Author: Dave English

“We’ll get that straight when we get airborne”

By Dave English

It’s better to look a little stupid now, than a lot stupid later. The US NTSB has released full investigative notes on last year’s crash of US Airways flight 1702, an A320 taking off from Philadelphia International airport. We can learn a lot from this crash of a fully airworthy Airbus. It actually got into the air, and then the captain decided to force it back onto the runway. There was substantial damage. It departed the runway. I’m glad all 149 passengers and 5 crew exited the aircraft via emergency exits with no serious injuries. But the jet didn’t look good: Airline … Continue reading “We’ll get that straight when we get airborne”

Peter Isler’s sailing secrets

By Dave English

Peter Isler won the America’s Cup twice, and has a long amazing biography of sailing achievements. He also wrote a book of sailing secrets. I just read it, looking for seamanship secrets we can use as pilots. And guess what, the secrets really aren’t that secret! There were some ideas that directly translate to flying. Here’s one that resonated: Behind every great sailor is an awful lot of time spent practicing the basics back home—putting in the long hours in the cold of the spring and fall off-season—honing the skills they need to win on the racecourse. The same applies … Continue reading Peter Isler’s sailing secrets

Do you wear a watch?

By Dave English

Airplane owners always say “safety is number one,” but how many encourage us to not wear a watch? Captain Richard de Crespigny is a former military pilot, and was PIC of QF32, the A380 that suffered massive damage after engine #2 exploded. The quote is from his fantastic book, QF32.

Blame the pilots?

By Dave English

Air Force Times article from two days ago sums up the results of a six-week investigation of the October 3rd bombing of a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Afghanistan that killed 30 people – Crew Blamed. However the news story also notes deeper systematic issues, a culture that places pilots into impossible situations. But you can’t discipline a procedure or a rule or a culture. And no general is going to fall on his sword when there are crew that can be blamed for their ‘human error’.  “The direct result of human error, compounded by systems and procedural failures.” Army … Continue reading Blame the pilots?

Standard checklists

By Dave English

Despite the emergency checklists provided for abnormalities, it’s the standard checklists that you use before you begin your flight that often determine whether you live or come crashing down in a pile of mistakes. Erika Armstrong from her new book ‘A Chick in the Cockpit.’ The book has some good flying stuff in it, but is more about her personal life journey. One of the most engaging books I’ve read this year.