Night + Bad Wx + PPL = Fatal Accident

[Colonel Sanders]

The above is a very repeatable formula.

At the risk of being accused of being elitist, please
don't prove the formula correct this winter.

Which is the most correct answer?

1) develop more pilot skill
2) learn more about the weather
3) don't bite off more than you can chew
4) all of the above.

It's funny how pilots are so quick to blame mechanical
problems for accidents.

I remember when Andy Philips went down, all the homebuilders
told me it was a flock of turkey buzzards. Uh huh.

Everyone blamed icing for the Cardinal CYOW ILS7 crash. Uh huh.

JFK,jr would still be alive today if he has flipped on his
functioning autopilot, when he attempted night
VFR and killed everyone on board.

[Shiny Side Up]

That question is too easy. If you wanted it more TC style it should look more like this. You'll catch more fish.

The following is a group of things pilots can do to lessen their risk factors on their flights.

a) develop better stick and rudder skill
b) only fly airplanes with glass displays
c) develop their understanding of meteorology
d) improve their systems knowledge of the airplanes they fly
e) have triple redundant GPS capability
f) have a good understanding of their own capabilities
g) only fly airplanes equipped with a BRS
h) build your own airplane
i) fly airplanes like you stole them

Choose from the following groups which will be the most effective in imporving their flight safety.

1) b,c,e,g
2) a,c,e,g,h
3) a,b,e,i
4) a,c,d,f

There, now you got an exam question!

[cgartly]

+ Unfamiliar Area to the list.

Most of the airports I fly to at night have a note in the CFS that reads like this:

"Only pilots familiar with local terrain should use this A/D dur hrs of darkness."

Some of them have this:

"A/D lctd in narrow mtn valley with unlgtd thigh terrain E & W of aprt.

[PositiveRate27]

Colonel, I believe absolutely every one except PDW chalked that Cardinal accident up to poor PDM, no one suspected icing played a roll. There was even a pirep from minutes after the accident reporting no icing. Some times I wonder if you actually engage in discussions here or you just go off on tangents because you're bored.

[pdw]

There was even a pirep from minutes after the accident reporting no icing.

Incoming from southwest was warm ... you'll probably see a take-off pirep for that accident yet ... ie: of a plane shedding ice early in the 07 departure North just before that accident took place. The main thing here is we don't digress from the theme of the main factor(s) what causes this type of "fatal accident" ....

[Colonel Sanders]

no one suspected icing played a roll

From the Ottawa Pilots website:

I was pretty suspicious about possible icing as a major contributing factor ... the bird did seem to drop rather suddenly from the sky

Another:

i received the CBC reporter asking about an accident. First words from my mouth were "no pilot in a small aircraft should be flying anywhere in southern ontario tonight." Weather was VV001 wet snow.

That's from the latest thread - after the TSB report. IIRC
there was more uncertainty in a previous thread right after
the accident.

[captcrunch2013]

RE C177.
the Poor PDM was by the instructor/s and or examiner who "trained him",
"recommended him" and or failed to send him back to square one
which would have required re-writing the INRAT.

Canada is one of the jurisdictions that require a re-write of the Instrument Written
Exam in order to go for a flight test when it has expired by more than two years.

Flight Schools and or Insurance companies should demand
"On going concurrent training".

On my American licence, I do the variety of on-line training programs
for which "credits" are offered.

Transport Canada should demand that pilots complete
regular written refresher programs that keep pilots current
and test knowledge.

If you turn up for a renewal and all your "concurrent" training tests
show poor marks, it would also show exactly the sort of questions
that should be asked during the TKT of the oral questions.

Such a program would assist in identifying those who are accidents going
to happen.