A_F_2015_01_02_

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Learned topic where things both
good and scary can be discussed
in just-culture environment. The
important aspect of the whole deal
is to spread the information far and
wide amongst those who stand to
benefit from it.
I am not sure what the statistics
are these days but I do know that in
the ‘70s ‘80s and ‘90s an ag pilot had
a serious accident approximately
every 5000 hrs, or about five years.
Some pilots affected the average
disproportionately by crashing
far too often, to the dismay of the
insurance community. This made
other pilots quite happy of course
because now they only had to
crash every 10 years or so in order
to maintain the average. BASI
Education posters and sad faces
from the insurance community

had little impact on the average.

Pilots were well informed of the

dangers but the average stayed

remarkably consistent.

With flight testing it is well

known that the two major

considerations are the likelihood

of an event (crash) happening and

the level of consequences that are

likely to result. Reduction of the

likelihood is one means of reducing

the risk and the other is to mitigate

the consequences. If the likelihood

(5000 hr average accident rate)

is going to remain the same then

minimising the consequences is the

only other option.

The Aerial Agricultural

Association of Australia introduced

Doc Millar to their annual

conferences and he gave fantastic

presentations regarding the wearing

of helmets (and suits and gloves)

which definitely had an impact on

the uptake rate. There were some

graphic slides in this presentation,

but he always finished with the

full screen picture of a US Army

helicopter pilot with a very bruised,

abraded, lacerated, knocked about

and slightly scorched face. This pilot

had been wearing a helmet said Doc,

he looks bad, but, he was smiling!

This lesson really did affect the

room full of ag pilots, and every year

more and more pilots purchased

helmets, forgoing the tattered

baseball caps, worn in some cases

with a pair of ear muffs, or plugs,

that were almost ubiquitous when I

started ag flying.

This yarn is not actually about the

wearing of expensive PPE by general

aviation pilots, it is about how lessons

are learned within an industry or

sector. Look toward those who have

been in the job for a while and at least

take the time to listen. Separate the

wheat from the chaff and weight the

information that comes from the

most credible sources. Some 19-year-

old sprog on PPruNe can try to pass

themselves off as an expert, and only

those who have a better knowledge

base will know the difference.

Talk to other pilots; spend time

socialising not just with peers but

with experienced hands also. Don’t

be scared to ask questions. There is an

old saying that it is better to stay silent

and be thought to be stupid, than

to open your mouth and remove all

doubt. This is the opposite to the aero

club bar where often the old hands

stay quiet while the newbies spout

nonsense to the even newerbies. Don’t

stay on the fringe and listen to the

fresh Grade Threes, seek the council

of the more senior and older pilots

and do not be afraid to ask questions,

even if they turn out to be dumb

ones. A lesson will almost certainly

be learned, and learning it over a

lemon lime and bitters is better than

having to face an in-flight situation

without that bit of knowledge. It is

possible you will end up a statistic and

someone else will learn a lesson from

your mistakes.

Mac Job and the old “Crash

Comic” [Aviation Safety Digest] led a

crusade to try to teach lessons from

the errors of others by the accident

reports and the fundamental

messages they told. ASD is gone

and so, unfortunately, has Mac. The

current CASA offering is a poor

replacement and does not reflect the

values that the old crash comic did

with regards to learning lessons from

graphic examples. New pilots should

find some older pilots, or haunt some

rural aero clubs and get their hands

on some of these old magazines. The

lessons to be learned are the same

ones that apply to this day.

Older pilots are less bold because

they have learned many lessons, and

they will have had a safer and less

eventful career if they have learned

lessons from others mistakes rather

than their own. I know an ag pilot

with 25,000 hrs and no accidents.

He adjusted his flying procedures in

his early days to try to eliminate the

mistakes of others in his own flying

and did very well from that.

I was a bit thicker in the skull

department and it had to be knocked

into my head about every 5000 hrs.

These days I try to learn my lessons

from others ... so should you.

BILL WARDLE

australianflying.com.au

January - February 2015 AUSTRALIAN FLYING

It has been said that no-one will live long enough to make every mistake there is to be made, so to

stay safe we have to learn from the mistakes others have made. GippsAero test pilot Dave Wheatland

has spent his career operating aeroplanes on the very edge of their limits and has a swag of yarns

about how flying taught him some hard lessons that we can all learn from.

... now they only had to crash

every 10 years or so in order

to maintain the average.