Let’s call the subject of today’s story Bob. That’s not his real name, of course. But Bob is a common, friendly sort of a handle and it’s only one letter removed from Boob, which is an apt and somewhat more polite description for the category Bob’s behavior put him in.
Here’s the scenario: Bob asked to meet at my hangar on a Saturday morning. He wanted to pick my brain about some aviation-related ideas. That’s all good and fine. It’s right up my alley to meet up with folks to discuss such things.
Not only is it my job, but I enjoy this sort of thing. I’ve attended get-togethers at their homes, their hangars, their offices, restaurants near where they live, or just standing on the ramp after someone recognizes me during a random encounter.
On this particular day I was in the hangar preparing to begin the reassembly of an elderly airframe when Bob flew into the pattern. I didn’t see his arrival. But I’ve been hearing about it ever since, so it’s worth passing along the experience and the resultant aftermath.
The weather was overcast, but the ceiling was several thousand feet above the altitude of the traffic pattern. The wind was relatively light, coming out of the southeast. Weather wasn’t an issue. Of the four available options, Runway 11 was in use at the non-towered airport. There were a couple aircraft in the pattern, a student with an instructor in one. A local pilot getting in some proficiency flying in another. The runways intersect at roughly the midpoint for each.
Bob entered on a right base for Runway 5, turned final, landed, and taxied to the open door of the hangar where my project is stored. He dismounted and a pleasant conversation ensued.
Within a couple minutes a line service worker showed up in a golf cart. He said, “Good morning.” He was smiling. He introduced himself to Bob and politely explained that all the runways at my home airport have left hand traffic patterns.
Handing over a sheet of paper that had the text of 14 CFR 91.126 on it (Operating on or in the vicinity of an airport in Class G airspace) he explained that he was tasked with making transient pilots aware of the left hand pattern and requested that Bob use that established pattern in the future.
That’s when the trouble started. Bob got hot. He became aggressive, raised his voice, used foul language, and generally acted in a way that would make no mother proud of her son.
Unfortunately, this isn’t a rare scenario. Not only does the pilot population suffer from a rampant misunderstanding of how to conduct operations in and around airports in a Class G environment, there is a persistent sense of offense taken by a percentage of those who find themselves on the receiving end of a corrective conversation.
To be clear, the young lineman was professional, polite, completely correct, and performing his duties as he’s tasked to do it by the airport administration. The transient pilot, Bob, acted in the opposite manner. As a result, my sense of respect for the lineman has increased. And I thought well of him before this all happened. My thoughts about Bob have gone in the other direction.
As a rule, human beings do not like to be corrected. Not even when they’re wrong. Not even when they’re demonstrably wrong and their errant actions can be confirmed as incorrect by regulation and official recommendation. It takes a bit of maturity and humility to realize that we’re all wrong from time to time. You and I make mistakes. We hold inaccurate beliefs. We are imperfect.
It behooves us to be gracious and open to criticism, even if only for self-serving reasons. We can improve. We can benefit from the insights, experiences, and awareness of others. We can learn. Should we make a conscious decision to take responsibility for our actions and commit to expanding and improving our body of knowledge, we can become better people.
This isn’t a flying thing. It’s a human thing. It’s true.
It is difficult to believe that a trained, competent, current pilot could stand on a ramp, holding in his hand the exact regulation that spells out his error, while berating a young man who is completely correct and doing his job to the best of his ability. And yet it happened.
Any CFI who speaks publicly, offering safety presentations to the flying public, knows this truism all too well. The pilots in the room are not the pilots who need to be there. The pilots who most need to be there generally don’t attend. Because they think they already know everything they need to know.
They don’t.
Some years ago, Kathryn Schulz wrote a fascinating book titled, Being Wrong. Her TED Talk is an entertaining and enlightening 17-and-a-half-minute romp through some of the reasons why people are so resistant to the idea they might be wrong.
Spoiler alert: It’s largely because being wrong feels exactly the same as being right. We just hate it when someone bursts our bubble and points out that we are, in fact, incorrect.
In the aviation world, neither you nor I are right because we believe we’re right. We’re right if we can validate our opinion using the FARs, or the Sectional Chart, or the Chart Update, or the Airport Compliance Manual, or any one of the FAA documents that tell us what truly is right, what is correct, what it is to be in compliance.
What we believe is immaterial. How we feel is irrelevant. There is a document, a reference, a resource that holds the answer to our question — and it isn’t found in some CFIs best guess or your hangar mate’s memory. The correct answer is written down, codified, catalogued and publicly available at no cost to us — the users.
Don’t be Bob. We’re better than that. Or we should be. And we can be, if we open our eyes and ears and recognized the simple truth that, sometimes, we’re wrong. All of us.
Good read.
I wish people would remember the ‘non-tower’ designation, rather than ‘uncontrolled’. Pilots flying non-standard patterns at non-towered fields are a huge hazard that can and have gotten airplanes bent and people killed.
And recall that no one is interested in what color your airplane is. Use N-numbers for CTAF calls-just as you would at a towered field. One doesn’t hear United crews saying ‘BLUE AND WHITE 787….
Great article. Reminds me of a guy I used to work with. We’ll call him “Tex” for ‘TOUCHY’. Like Bob ( like “Boob”) he would respond with bluster to support his flawed performance. Yep, we ALL make mistakes. At least I’ve yet to meet anyone (self definitely included) who gets a perfect score on the doin’-it-right side of the ledger.
Thanks for another great article Jamie – as useful in life as in aviation. As a group, we pilots certainly have an excess of confidence and optimism tightly wrapped around a pretty strong ego (and a dash of perfectionism) This can be an assertive personality mix to deal with…But how else do you get a person who can fly a fighter in combat or an airliner full of pax in the flight levels across continents and oceans? It can be hard to come home and feed the dog and take out the garbage…marry a strong woman to keep you humble!
My daughter’s third-grade teacher (after three tries) finally “gifted me” Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman (“you need this David”). The concept was still new in the 90s, but it changed my life. We don’t need to conquer every challenge (the pilot way) but can share feelings, admit errors, be scared (and even confess it) we will be better people (and also better, safer pilots).
b cohen is spot on….from the airline world CRM was introduced to address just what we are talking about here. Thousands of people have died in airliner accidents in years past because of a, to put it kindly, Captain that wasn’t open to different perspectives. I remember when CRM classes were first introduced there was always one or two that thought the classes were stupid and not for them. Those were the pilots that generally compensated for mediocre flying skills with an autocratic attitude or sometimes had good flying skills but were still dangerous because of arrogance.
CRM has made great strides and the hallmark of good aviating now is the ability to realize no matter how much experience you have, you can make mistakes….and it’s OK. Input from others is welcomed and understood to potentially be life saving.
Some years ago I was doing pattern work at my local airport, just different landings and take offs. Another 172 was in the pattern, but instead of the airport’s published 800’ TPA (non-standard), most of its circuits were at about 400’. I fly relatively tight patterns, but its low altitude circuits meant that it caught up to me each time around and landed close behind me. Most of the radio calls were by a young sounding female voice but occasionally an older sounding male, so I assumed it was an instructional flight. Finally after it had landed very close behind me, I decided to taxi off and quit for the day. When I was at my hangar, I saw it take off again, this time gaining airspeed in ground effect for about 3000’ before pulling sharply up as if to clear some imaginary obstacle—I was afraid it was about to stall, but at the last moment, the nose came down, and the airplane made an early crosswind turn for another 400’ circuit.
I finished putting my airplane in its hangar, and then I noticed the other 172 landing and taxiing to its hangar area. I decided to see if I could talk with the pilot, so I drove to where it was. With the engine still running, the man got out of the right seat and went inside for a few minutes. When he came back, I drove closer, and he walked over to my car. Here’s my recollection of our conversation.
Him: Can I help you?
Me: I’m really concerned about the way that airplane was being flown. I saw too many unsafe things happening.
Him (obviously irritated): What do you mean?
Me: Well, landing before I was off the runway, for one. Using a low altitude pattern altitude for another. And that last take off for another.
Him (very loudly): Look, I’m a 16,000 hour professional pilot, and I can tell you that none of my flying is unsafe!
Me: I don’t really care how many hours you have or your credentials. I’ve been known to report unsafe flying, and if you keep it up, that’s what I’ll do.
Him (suddenly changing demeanor): Oh. I’m really sorry. We won’t do any of that again.
Me: Good.
I drove away, but I stayed at the airport for another 15-20 minutes and watched—and the airplane was flown properly and safely. I learned later that he was indeed a professional airline pilot for one of the majors and instructed part time on his off days.
Would I have reported him? Maybe. In 47 years of flying, I have reported two other pilots when their flying was so demonstrably unsafe that I felt I had to. Both were “invited” to take 709 rides. One refused and had his certificate suspended, and the other voluntarily surrendered his certificate. In this case, just the possibility I might report was enough. Few airline pilots would want such a report, and apparently he didn’t.
Thank you for tackling the Bob issue. Bob haunts every flying related forum. In my amateur research, most Bobs have engineering/technical backgrounds. I reckon that while Bobs grow up, his parents and friends remark how smart they are. And when they are wrong? They stomp out all points of view and spray the room like a skunk. And we all suffer. Great video, thanks for sharing.
Great article.
In my 44 years of flying with 23,000 hours, I’m humbled by some of the dumbass things I’ve done.
As an “Oldster”, I have always taught my kids, grandkids, and now great grandkids – as well as employees that worked for me. Mistakes will happen. But what is most important is how the mistake is handled. Your peers, customers or whoever will remember how you dealt with the mistake far longer than the mistake itself. Think of the mistake as an opportunity to learn how to show others how to deal best with that mistake.
Need to correct the legend on the map. But what do I know, I’m just a mechanic.
Yep, sometimes we’re wrong. But you ain’t Jody. Good eye, says I
Took me a while, but I see the mistake!
I also want to say that I personally resent calling the moron in the story “Bob”!
No matter who you are or what you do, continue without learning the lessons of history, and you are doomed to repeat the mistakes. Wake up and smell the roses.
WE….as aviators, like Doctors, are used to being “good” at what we do and to be wrong belies that “stance”. Well done TED Talk.
Many years ago there was a training video, as I recall, done by a couple of pros from the IBM flight department. It was focused not on IF they made errors but rather how many errors In a time frame (hour?). An error mostly included “splitting” a word, mis saying something. Dialing in the beginning of the wrong frequency… etc. The lesson was not NO MISTAKES but rather BE SURE TO CATCH/CORRECT them all. I forget their statistics but it had numbers like 90/hr under low stress (cruise chat) up to 150?/ hr on approach in weather. They were absolute professional pilots at the top of their game and the documentation was from recorded data over many (months?) hours of flying. I have been looking for that bit of video for years. It will ALWAYS be a timely education tool. 😎
Usually the louder the comments or protestations the lower the intellect, with no desire to change that arrangement.
Flying right traffic when left traffic is in use is a good set up for a midair. It’s not a matter of being right or wrong, It’s a matter of doing the right thing. In this case Bob has been wrong only once. The time he thought he was wrong.
Actually, Bob was wrong here multiple times, on multiple levels. I’m willing to bet Bob is wrong on most of his stuff. Of course, he isn’t perceptive enough to realize that.
If it’s in the CFR then it’s law…if it’s in the AIM then it’s advise. There can be no arguing over the CFR unless the language is ambiguous. The arguments I see most are people arguing over the AIM (where unfortunately most of how to fly around non-towered airports is described).
Yes, and 91.126[b]1 is clear. all turns are to be made to the left…..unless the airport….indicates turns are to be made to the right. It is the only reg. pertaining to airport traffic in class E and G airspace.!
That’s it, no ambiguity.
Any other action is allowed….ie; land on the grass next to the runway..ok.
[ but then, I could be wrong ?]
CFR 14 part 1.1
“Traffic pattern means the traffic flow that is prescribed for aircraft landing at, taxiing on, or taking off from, an airport”.
Wise words, eloquently spoken, thanks for that!
That TED talk is fantastic. If only everyone would take the 15 minutes to listen and learn.
Over the years I’ve noticed the more hostile someone becomes, the more they realize they are wrong, refuse to admit it and think that being loud and beligerent will overcome the other person’s comment. Not just aviation. Driving. Dealing with community trash dumpsters. [dare I say…wearing a mask?] Doesn’t matter.