really dumb things, and that can kill you in an airplane.

 

These guys who are no longer with us were smart guys, bright guys.  Reasonably well trained, skilled pilots.  All of us who are still around are just a couple stupid decisions from being the next one to become a statistic.

 

Mike Easley