"Wrong handle" accidents

....and these are not limited to just gliders! Power pilots have been
known to pull the mixture off (or "feather" the prop) when they thought
they were reducing the throttle. Or switched to empty tanks. Or
retracted the gear, instead of the flaps.

Years ago, after flying at 11,000 feet for two plus hours into Grand
Canyon (KGCN, elevation 6,609 feet), I made a very nice landing.
Practicing for my (quite distant) ATP check ride, I got the airplane
off of the runway and on to the reverse high speed, across the hold
bars before I reached out to retract the flaps. I grabbed the handle,
said aloud "Flaps - Identify..." and then yanked my hand into the
air...from the GEAR handle. I reached out, grabbed the FLAP handle,
said aloud "Flaps - Identify, UP." Then muttered under my breath how
expensive that could have been. Several years before that, another
pilot in the same plane grabbed the gear handle and the squat switch
did NOT prevent the gear from retracting at zero ground speed.

So a follow on to Bill's fine remarks:
1. TOUCH IT
2. SEE IT
3. SAY IT
4. DO IT.

Saved me a bunch of money. BTW, the aircraft above was a 1963 Beech
S-35 Bonanza, quite a fine ride. Astute power pilots will also note
that the shape of the handles is different: the gear handle is like a
wheel on an arm, the flap handle is a flat, paddle like handle that
looks like, well, a flap. Despite these OBVIOUS differences, mistakes
still happen. So in my Globe Swift, I TOUCH IT, SEE IT, SAY IT. And
hope to one day be as good as the pros are.

After the landing, waiting for other members of our party to arrive, I
noticed I felt fatigued, and attributed it to the vibration in the
Bonanza during the trip out. Surely we were okay and legal, flying all
day below 12,500 feet....

Several years later, after my first altitude chamber "ride," I realized
what mild, insipient oxygen "deprivation" could do to pilot
performance. Not to sound like the "holier than thou" pilots described
in another thread, I quickly invested in a 4-place oxygen pack.

To the other "holier-than-thou" pilots on the other thread, over there
I'll describe the proper attitude the Flight Test Community takes when
approaching accidents like those described, the steps Flight Testers
take when approaching risky tests, and the fact that "dumb mistakes"
happen to pilots with far more time, training and skill than 99% of
those reading (or posting). [Dare I borrow the first stone thrower's
words, "moronic mistake?"].

Thanks Bill. Reviewing the mistakes (and techniques) of others is a
highly underrated form of insurance. As the aviation saying goes:
"Learn from the mistakes of others, you won't live long enough to make
them all yourself."

-Pete