Tragedy

[mauleflyr]

Yes, this indeed was a Accelerated Flight aircraft. How do I know? I was there a week before this happened. I knew Ms. Lass for a short period while I did my MEI training at Accelerated. She recieved her MEI one week before I recieved mine. I know all to well about the poor maintenance done on these planes. During my checkride at Nogales, with Mr. Tiffin (sounds all too familiar), we found that the plane I flew down was unairworthy due to maintenance not complying with a mag A/D. Mr. Tiffin would not allow the checkride to continue. Later, we decided that we should have someone fly another apache down for the flight portion. Ms. Lass flew the other apache down. Upon taxiing infront of the terminal, we heard a loud screeching noise coming from the right engine. During my preflight I found that the generator, which is usually held on by four bolts was only being held on by one and the belt. Now these were two different planes that were flying.......Both in bad shape. They said they had 14 Apaches, I saw maybe five that were being flown. I don't want to bad mouth any business, I had a great experience there besides that, but I hope that this opens someones eyes to what is going on in Chandler. I hope that everything is alright with the families involved.........this was indeed a tragedy

 

[bigD]

Wow - that's some sobering information. It sure helps to remind us that our pocketbooks aren't the only thing to consider when building time...

 

[bobbysamd]

Tragedy, and pity, too

Sure, it's a tragedy. I looked at the "school's" website, http://www.acceleratedflight.com , this morning. This could be a great program and training situation for a lot of people - if only the rules would be followed. Let's say the place cost $30K instead of the $18.8K quoted on the website, with the additional money going to safer aircraft, better maintenance and no triple-logging of ME time. It would still be a bargain. He would run a safe operation and would still have students beating down the doors. Especially if he had the same testimonials he presents on his website. The place would be a safe gold mine.

Don't forget one of the five hazardous thought attitudes:

Anti-authority attitude: "Don't tell me what to do."

Antidote: "Follow the rules. They're usually right."

Don't follow the rules and you see what happens.

 

[bigD]

I've never owned a plane or a business, so please someone correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me that AFCT is making a killing with this 'deal', and could afford to trim a little margin to increase safety. 2 students are paying $110/hour each to fly these Apaches, and the instructor is being paid 5 bucks. So the flight school is pulling in essentially $215 for every flight hour on the plane.

As a comparison, a big school around here charges $140/hr for a Duchess, and $32/hr for an MEI. The instructor gets $20/hr from the school. So by my math the school makes $152 for every hour on the hobbs.

What is the operating cost of an Apache all things considered? $100/hr maybe? Certainly less than what a Duchess costs to operate, right? Seems to me that there's a lot of cash lining the owner's pockets.

I'd be willing to bet that he could afford to maintain the planes properly, PAY the instructors what they deserve, and still make the kind of money that other schools make without increasing the cost to the student.

 

[azpilot]

I've never owned a plane or a business, so please someone correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me that AFCT is making a killing with this 'deal', and could afford to trim a little margin to increase safety. 2 students are paying $110/hour each to fly these Apaches, and the instructor is being paid 5 bucks. So the flight school is pulling in essentially $215 for every flight hour on the plane.

The AREN"T paying $110 each they are paying $55 each! That is the difference between these guys and All ATP's for example.

- AZPilot

 

[bigD]

The AREN"T paying $110 each they are paying $55 each! That is the difference between these guys and All ATP's for example.

Really? Looking at this page: http://www.acceleratedflight.com/training.htm

...it made me think EACH person was paying $110. They claim about 170 hours of time, so the math seems to work out too...

 

[azpilot]

Really? Looking at this page: http://www.acceleratedflight.com/training.htm

...it made me think EACH person was paying $110. They claim about 170 hours of time, so the math seems to work out too...

This would be true if you didn't have someone else to fly with. It was my understanding based on conversations with people that went to AFCT they paid the $110 an hour for the plane and instructor total. I am sure if they could figure out how to get another person in the back seat to work the radios they would log the time to.

 

[reaperman]

mauleflyr, check your private messages

.

 

[FlyinBrian]

Just for the record...

Especially if he had the same testimonials he presents on his website

The second testimonial is from his wife. I'm not saying it's biased but.....