Pilot Fails to Follow Checklist... And more

http://www.aircraftpilots.com/threads/pilot-fails-to-follow-checklist.32363/



Not the crashed cub...

 Alaska: After refuelling his Piper Super Cub, a pilot took off and suffered an engine failure. After trying to turn 180 degrees his Cub descended nose first into snow-covered terrain coming to rest inverted (what a surprise!).

Ok, tis the season to be Jolly, not stupid. Christmas holidays are here, family are visiting and those of us who are able to are doing our best to go flying as often as possible. This report is a timely reminder of all those things our instructors told us to remember, that maybe some of us have forgotten.

In the article above, the pilot was luckily uninjured. I stress lucky! There have been too many fatalities caused by pilots making these mistakes in the past.

The engine failure was found to be due to the fuel selector valve being in an almost off position, possibly closed while refuelling.

So how can this be avoided? Well the pilot summed it up beautifully. "Do checklist" and "Land straight ahead when the engine stops."

Do the checklists. These are not created by manufacturers and governments just to make life painful for all pilots. I know sometimes it might be easy to leave a bit out of the checklist but these are in a specific order for a reason.

Land straight ahead when the engine stops. Every other report you hear of a fatality at an airfield is due to someone trying to turn back to the runway. Have your landing areas ahead of you identified as soon after lift off as possible. Resist the tempation to turn back. Remember all the times your instructor drilled this into you and all those practice forced landings you had to do.

Please enjoy your christmas flying, and most importantly, Be Safe!