Page 24 - Oct2016 Vol 20 No 10

Twin Proficiency:by Thomas P. TurnerOften, single-pilot operators don’t use checklists like pilots of crew-type airplanes. Yet the reason checklists exist is to ensure that nothing is forgotten, that the airplane is fully configured for the current or next phase of flight. With no First Officer acting as a backup and quality control, the Captain of a single-pilot airplane is entirely dependent upon his or her own actions. We need checklists more than the crew of a two-pilot airplane, yet we typically use them far less.Probably the most important checklist in terms of ensuring that nothing can harm airplane occupants or cause damage to the aircraft is the Before Takeoff checklist. Once the engines are started, this is the one checklist single pilots are most commonly trained to use. What is arguably the second most important checklist, however, doesn’t even appear in most Flight Manuals and Pilot’s Operating Handbooks. I challenge you to write—and develop the discipline to actually use—a personalized Approach checklist.From the NTSB:The owner of a Beechcraft Baron 55 flew approximately 80 nautical miles to pick up his friend,The Second Importantwho was a commercial pilot, and four passengers. A lineman stated that after landing, the owner parked the airplane next to the fuel pump and requested that the main inboard fuel tanks be topped off. The lineman topped the left tank, and as he was walking over to the right tank, the commercial pilot requested that he “...leave the right tank down an inch or two.” The lineman obliged, and stated that between the left and right main tanks, he added a total of 40.3 gallons of fuel to the airplane. The lineman also stated that he overheard a conversation between the two pilots, during which the owner stated “we have 15 gallons in each of the auxiliary tanks.”Several witnesses observed the airplane on final approach for its destination, and stated the airplane appeared to be high above the threshold, and fast. Surveillance videos captured the airplane floating down the runway before touching down briefly and bouncing several times. The airplane became airborne again near the last third of the runway. As the airplane climbed, it drifted to the right of the runway centerline and began a gradual, climbing left turn to about 50 feet above ground level. The airplane appeared to level off, then began to descend, before pitching up abruptly and rolling to the left as it descended into trees and terrain.Initial examination of the wreckage revealed that the airplane struck the ground in a slight nose-low attitude about 300 feet from the departure end of the runway.22 • TWIN & TURBINEOCTOBER 2016