AOPA Floatplane Video

[Colonel Sanders]

http://www.aopa.org/asf/video/no-greater-burden.html

[PilotDAR]

Excellent video, thank you for the link. I think of this every time I take my 9 year old in the amphib - I'll think even more now!

Pilots of all types of planes should watch this, not just floatplane pilots - it applies to everyone who carries passengers - what are you doing to keep them safe?

[Changes in Latitudes]

Awesome video, very well-made and a poignant reminder of the role that human factors, specifically stress, play into our actions in the cockpit.

I hope non-float drivers take the time to watch this, the key message really has nothing to do with seaplane operations.

[pelmet]

All it takes in one mistake. And here it is the opposite of normal sometimes with gear up for landing on water but gear down for landing on land.

Was similar with the Twin Otter on wheel-skis. Skis down for snow landings, skis up for non-snow landings. Glare ice......I suppose you have a choice.

Took about 5 minutes for full up to full down and vice versa.

[Aft CofG]

That is a very powerful video...

[Rowdy]

Very well put together, and an incredibly hard thing for me to watch.

The points ring so true. If we choose to strap on an airframe.. there needs to be that understanding that we arent always up to the most basic tasks.

[Gear Jerker]

As tragic of an event that is, I'm glad that I watched this. Really hits home. Good find Colonel.

[Harry Willborn]

Hi

In light of the recent accident by Stuart Island north of Campbell River, I wanted to bump this thread and bring attention to its video. Being an amphib pilot, these accidents hit very close to home for me.

. E. said,

“Every pilot who flies an amphibious airplane should approach flying them with the fear factor front and center because if you become complacent they will kill you..”

I could not agree more. A healthy dose of fear and paranoia regarding gear position in an amphibian has helped me. Another thing that has helped me is having a routine or SOP , if you will, which I use every time I fly. I do this drill multiple times when landing or taking off, with an anxious knot in stomach as I assess the gear lights, bearing in mind the gravity of what they mean. . No matter how many warning systems an aircraft has, the ultimate action involves the pilot moving the gear handle.

Very likely, pilots who have landed amphibs with the gear in the wrong position did have a system/SOP which had worked for them until the flight it didn’t.. In my own experience, the pilots I have known who have had this happen to them, were all people I looked up to and respected. This only adds to my paranoia and fear.

So how do these things happen? I believe, more often than not, it comes down to untimely distraction, perhaps complicated by fatigue and stress. This may be an over simplification, but I do feel it is a starting point.

For me, it was an instruction from tower right after rotation. This distracted me from bringing my gear up. I was flying at a busy operation in a hot and fatiguing environment. As I proceeded on the flight, I could not figure out why my airspeed was reduced by 10 knots or so. I passed a company plane going in the opposite direction and the pilot suggested I check my gear position. I had missed bringing them up. Whether I would have realized my miss before landing who knows. I like to think I would have caught it, but perhaps something again would have distracted me at the wrong time. In the video linked at the beginning of this thread, the pilot mentions his son asked him something shortly after takeoff, which may have distracted him. In speaking to others who have had this happen, there always seems to be a distraction. I am not trying to make excuses for this, rather voice my concerns in an effort to help others recognize the factors that may lead to an inappropriate gear selection.

So please, as amphibs pilots:

• Have a healthy fear and paranoia about your gear selection.

• Have a system/SOP/drill that works for you and follow it religiously.

• Recognize and acknowledge distractions, such as: -change of plans; -weather, terrain or traffic issues; -complacency; -or what ever it is that takes you away from completing your gear drill.

• Listen to your gut: - Why is my airspeed low; - Why is there a funny vibration in my pedals.

• Positive rate -> gear-up. You may have 10,000 more feet of runway, but I think by delaying the retraction of the gear, it is much more likely you will increase your chance of being distracted, than having an engine failure and be able to land with your wheels down on the remaining runway. (Anyway, landing with the keels on the tarmac will not kill you).

• Watch the video. It may not be easy to do, but that uncomfortable knot in your stomach may save you one day.

I hope this helps someone. Thanks for reading.

H

[Cat Driver]

Here is why I never landed with an incorrect gear position flying amphibians.

I am turning final.....where am I landing and where is my gear?

[flyinthebug]

Thank you for posting this Colonel. Im not sure how I missed this in Feb but I did. It really did help me understand my own accident and how something so simple and so natural to me, was overlooked due to other stress in my life. I never really considered the fact that my wife had left camp that morning very angry, and I was equally as angry at her. This may have been a contributing factor to my accident. Interesting theory at very least.

Like Rowdy,this was very emotional for me to watch. I related to so much of what he felt during the entire accident sequence...but couldnt imagine losing my son. I took my son flying with me ALL the time and he loved being in a plane from a very young age. I have so much empathy for this man for his loss and hope that he and his family continue to heal from this. Thankfully I was alone when I crashed.

It can happen to anyone...anyone.

Cat...you know how much respect I have for you...but you too could fall victim to this if you were in a stressful situation that you maybe didnt even realize was as distracting as it actually was. This pilot said he did a GUMPs check EVERY landing no matter how embarassed it made him feel, or how redundant he said it seemed...and yet he forgot the gear? How is that possible? Maybe partly because he lost his mother 11 days earlier...who knows. I do know I too had a serious brain fart on my fateful day...and this video offered me some answers I didnt have before I watched it. I understand what you and Doc are saying on this issue and your chances of forgetting your gear are less than .01% but there is always the possibility...and its not always just complacency that can cause it (sp?). My 2 cents anyways.

Thanks again for posting this Colonel.
Fly safe all.

[Cat Driver]

Cat...you know how much respect I have for you...but you too could fall victim to this if you were in a stressful situation that you maybe didnt even realize was as distracting as it actually was.

Everyone is subject to stress being a factor in making a fatal error.

Twice I almost fell victim to an unusual situation that could have caused me to land with the gear in the wrong position.....however my ingrained dedication to my pre landing situational awareness check saved me.

The first time was in a water bomber when we were very fatigued, just prior to landing forestry called us on FM about another fire....I was distracted by the call and lost situational awareness just prior to turning final but as I was in the turn I did the old standby mental check turning final of where am I landing and where is my gear.......I was turning final real close in to the airport and a quick glance told my gear was up......the radio call and being very tired had caused us to miss the gear down in the check list somehow....it all happened so fast all I could do was apply go around power and go around.

The second time also a very unusual situation where a demand had been made of me by a company employee just prior to turning final that completely derailed my thought process and once again my dedicated question turning final of where am I landing and where is my gear just barely gave me time to realize that I was about to land on a runway with the gear up...so close in I just had time to go around..

......yeh I know someone will ask why I was doing such a close in turn to final.

Tomorrow I could miss all my checks and land with the gear in the wrong position because I am as subject to error as any other human....hopefully with proper attention to the real killer items I wont.

[crazy_aviator]

Tomorrow I could miss all my checks and land with the gear in the wrong position because I am as subject to error as any other human....hopefully with proper attention to the real killer items I wont

NO pilot is going to say: " I dont need bulletproof SOP s because i always have the mechanical or electrical warning systems " Im saying , have a bulletproof system AND AND have the systems to back you up ( redundancy) There is NO redundancy for most small floatplanes with respect to gear warning and i consider this tragic, given the number of lives and aircraft lost. It is a FOOL that says , i will never have a wrong gear position landing ! Do we need to hook a tazer to the pilot or have the aircraft operate the gear automatically as an override to the pilot when he forgets ? On another subject, are there switches on the engine cowls to show they are closed ? Ive never come across any when i was working on the big iron , doors yes , cowls no. Enough door seperations to rationalize the mod ( in the 10s of millions) NO. Enough dead pilots to mandate a nearly foolproof floatplane LG system? NO? .

[Cat Driver]

So how would you design a foolproof warning system for an amphibian?

Can you explain what SOP means in a light single engine airplane?

[J31]

I always treated an amphibian as a retractable gear airplane. After takeoff from a runway I always selected "GEAR UP" and VERIFIED it was up....backed up with a checklist. On a runway landing like a retractable gear airplane make sure the gear is down....and back it up with a checklist. Conversely the position of the wheel gear MUST be verified as UP before EVERY water landing.....and backed up with a checklist.

You are more likely to survive a gear up landing and the airplane will more likely remain upright on hard or soft ground . A gear down landing on soft ground or water will almost guarantee ending upside down. Amphibious floats usually have small wheels and are slow to retract so the sooner you get them up the lower your risk of a off runway forced approach.