Page 22 - April 2016

Pacific Coast Avionics Quarter Page4/C Adright place rapidly. Meanwhile, you need to aggressively HOLD HEADING with rudder and ailerons.If you do just these two things, PUSH FORWARD and HOLD HEADING, you’ll do more to assure your survival, along with the passengers and persons within the impact range of your airplane. If you do not do these two things, swiftly and correctly, you have lost command of the aircraft, and (as the Cirrus Pilot Proficiency Program states), loss of command is the first stage of loss of control.ImpairmentThe NTSB reports one more important fact uncovered in the King Air crash: the pilot was being treated for multiple medical conditions, severe enough to prevent him from working as an Air Traffic Controller for an extended time. He was taking medications that are disqualifying for an FAA medical certificate; he failed to report this to his Aviation Medical Examiner and ground himself. One medication carries a warning that it “may impair mental and/or physical ability required for the performance of potentially hazardous tasks (e.g., driving, operating heavy machinery).”It’s tempting and easy to read that portion of the report and say “I’d never do that.” The NTSB does not even cite pilot medications or conditions as factors in the Probable Cause. Yet, pilot impairment goes a long way to answer the question of why a pilot with multiple type ratings, recent training and FAA evaluation less than two months before the crash, missed basic things like airspeed control, directional control and gear retraction in the two minutes that defined the end of his life (and that of others).Before you feel that this sort of thing only happens to others, ask yourself before every takeoff...What’s Your Impairment?What factors exist right now that could prevent you from PUSHING FORWARD and HOLDING HEADING should an engine fail immediately after takeoff, and then hold these inputs while you perform the emergency checklists? What’s the state of your:Time in type. Have you flown this make and model of airplane a lot, but not so much that you’re tempted to become complacent? Do you have a lot of experience in this specific airplane or one equipped identically to it? Do you fly lots of different airplane types, which might cloud the type-specific lightning response required to handle an emergency?Recency of training. You may have a lot of point-to- point time in this airplane, but when was the last time you practiced emergency procedures? Could you pass the Practical Test for all the pilot certificates and ratings you hold, in this airplane today?20 • TWIN & TURBINEAPRIL 2016