"Teacherjh" wrote in message
...

True, but it wouldn't have been lecturing to inform the non-pilot of the
reckless and illegal risk her husband was subjecting her to. She surely
has
a right to know, so she can make an informed decision whether to fly with
him again.


There are two possiblilties.

1: The pilot can learn from his mistake. In this case, taking the above
action would probably ensure that the wife will never fly with him again,
and
will forever be scared of airplanes and distrustful of her husband's
abilities.
It may even end his flying career right there, and thus his ability to
make
use of what he learned (or will learn). Remember that just because the
pilot
learns something doesn't mean that the passenger will learn that the pilot
learned something.

2: The pilot canNOT learn from his mistake. In this case, Darwin will
have
his due, and taking the above action may save a life. But maybe not (his
wife
may figure this out soon enough, or may not be on the fatal trip).

You don't know which of these two possibilities it is.

So it's best to err on the side of the possibility that might well kill an
unsuspecting person?

Have you never made a
stupid mistake you learned from, even if the learning took place some time
later, especially as a newly minted pilot?

I wouldn't characterize it as a mere "mistake" to deliberately continue VFR
in IMC, and to deliberately continue into thunderstorms (and to do so with
an unsuspecting, non-pilot passenger, no less).

Would you like your passengers to
be let in on it so they can see what a dangerous jerk you were in the air?

If my passengers had been in serious danger, I would certainly want them to
know about it. I might hope they'd have confidence in my potential to
improve, but it would never occur to me to deny them the right to make their
own informed choice. I would never try to trick them into continuing to fly
with me by witholding such critical information from them; I'd consider that
a profound violation of their trust.

I'd say that a word to the pilot (not a lecture, but a two-way side
conversation about flight conditions and consequences and luck) might be
appropriate. Calling an Aviation Safety Counselor might also be a good
idea.
But I would under no (conceivable) circumstances berate the pilot to his
wife,
the passenger. That will likely backfire.

Whatever choice she would make if she knew what had almost happened to her,
it's her right to decide--not her husband's, and not yours or mine.

--Gary