Another GA Blunder

[JCJ]

ADIZ bust

AOPA Pilot has a great article this month on the DC ADIZ bust a few months ago - good read

 

[Amish RakeFight]

LJDRVR-

That dude was definately a bozo. Probably some old man who's sporting a flight suit in his little 150 and feeling elation and bliss cuz he gots a PPL.

That dude should have his certs. yanked.


It does make fying much more difficult for us. Its not brian surgery avoiding a TFR or Prohib. airspace......

All CFI's should address this issue to their students......

 

[agpilot34]

LJDRVR,

I think you are right on. TFR's are here to stay, and it's time that initial training addressed that. You notice that when the airspace classification changed a few years back it didnt take the Feds long to get that stuff on the tests... I fail to see why they couldnt do the same with some TFR training stuff. Of course, it wouldnt do any good for the blithering idiots that are already out there screwing up, but it would at least start to address the problem with new pilots.

 

[schoolio]

I did my instrument rating at ILE (just outside the expanded Crawford TFR ring) and used to hear Gray talking on guard all the time. It was usually some weekend warrior who took off out of Gatesville or something like that and just blindly headed north without checking anything. I would hope by now that most of those guys realize they can't just go flying north whenever they like, but some of those guys just don't get it.

 

[FN FAL]

Yeah, mispelling some words in an internet post and blindly violating prohibited airpace while the AWACS guys are yelling at you is pretty much the same thing.

I think that if you asked most prison inmates to spell the word "chrysanthemum", you might be surprised and note the correlation.

 

[leardawg]

AOPA Pilot has a great article this month on the DC ADIZ bust a few months ago - good read

I read the article; pretty interesting. The student pilot seems to be pointing the finger at the older guy. He (the student) seems to be mostly guilty of not backing out when the first warning signs popped up (before ever leaving the ground!)..

The older guy, however, seems to be yet another example of "Mr. Magoo goes flying". I don't know him, but based on the events and article he seems to be one of those guys who are every CFI and FBO's nightmare. These guys (and I've seen a few) show up with a valid Pilot Certificate, but typically haven't flown in quite a while. They decide to "get back into it", and expect a quickie checkout and off they go. Once you start working with the guy, however, you realize he is basically clueless as to FARs, airspace, flight planning, performance, obtaining weather etc. etc. He has a rudimentary knowledge of emergency procedures ("What would you do if you had an engine failure enroute?" " Weell, I'd find me a big field and put it down." ............. "Anything else?" ....... (Puzzled look) ....."Well,... trim it, I guess."). They can takeoff, somehow find their way around (locally at least), and get it back on the ground. They somehow managed to get signed off by an instructor and pass a checkride at some point, probably by an examiner just looking to make money and not turn applicants away. Then there are the types who've been flying all along out of the field behind the house, but haven't had a BFR in 15 years of flying,( and often not a medical during that time either). Suddenly, they want a checkout because their "old Bird" gaveup the dust and they can't afford an engine overhaul, and .... you probably can guess at the rest.

I'm all for freedom of people to fly without overbearing regulation, but in this day and age there can be no tolerance for people to set out on a flight, especially cross-country without the proper knowledge and awareness of what they are doing. One might have been able to muddle through and get by in the "old days", but today there is just no excuse.

 

[gfvalvo]

I'm all for freedom of people to fly without overbearing regulation, but in this day and age there can be no tolerance for people to set out on a flight, especially cross-country without the proper knowledge and awareness of what they are doing. One might have been able to muddle through and get by in the "old days", but today there is just no excuse.

I agree 100%. I totally support AOPA’s efforts to reduce the number of ADIZs, TFRs, etc. I do what I can by writing letters and responding to NPRM. However, for now these airspace restrictions are a fact of life and we GA pilots must deal with them responsibly.

When I first heard about this incident and the pilot involved I figured he was one on those old koots who likes to fly his 150 around the pattern a couple of times a year, maybe an occasional trip to the next airport for a $100 hamburger. Probably safe and proficient doing those things. Trouble starts when he attempts a more ambitious cross country.

So, months later, I now read the AOPA article and come across these gems:

* “I didn't realize that there was an ADIZ around Washington”
J*sus F*cking Chr*st has he been living in a hole for the past 2+ years?

* “…it had been about 20 years since Sheaffer had made a cross-country flight”
No kidding. The DC Class B sure is a good place to knock off the old rust.

* “Sheaffer had not done much flying for the past two decades.”
See above.

* “They checked weather using a Web site, but did not get an official weather briefing”
It just keeps getting better.

* “Sheaffer pointed to a hydroelectric dam on the river and called it by name. But Martin knew that the dam was in fact a different dam. So already there was confusion about where they were.”

And on and on and on.

It was implied in the article, but not admitted to by the Government, that the radios in the Blackhawk that first intercepted them were inop. If they were working even this pilot could have been given instructions to avoid flying within 1 mile of the WashingtonMonument. Still I’m surprised no ATC facility in the area picked them up when they tried to call the Blackhawk on 121.5 as instructed.

Sure, I’ve made mistakes in airplanes before. Probably always will, but this kind of poor flight planning and navigation is negligent and inexcusable. It gives the GA community a black eye with the Government, the public, and non-GA pilots.