risk

How to say no

By Dave English

Saying YES is easy, saying NO is hard. Outstanding article by James Albright in Business & Commercial Aviation on not pleasing the boss. There is an old saying among business aviation pilots: “You don’t pay me to say ‘Yes,’ you pay me to say ‘No.’” Saying “Yes” is easy; it is what the passengers want to hear. It takes real courage to look at the person who controls your fate and say “No.” Five case studies and then some useful ideas. When the boss is pushing, it explains tools we can use to push back:   Transfer ownership. Delay and redirect. Prioritize. Play … Continue reading How to say no

It’s no accident — it’s a crash

By Dave English

Interesting article yesterday in the New York Times, titled ‘It’s no accident: Advocates want to speak of car ‘crashes’ instead’. It’s about safety advocates changing language use from a car accident to a car crash. The AP recently revised their style guide. Dr Rosekind of the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is on board, saying, “When you use the word accident, it’s like, ‘God made it happen.’” The thinking is that ‘accident’ may make us shrug our shoulders and think, oh well, what can you do, accidents happen. ‘Accident’ may trivialize that most common cause of traffic incidents: human … Continue reading It’s no accident — it’s a crash

Pilot perception

By Dave English

Some pilots will make an emergency out of a bad magneto check. Others, upon losing a wing, will ask for a lower altitude. In thrust we trust! And opposite aileron. Lots of opposite aileron. For more details on this and other damaged but flyable F-14s see this article on aviationist.com. And for the equally amazing F-15 see this very cool youtube video

Personal safety valve

By Dave English

This quote is from an interview in the April 2016 issue of AOPA Pilot magazine. It’s good to remember (almost none of us) are flying missions vital for national security. We can wait out any storm. Caitlyn, a pilot and former Olympic athlete now more famous for popular TV exploits, also says: “Learning to fly the airplane was easy. It was everything else one has to learn that was challenging.”

We will not accept any kind of lapses

By Dave English

It became public this month that Qatar Airways has fired all four pilots in the cockpit when their Boeing 777 tail broke a set of runway lights during takeoff from Miami International last September. They mistakenly left from an intersection thousands of feet short of the planned full runway length. It was a serious accident, no doubt. There was a visible tear to the aircraft’s skin, the pressure vessel was damaged, and MIA airport needed some new approach lights. The crew continued with the overwater thirteen plus hour flight uneventfully, apparently unaware of their close brush with disaster. But damage of … Continue reading We will not accept any kind of lapses