Send me an email at jakecullen757@gmail.com with stories of experiences you have learned from or advice you have for other pilots. I will post them on the home page as well as this one. If you would rather remain anonymous include that in your email and I will not use your name.
Flight Safety: Have you become complacent?
So you are about to conduct a routine flight. It isn't any different than the hundreds of flights you have conducted prior to today. You file your flight plan, calculate weight and balance and performance, check the weather, etc. Then you head out to the ramp and start your inspection of the aircraft. You run through the checklist like usual and everything looks good...or does it? Sometimes when we get so used to a routine we become complacent and only see what we expect to...not what is actually in front of us. As you can imagine this is a hazard.
I was in for a rude awakening not to long ago. As in the scenario above, I was on a routine flight with my flight instructor. I ran through the checklists. I went all the way through the after engine start checklist and when I got to the point that said instruments......check, I said "checked." I did look at them and could have sworn everything was normal. My CFI looked at me and asked, "you checked the instruments?" I said yes.
Actually everything was not normal. Our left alternator was inoperative. How did I miss that? I looked right at the amp indications. In that moment I realized I had become too complacent. I saw what I expected to see...a functioning alternator...not what was actually there in front of me.
This just goes to show that complacency can be a major risk in aviation safety. Remember to always give a good inspection of the aircraft no matter how many times you have conducted a flight and don't always expect everything to be functioning properly every time. Don't rush a pre-flight. Always be aware of what your aircraft is doing. By becoming too complacent we endanger ourselves and others.
Fly Safe!
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