Safety and Attitude

(Personal comments of Owner/Operator)

The importance of a continuous and deliberate personal attitude concerning Flight Safety cannot be underemphasized.

[Read the above again, very slowly]

In general, those who listen, learn and apply the wisdom of what they are taught and further continue to learn on their own will prosper. Aviation is their livelyhood and a force-multiplier to their career.

On the other hand, those who ignore regulations, pretend to learn, listen very little and fail to apply what they have been taught often accelerate themselves and those they affect to populate the incident/fatality lists of the NTSB database.

In my opinion Aviation is not inherently dangerous, but Aviation has dangers that must be mitigated at all times to an acceptable level.

Aviation is also about continuous Situational Awareness and Aeronautical Decision-making.

I would hope that one day, (only one day would be satisfying) that I might read the NTSB Accident Synopses - by Month and/or Kathryn's Report and not see twisted metal, death, injury, suffering and a myraid of lawsuits.

Personally, I read these reports daily. A few times I have known the individuals involved and more often the places these incidents have occurred. Perhaps you too.

Two close friends I have flown with have perished in aviation accidents. Another close friend was at work with us on Friday and did not come back on Monday. Another close friend (my adoptive sister) died after engine failure and trying to make the impossible turn back to the runway. After formal NTSB investigation, in every case the fatalities were avoidable if different actions were taken. All were experienced pilots.

Each person either made a critical mistake or was with someone who did. Either way, the outcome was the same and there is great sadness to those who were close, and the sadness continues to this very day.

We, at CEFS utilize the time-tested lessons learned by FAA studies to counsel you and ourselves about Flight Safety and Aeronautical Decision-making.

There are five deadly attitudes in Aviation that constantly reappear:

(1) Resignation - It will happen no matter what I do.

(2) Anti-authority - I will do whatever I want.

(3) Impulsivity - To do something without thinking it through.

(4) Invulnerability - It will never happen to me. Only other people.

(5) Macho - I am above it all and smarter/better than anyone else.

Everyone, including myself has a little of these attitudes from time to time. But, these singly or in any combination cannot be allowed to dominate our thinking.

In summary, I can only say one bit of wisdom. Fly wisely and follow procedures or we and those who fly with us will not be flying for long.

Also, consider on-going training with the FAA Safety Team.

The courses are good.

                                                  Jim B