When to speak up....?

John Seaborn wrote:

This issue gets very sticky in club situations.

Several years ago we had an elderly club member who did not fly that
often and demonstrated several very sketchy approaches and landings in
club gliders. As President of the club at the time I felt that some
action needed to be taken so set up several check rides with club
instructors and flew with the member myself. He had long experience
as a pilot and when very current did an acceptable job as PIC.
Unfortunately his skills were very perishable, meaning that with just
a short layoff of a few weeks we were back to square one and in the
potential hazard zone. After essentially failing the clubs flight
test, we considered several remedies, talked them over with the pilot
and came to an understanding that he was not to fly solo or be PIC for
the take off or landing but could continue to fly the club gliders
with other club members under these restrictions. There are allsorts
of issues with this. What is the responsibility of club management to
take pro-active action to head off a potential accident? Who are we to
decide the flying future of fellow club members that may not be
perfect pilots (none of us are) but have not broken anything? It
smacks of big brother. Are the club bylaws and members within their
authority to take this pro-active action? What I was looking for was a
way to keep this pilot of long experience actively engaged in the club
and flying while protecting the interests of the other club members
and to a degree his own. So many of these older members have so much
to contribute and are offten the biggest contributors in a club. It
would be a good thing if clubs could develop a pathway for these
members that was known, acceptable, did not impinge on the ego but
kept them actively flying and contributing to the club. My position
was that he in essence failed the clubs flight test and was given a
red light be the clubs instructors and it did not have a thing to do
with his age which is what it came down to. The eventual outcome in
this case was that while nothing was broken, at least by this member,
he eventually walked accusing age discrimination and equating me to an
infamous iron curtain leader. The joys of being a club President.

John Seaborn USA


"Gary Boggs" wrote in message ...

Our tow pilot crashed our Wilga yesterday at dusk. He was coming in with
the flaps down and the power pulled back. At about 200ft he decided his
descent rate was too great and pulled the flaps up. He said he was too slow
but never added power and the high rate of descent continued right into the
ground. The leading link suspension failed but the struts held up so the
plane skidded down the runway on the ends of the struts. He then added full
power, beating the brand new prop into very small pieces.

The good things: No one was hurt at all, the robust suspension absorbed the
impact very well. If it had been in dirt, it would have been a completely
different story, I'm sure it would have flipped.....

The undercarriage is shot, the prop and engine are toast, and there are some
questions about the wing structure. I think it's probably a total loss.
The owners, being gambling men, had decided to self insure. Fortunately
this loss is no big deal for them. On the bright side, we now have a good
supply of Wilga parts!

I had been feeling a little concerned about my friends flying for a while
now but he was very and angry unreceptive of any input about his flying. He
taught me how to fly 27 years ago and I have always held him in very high
regard. I let these things discourage me from acting on my concerns. He's
not that old, mid 60's, but his skills were starting to suffer. I feel
really bad now that I let my respect for him and his attitude get in the way
of talking to him about my concerns.

How many more of you out there have concerns about a fellow pilot and aren't
saying anything to them because it's not easy?

Recently two 70+ pilots. Both considered to be less than stellar pilots (before
age took the edge off their abilities) were involved in a mid-air.
Regrettably one was killed. The other pilot flew into his tail while thermal
ling, but was able to land safely. The sad part is that this pilot had been
involved in an accident five years previously, and on assessment it was
concluded that his abilities had deteriorated to the point where he was
considered unsafe to fly solo.

The question is, Is it better that he should be burdened with responsibility for
someone's death because no-body was brave enough to tell him to fly with a
safety pilot.(and enforce compliance). On balance I'm not sure they did him any
favours.

There are any number of youngsters who would jump at the chance of cut price
flying and mentor ship. If the pilot in question is unable to accept the help,
then it is better that he/she should leave. Flying safely is about assessment of
risk, and appropriate action, if objectivity is lost then the pilot should no
longer be flying. Sad fact, but better for them, their family and the club than
a crash (it's only an accident if it was unforeseen).

Result is that all pilots over the age of 70 now have to pass 6 monthly check
rides with their CFI. Peer review is/should be a fact of life, the club
leadership has a responsibility to the members and public, and should be
supported in any bona fide action to improve safety. The trick is in knowing
when to draw the line. Better not to fail in your duty of oversight, than to
offend someone.

I sincerely hope to have friends who will tell me when I get there. It would be
better if I realised it myself , and took the appropriate action...