The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Air Safety Institute (ASI) has released a new episode of its Accident Case Study video series: “High Aspirations,” which recreates the events that led a normally aspirated Piper PA 32 Cherokee Lance to crash only minutes after takeoff from South Valley Regional Airport (U42), a non-towered airport just southwest of Salt Lake City, Utah.
“We look at factors that affected the flight, including high-density altitude conditions,” said ASI Senior Vice President Richard McSpadden. “High density altitude’s debilitating effect on airplanes with normally aspirated engines is critical for us to understand — especially when optimum performance is needed during our takeoffs and landings.”
“We should also be mindful that published aircraft performance can sometimes be difficult to achieve in actual operational conditions. ASI recommends padding performance numbers by 50 percent,” he continued.
Accident Case Studies use FAA air traffic control radio communication transcripts, National Transportation Safety Board documentation, and video animation to recreate the dynamics, and track each accident’s chain of events. The videos share critical lessons to help pilots recognize and avoid similar mistakes, Air Safety Institute officials said.
View the accident case study here.
High, Hot and Heavy.
These watch-words used to be taught in every flight school. Still, every year we see deaths and destroyed aircraft because proper precautions are not exercised. What could we do to avoid repeating this same error in the coming years? One thing that I think would help would be to make a it a checklist item to actually weigh the passengers and their baggage, and not under any circumstance just let them just report their weight. Second, a problem that I have noticed over the past sixty years or so, is that pilots often do most of their training flights alone. Many pilots rarely practice flying with a full airplane. One solution would be for pilots to load their plane weight of some sort (bags of gravel or sand) that approximate a full load) then practice various flying maneuvers, including takeoffs and landings at high density altitudes. It would be interesting to see the logbook for the aircraft in this case study to see how often the pilot had practiced with a real or simulated, full load. A third thing that probably already exists in many pilot manuals is to practice aborted takeoffs more often. I can recall memorizing a marker on my home airfield and if I was not easily in the air by then, I would abort with plenty of runway to spare. While in military flight training we practice aborts all the time. I think general aviation flying schools should emphasize this along with more time discussing the perils of trying to fly when HIGH, HOT and HEAVY. It is inadequate to just include a briefing point about what you will do in an abort situation. You have to practice that maneuver under fully loaded conditions to build the quick correct response into your muscle memory. Practicing this with a light load will not suffice. If you will be carrying passengers and their gear, practice with that sort of weight in a similar distribution that simulates what your real load will feel like.
My heart breaks for the pilot and the others killed and injured in this crash. There may have been some other thing that went wrong that the investigation missed, but from what was presented, it sure looks like a case of not giving the High, Hot and Heavy aspect of this flight due attention.