Page 12 - June22Tv2

So here I was, at night, at the end of a very long, cold day, and wanting to be on the ground. Could anything else go wrong? Yes. It can always get worse. Some of the lighting in the cock- pit began to f licker and extinguish; the ice light that illuminates the wing popped a circuit breaker; the autopilot began to porpoise incessantly; and the intercom began to have loud cracks that were as annoying as they were a hindrance to communication. I was so glad to have Warren along to help. We juggled the ever-increasing complexity of the flight as well as I’ve seen any crew handle a flight.
We remained at 12,000 feet in the bitter cold of -32C until we were near Duluth to ensure no icing up. I hand- flew the airplane on the ILS approach to Runway 27 at Duluth and gave an audible sigh of relief when the run- way light came into view. Upon land- ing, my feet hurt again. I was hurting cold. I was tired. I really just wanted a hot shower and a bed. Within two minutes of getting out of the shower,
I was in bed and fast asleep. It was an incredibly long day.
So, was I a complete idiot for taking this f light? I’ve wrestled with this ques- tion now that my body has warmed up and my mind works better.
To “not take the trip” would be against my grain, against my person- ality, and against my penchant for ac- cepting the tougher missions. Could decisions have been made to mitigate the risk? Sure. It is easy to armchair QB a flight after the fact. Had the bleed air valve worked, it would have been a gamechanger. Warmth at altitude would have changed everything. I got an object lesson on the cumulative ef- fects of numbing cold. Nothing works as well in cold as it does at a moder- ate temperature, especially the mind. I’m convinced that my decisions were altered simply by my mind not process- ing as well as it would normally.
Could the bleed air valve have been repaired? Maybe, but where? There are not readily available mechanics along the North Atlantic route. And, if
there were, where would they do the maintenance? In the howling winds of Iceland or the frigid temperatures of Iqaluit? No, there’s not a simple answer. It’s a complex question to a complex situation. There are a thousand “what if’s” that need to be processed.
You don’t need to cross the North Atlantic in the arctic regions to have aviation quandaries. Most pilots reading this article will go flying when challenges exist because they always exist. If you only flew when the wind didn’t blow, the temperatures were moderate and the visibility CAVU, you’d never go flying. We all accept the risks of flying for the fabulous re- wards that flying offers.
The lesson learned and affirmed with this f light is that “in the heat of the battle, you’ll not be as good as you think you will be.” The extreme cold was the factor for me on this flight, but we can all experience conditions that make us less than our best in the lower 48. Tur- bulence, fatigue, a seemingly benign change in medical condition, exces- sive heat or humidity, and any other number of factors can tilt the scales of safety in a downward direction.
We fly in a dynamic environment. Things change. Today’s flight will not be like yesterday’s flight or to- morrow’s flight. The best pilots are not the ones who avoid risk but that mitigate risk well and adapt to ever- changing situations.
You can bet your bottom dollar that I’d take this flight again if given the chance to do it over again. You’ll definitely find me in a cockpit on the other side of the world seeking out an aviation adventure in the future. But, you’ll find me dragging a suitcase with better cold-weather equipment and the knowledge that extremes will cause you to be less than your best.
Rosen Sunvisor Systems
http://rosenvisor.com
Joe Casey is an FAA-DPE and an ATP, CFI, CFII (A/H), MEI, CFIG, CFIH, as well as a retired U.S. Army UH60 standardization instruc-tor/ examiner. An active instructor in the PA46 and King Air markets, he has accumulated 14,300-plus hours of flight time, with more than 5,200 dual-given as a flight instructor. Contact Joe at joe@flycasey.com or 903.721.9549.
10 • TWIN & TURBINE / June 2022