Recently the National Transportation Safety Board released a report on the May 2014 crash of a Cessna 150 in Watkins, Colo., that was attributed to the pilot being distracted by taking selfies.
How many people heard about this crash and thought to themselves, “It was only a matter of time before this contributed to a crash?” I know I did.With the proliferation of social media, “selfies” have become as ubiquitous as cell phones themselves, and are now an added cockpit distraction.
According to the NTSB report, the 29-year-old pilot, accompanied by a passenger, took off at night in IFR conditions. The ceiling was at 300 feet AGL and the visibility seven miles.
Radar data showed the airplane making one flight in the traffic pattern, landing, then taking off again and departing to the west. The Cessna reached an altitude of 740 feet AGL, then entered a steep descending turn to the left. The plane hit hard in a field, bounced, then crashed. Both the pilot and passenger were killed.
The image of the wreckage went viral. It is hardly recognizable as an airplane.
A GoPro camera was found near the wreckage and the files were recovered. Investigators discovered that the pilot and passenger were taking self-photographs with their cell phones during the night flight, and using the camera’s flash function during the takeoff roll, initial climb, and flight in the traffic pattern.
There is a time and place for selfies. Low altitude at the controls of an airplane in IMC is not one of them.
However, I hope the FAA doesn’t use this accident as a catalyst to ban cell phones from the cockpit. I am more in favor of self-policing.
Like most people, I am genetically attached to my cell phone. It is my electronic lifeline. I use it to keep track of my appointments, communicate with friends, family and clients and, when it is is in camera or video mode, to document solos, first flights, and other aviation milestones — but with discretion.
Someone has to be flying the airplane. Clearing turns need to be done. And please don’t use flash photography at night — temporary blindness and spatial disorientation are killers.
I have clients who use GoPros to record their flights. I am okay with this as long as the technology does not distract them and the camera is mounted so it doesn’t create a potential hazard should it become unattached during the flight.
I have found the videos to be useful in the learning process because the client can see where he or she needs to make changes, such as using more nose-up in the flare, to achieve the required outcome.
That being said, just as the radio does not fly the airplane, neither does the GoPro or the cell phone.
In fact, cell phone and tablet use has become part of the passenger safety briefing. When there are passengers on board, I explain that the phones and tablets can become projectiles if we hit turbulence. Please stow them if instructed to do so.
I also warn them not to stare at the screen or through a view finder because it is a sure-fire way to get motion sickness. Trust me. I know. Many years ago as a television news photographer I came perilously close to “painting” the inside of the Collings Foundation B-17 after a flight from Grants Pass, Ore., to Eugene when I spent too much time looking into the viewfinder of my Betacam.
Cell phone etiquette during an instructional flight is often a frequent topic of discussion at the airport. I know people who fired their instructor because the instructor constantly texted while the client was supposed to be getting instruction.
To these CFIs, I say you hold a commercial certificate and should have at least a modicum of professionalism. Texting for informational purposes, such as “we are running late ETA 2:35,” is one thing. Catching up on Facebook is something else.
On the other side of the coin are the clients who seem more interested in their cell phones than flying the airplane. I have talked with other CFIs — and been that CFI — who wondered why the client even bothered to show up for the flight, because most of their time was spent with the phone. I feel like my mother when I have to utter the phrase, “please put that away,” with the second part of that statement the unspoken “or I will take it away.”
It’s more than the client being rude — if that person cares more about what is happening in the virtual world than the cockpit, are you comfortable putting your name in their logbook?
Flying is a privilege, not a right. Let us respect it enough to put our electronic gadgets away and focus on the task at hand.
The dew point and temps were almost identical at the time of takeoff. The ceilings were less that 200 ft AGL. All they had to do was wait 6 hrs and the next morning was dazzling crystal clear. I live 17 miles from that airfield and am based their (KFTG). This is no different than radiation fog in the Midwest. At night there is no margin for error at this airfield since FTG is a cutout of Denver Bravo. People here are still scratching their heads as to what they were thinking – NOT. Selfies had nothing to do with it. Disorientation and irresponsibility.
How about “A deadly combination: night VFR into IMC”? Your headline is exactly what the media loves to grab onto to create hysteria… Thanks for feeding the flames. The simple fact is this pilot violated the well understood and often repeated laws, behaved recklessly, and paid the ultimate price. Whether they were taking pictures or not is immaterial and just demonstrates this person’s lack of maturity, professionalism, or desire to adhere to the rules we all agree to follow. Symptoms are not causes, and treating them won’t eliminate the disease.
Having only heard your “mom voice” in the cockpit once thus far, I’m happy to say it wasn’t for taking a selfie! So glad to have you as an instructor! Well written article, and I whole heartedly agree.
At least his selfie made him known wold wide, at least in the GA community…..
“Selfies” was not the cause of this accident and certainly not “use of a device in the cockpit”. I’d bet $100 this gets filed under VMC into IMC flight by the NTSB. I’m sorry, but I see this as a sensationalist article capitalizing on one novel aspect of this stupid tragedy that happens to carry a buzzword.
The number one priority for the pilot flying the aircraft in any (and every) situation is “fly the airplane.” This is usually noted in conjunction with emergency situations but it goes for “normal” situations also. So many deaths could be prevented if that one, very simple, rule is followed.
Selfies, in night IMC, at low altitude?
I nominate this yahoo for a Darwin Award. One way or another, he was gonna remove himself from the gene pool. The tragedy is that he had to take someone else out with him.
And ruin what was a perfectly good aircraft.
Sum it up in two words Natural Selection.
I would submit that the camera was the very least of this guy’s problem.
I would also submit that this flight was already doomed even without the camera.
The pilot was NOT RATIONALLY SELFISH. He put tittalation above FIRST VALUE, HIS LIFE, HIS PASSENGER and PLANE.
Rational self interest comes FIRST. That is why there are such things as check lists.
Rember, RATIONAL SELF INTEREST!!!!! BE SELFISH!
Meg, your points are ALL well-expressed and well-taken. And they needed to be written.
Perhaps all pilots need a “grounding day,” when they remain earthbound and figure out who they are and what they are really doing. A time to contemplate.
Ann Pellegreno
VERY well said; especially the last paragraph. I wonder, though, if there was any other judgment impairment involved. Was there a toxicology screen? And was it clear?
Let’s look at the bright side of this. At least the instrument rated commercial pilot of the Cessna 150 wasn’t using a ‘selfie stick’ to achieve a better self portrait via flash photography on his takeoff roll. Lost in this discussion is the total (TOTAL!) trust of the innocent in the right seat that was violated by this cowboy pilot. Yes, the pilot was a twenty something male. Selfies during taxi, selfies instead of a deliberate runup, selfies instead of check lists, selfies as he flew in and out of cloud bases while at night in IMC visibilities and cloud heights. He violated enough of the FARs on his flights that it’s unlikely adding to the three inch volume of 9 point typed words would have prevented anything. Not stated in accident report nor NTSB docket is whether his many passengers were paying for the flights. If in cash and ‘under the table’ who would know, right? What else would have motivated this young and upcoming pilot to spend hard earned money on gas and engine time to haul several people, one at a time, on sight seeing trips (what can be seen in night IMC??) around the pattern?
Great article, really. I had no idea. As far as I’m concerned, cell phones and tablets in the cockpit are only allowed as instruments supporting the flight, for navigational purposes etc. Only the passengers behind can text and surf their life away. But, if the flight means so little to a passenger that he or she rather plunges into that virtual world, why bother stepping on board?
Well put, Meg. Devices are nice, but what’s really important lies on the other side of the windshield. Best to keep the head up and the eyes out. Texting can wait.
Very interesting but very correct..
Fly the airplane is your responsibility first.
Flying IMC without training?