flight safety detectives episode 268 - Smart Pilot Makes Bad Decision and Pays with His Life

A pilot with many hours of experience and an instructor rating died following the bad decision to fly his newly purchased airplane without first understanding how the aircraft systems operate. He also did not review the logbooks or have the plane looked over after 10 years sitting idle.

The pilot had purchased a Piper PA-30 Twin Comanche. Key facts in the NTSB report and public docket show that the pilot did not have a pre-buy inspection, was not familiar with the aircraft’s systems, and ignored the advice of his friend and former CFI to not fly.

The pilot knew about a landing gear indication light problem before takeoff. He proceeded without resolving it or reviewing the appropriate emergency procedures for operating the landing gear. The plane stalled and crashed while he tried to troubleshoot the issue in flight.

In this analysis with John Goglia and Todd Curtis, Greg Feith shares that he is currently in the process of buying a used airplane. Like the accident pilot, the aircraft has not flown in several years. Unlike the accident pilot, he is working closely with an experienced mechanic to make the aircraft airworthy and to examine all systems on the aircraft.

Greg is frustrated with the quality of the decisions made by the pilot before and during the flight. He’s further critical of the NTSB’s analysis of this accident. The probable cause statement focuses on a stall that happened at the end of the flight rather than all the pilot actions before and during the flight.

“[The NTSB probably cause statement is] so vanilla. It is such a cop-out,” Greg says.
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This accident is a result of poor aeronautical decision-making by the pilot and the actions of others around the pilot who failed to assert proper safety practices.

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