MEI the most deadly GA job?

[avbug]

Flight instructing the most dangerous job in aviation? How utterly ridiculous. That's a stupid notion. There is nothing inherently dangerous about instructing, weather in single or multi engine aircraft, or in a helicopter. What is dangerous is the willingness of any given instructor to be inattentive.

Towing banners, dangerous? Don't be stupid. Banner flying is among the more boring, quiet, and safe activities that you can do. Worst case, get in trouble, drop the banner. You won't be getting in trouble unless you do something stupid.

Flying in Alaska, a 1 in seven chance of dying? Don't be foolish. You'll see more accidents and incidents in Alaska than you will in say, Rhode Island. However, there's a helluva lot more flying going on in Alaska. Flying in Alaska is no more dangerous, although perhaps a little less tolerant of stupidity and ignorance.

 

[DaveJ]

Well, ME instructing can certainly be exciting. A fellow instructor was demonstrating how to properly secure a shut down and feathered engine in a 310 when the student shut off the fuel supply on the running engine. Luckily, he was over 5000 feet, because they lost over 3000 feet before getting an engine back.

 

[414Flyer]

Aerial firefighting is going be statistically much worse than probably anything out there. Its a small smaller community than that of say fligth instructors. If you wanted to try and create an average number of large airtanker pilots killed each year, would probably come out to around 3 percent yearly.

 

[A Squared]

Flying in Alaska, a 1 in seven chance of dying? Don't be foolish.

Actually, that isn't far off. NIOSH, the folks who keep track of that type of information came out with a statistic like that. By taking the fatal accident rate per year per number of workers in the group (non-airline pilots in alaska) they computed that if a pilot spent his entire career doing non airline flying in Alaska, he had about a one in 11 chance of dying in a crash. Of course few people spend their entire career doing that type of flying so that figure loses it relevance a little.

 

[avbug]

Since 1969, the aerial firefighting industry has seen a 135% turnover due to fatality.

The annual fatality rate has varied between 2 and 10%. The associated air tanker pilots association published an article about ten years ago asking how many people would go to work on a given day, knowing that a one in ten chance exists that their desk would explode. Very few.

The aerial firefighting industry has seen an average fatality rate exceeded only by military units in combat, and then only a few units. In peacetime, it's statistically the most dangerous job that can be had, certainly so in aviation.

Many moons ago the national aerial application association published figures showing an average seven year lifespan for ag pilots. I believe it's improved substantially since that time.

As far as flight instructing being the most dangerous job in aviation, dream on. Not that being dangerous is any great badge of honor, mind you. It isn't, though it's sometimes part and parcel with a given assignment. Far better to concentrate on what you can accomplish, rather than dwell on risks and hazards. Risk and danger are exactly what you make them to be.

 

[350DRIVER]

You have got to be fukcing kidding me? Sadly, I think you are serious about this question. If you are a good and safe MEI then this is no more dangerous than having sexual relations with a much older woman, walking across the street, etc.

#1 objective is to minimize as much risk and vulnerability as you can, the rest of the pieces will "safely" fall into place. If you only obtain the MEI for "hour building" purposes then yes it could possibly be deadly.

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[350DRIVER]

Anything involving an MU-2 would be considered dangerous...

That was the God **CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED** Jap's revenge on us for Hiroshima....


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[Tired Soul]

SE it does not matter if your a CFI or PPl, down you go..

ME you need to make some INTELLIGENT decisions....,
if you F@ck it up you'll meet the earth upside down..,
my first ME student took 3 flights before he could get the thing to climb after an (simulated) engine failure at 3000' let alone at 300'.
Anything in life that gives you a choice (by definition) can get you into more trouble you can handle.

 

[flyboy]

I would say that ag flying is more dangerous than anything else. I'm from a gigantic agricultural community in the MS Delta and I knew 2 guys that died in one summer. They were spraying separate fields when both cleared the trees at the same time and ran into each other. That same summer a guy spun it in on my father-in-law's farm. There seems to be an incident every week there. I would say that the ratio is closer to 1-5 there. The second most dangerous GA job is one that requires you to fly into an uncontrolled airport that the ag guys use. No radios, no concern for wind while selecting a runway, and certainly not much concern for the other guy (just my experience here). I'm not an ag pilot and even though I was raised around it, I'd never do it.

 

[BD King]

It does not matter folks. Alaska, or bush flying, racing, airshows, or multi-engine instruction. QUITE frankly, it can all be dangerous. I have done all, and my least favorite is that of being a multi-engine instructor. Why? Because out of the clear blue you can have someone who you think is quasi compentant absolutely scare the crap out of you. ..................If you are racing, flying the bush, flying airshows it is you. You have control............When dippy in the left seat grabs the wrong lever at the wrong airspeed at the wrong time, life gets very interesting at the wrong time.

 

[avbug]

That's only an issue if the flight instructor is asleep and not doing his or her job. If an instructor lets a student shut down the wrong engine at an inopportune time, the instructor has failed. In that time and in that place, the instructor only has one basic purpose for being on the planet, for existing, and the instructor has just blown it.

Can't blame that on the student.

 

[avbug]

Flyboy,

I do fly ag, and it is as dangerous as you want to make it, like any other job. Spinning in while spraying? If one is sleeping, yes. Otherwise, that's a little like being afraid of exploding while sitting at a traffic light. I'm sure that somewhere it does happen...

You might want to read Part 137 which specifically exempts ag operators from most regulations, including specifically traffic patterns.

If you don't use your radio to spot traffic, but use your eyes instead, you'll be just fine. It is, after all SEE and avoid. Not hear, and avoid. There's a reason for that.

BD King, as for calling one's student "Dippy," it doesn't say good things about the instructor. If that's how you really feel about the student, it's just as well that you're not instructing full time any more. After all, the student pays your bills; the student is your employer. The student is the center of your reason for being...and if "Dippy" is the best token of respect you can muster for your client and employer, then it's time to find a job you can do, where you can be a benifit instead of a liability.