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#1
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Mid-Air Collisions
What's with all the mid-air's? We have gone for years without this destructive
monster rearing its ugly head .Now, I count 7 KIA in the last few months. Are we watching our electronic goodies too much? I try to look up (out) every 10 seconds. Very easy to get engrossed in all the wizardty and to look down too much and too often. Heads up. Don't be screwing with the GPS when thermalling, that neat little item your checking isn't worth your life. I try to only play with the gadgets when crusing and then with a quick peek, every 10 seconds. JJ Sinclair |
#2
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I guess I'm qualified to comment, at least regarding the recent Seattle area
midair I was involved in. More than that, I WANT to comment. Whether or not this finds its way back to the NTSB, I want other soaring pilots to learn from what happened so that this unfortunate trend stops now. I'll be happy to go in more detail for anyone, but at least here is some basic background and detail relevent to the first post along with some reflections I've had in the weeks since the collision. A brief warning: this is quite a long post but, I hope worth the read. We have a pretty strong core group of guys that fly in the mountains here and we often get together and discuss the paticular kind of flying we do. One of our recent discussions was regarding a comment that some pilot's who soar the Alps in Europe recommend NOT using any GPS type hardware for mountain flying. It seems to make sense here at least, where we are consistently in close proximity to the terrain under low ceilings. A GPS isn't going to help much if we need to follow drainages or canyons to a safe landing area, and this is very often the case. Our "outs" often take us over completely unlandable terrain and below ridge and mountain top level. If you don't know the way visually and have a mental picture of the complex glide path involved, what happens when your batteries die or a fuse blows? For this reason and others, I am almost positive neither of us was flying with any sort of GPS or flight computer. Though Will had a nice flight computer with GPS and connection for a PDA, I can say with some certainty that he was not using it because he had requested I help him set it up. Once Will shuts down his engine, he doesn't have a lot of toys hanging right in front of his face to distract him. For my part, aside from the electric Tasman audio vario, I had nothing but a radio and standard mechanical instruments to worry about. In the case of our collision, it was probably only a 20 or 30 second interval between flying together normally and a position where collision was imminent. We'd been consistently using the radio up to that point and had been together flying that day for quite some time already. As we flew about 1000 or 1500 feet under a small line of clouds that were about 2500 feet over a ridgetop, Will decided to turn to the West, I decided to go straight...and neither of us said anything over the radio for some reason. We converged as Will had been ahead of me when he turned and came up at roughly my 9:00 position. Contact occured while sliding into each other despite our opposing angles of bank. My left wingtip hit the underside of his right wing with the fuselages in an almost perfectly parallel formation. He was silhouetted by the sun as it was getting quite late in the day, I was silhouetted by clouds that were in the mountains behind us. Furthermore, both of us surely assumed the other person had done something else. We had been following each other back and forth over the ridge prior to the collision, so he may have assumed I was going to follow him as he circled. I decided not to follow him on what I thought was a 180 to the South that would lead him behind me back over the ridgetop and instead tried to continue following it North. This under the assumption Will had continued South after I last saw him turning to a roughly southern heading. Will was the first to see the danger and I immediately turned to see him only 80 feet or so off my 9:00 when I heard the radio call. I can't imagine him not having called me earlier with a warning or position update as he was as concientious a pilot as any here about keeping radio contact, especially if something was amiss. Roughly 30 seconds after seeing him start his turn in front of me I was freefalling 500 feet over the ground praying my chute opened. Will apparantly never had the opportunity to get out as I did. My comments on this situation: The great evil of assumptive flying was our greatest sin; instead of getting on the radio and saying, "hey, I lost ya bud" as we had done consistently earlier in the day, we just let our past situation fill in the blanks. It was inconcievable to me that Will would end up next to me: we were over a ridge, the lift was in a band, I didn't expect him to circle... On the other hand, we were 1000 feet over the top, he probably thought, "I just must have missed him behind me, he surely is turning with me in this boomer". We didn't continue our judicious use of the radio for just long enough to get into trouble. Also, we didn't recognize the inherent dangers of flying in the proximity of other gliders late in the day due to the sun's positioning and nearby cloud cover. The ceiling was only 2500 feet over the ridge, that compressed us into a fairly narrow band of operation. It was well known territory for both of us and an easy glide back to the airfield, our next destination. This possibly led to some unconcious relaxation over a sure position. My normally thorough scanning technique taught by multiple instructors and straight out of the handbooks and soaring manual was no match for these circumstances. If you look hard enough, I guess you can see the "chain" of events forming that is so often cited in aircraft accidents. In our case it wasn't a major squawk on the aircraft or a poor nights sleep, it was much more subtle, insidious, and otherwise innocuous changes. Changes like the time of day, position relative to the airfield and thusly, dinner, our growing level of comfort about our proximity to each other and trust that the other person was just as vigilant as we were, that glow you feel inside after an amazing day of soaring back in the mountains that makes you just want to sit back and revel over the majesty of unpowered flight... The list could go on and on. I even suppose one could argue soaring is inherently more dangerous BECAUSE you are flying for fun, for the challange of getting to the next area of lift and reading the days conditions, for the pleasure of travelling increadible distances with nothing but a bad decision between a succesful flight and a landout. Someone focusing on all these things and still trying to track other gliders and aircraft and radio conversations seems inherently more susceptible to distracations (even just those outside of the cockpit or in your mind) than someone flying purely for transportational needs. The fact we can't choose the weather also plays into it, there is often an urgency to go flying on a great day because you never know when the next one will come. Here at least, you can often count really great soaring days in the year on your fingers, so to miss one is to really miss out. Just so many small details that can suddenly add up to one serious mistake. Despite these things, one area of pride I still have is the club oriented education I recieved. I had many instructors with widely varying backgrounds who presented immense experience from which to draw on. They humbled me and forced me into a regimented training program that saw me take my private check ride over a year after I started with enough time to go straight for a commercial (And no, it wasn't because I was close to the, "have you considered Golf?", conversation, they were just extremely cautious and demanding). Even so, I'm still one of the youngest and newest pilots here and must suppose this post to be a risky move. My total time prior to the collision was about 60 hours in 150 flights. I expect it will be a no brainer for the judgemental types and NTSB, "new pilot, he survived, handy place to dump responsibility and wash our hands of it". If I didn't know Will's family as the thoughtful, caring, and unpretentious people that they are, I would hope for such an outcome so they had something to point at, to attack and cover the pain of their loss. As it is, the aftermath won't alter who they are or how they feel and is something I have no control over. What I do have control over is whether I use my experience to help others or hide it in order to protect myself. I could never dishonor my dear late friend by choosing the latter, so here I post... Paul Adriance "JJ Sinclair" wrote in message ... What's with all the mid-air's? We have gone for years without this destructive monster rearing its ugly head .Now, I count 7 KIA in the last few months. Are we watching our electronic goodies too much? I try to look up (out) every 10 seconds. Very easy to get engrossed in all the wizardty and to look down too much and too often. Heads up. Don't be screwing with the GPS when thermalling, that neat little item your checking isn't worth your life. I try to only play with the gadgets when crusing and then with a quick peek, every 10 seconds. JJ Sinclair |
#3
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Paul,
Thanks for the thorough and objective post. It really hammers home the necessity of constant situational awareness. Thanks for your honesty. -- bobgreenblattATmsnDOTcom --fix this before responding |
#4
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Real good post, Paul. Thank you for your candor.
I remember the day I was following a ship on the ridge at old Vacaville. I was inside and a little behind, because we were slope soaring and I knew he would be turning away from the ridge. Bad assumption, he turned into the ridge. I came sooooo close to a head-on collision that I had to bank my ship to match the slope of the ridge. He passed with him 15 feet above me and the tree tops were 15 feet below me. That 5 second near-miss has been a lasting memory of just what *assumptions* can do. The mid-air collisions that I'm familiar with, fall into 3 categories; 1. Distraction (looking at the goodies) 2. Unable to see the other guy (in the clouds, low sun angle, smoke, haze, etc.) 3. Maneuvering (one or both ships maneuvering) Enough, of this! Let's not be looking at out toys, too much. Watch out when working the wispies, call out your altitude or ask the other guy for his. Clear all turns and give a quick, "JJ's going left". JJ Sinclair |
#5
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Paul Adriance wrote:
I guess I'm qualified to comment, at least regarding the recent Seattle area midair I was involved in. You are following in a long line of fellow aviators who share their experiences with the community in the name of safety... http://www.safetycenter.navy.mil/med...ch/default.htm Some air-to-air specific articles... http://www.safetycenter.navy.mil/med...3/TooClose.htm http://www.safetycenter.navy.mil/med...may03/Bump.htm http://www.safetycenter.navy.mil/med...dec02/wily.htm http://www.safetycenter.navy.mil/med...2/HowClose.htm |
#6
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There's another way to get into a collision situation.
If you have another glider very close, slightly below and outside you a thermal you can be in a situation where there are few options. You can't climb since you have no excess airspeed. You can't descend,or roll out of the turn without a collision and you are turning as tight as you can without risking loss of control. If the other glider is smaller and more nimble and "herds" a larger, less maneuverable into a tight turn the situation can have you sweating bullets until he moves away. Been there. Please don't crowd another glider from the outside. Bill Daniels "JJ Sinclair" wrote in message ... Real good post, Paul. Thank you for your candor. I remember the day I was following a ship on the ridge at old Vacaville. I was inside and a little behind, because we were slope soaring and I knew he would be turning away from the ridge. Bad assumption, he turned into the ridge. I came sooooo close to a head-on collision that I had to bank my ship to match the slope of the ridge. He passed with him 15 feet above me and the tree tops were 15 feet below me. That 5 second near-miss has been a lasting memory of just what *assumptions* can do. The mid-air collisions that I'm familiar with, fall into 3 categories; 1. Distraction (looking at the goodies) 2. Unable to see the other guy (in the clouds, low sun angle, smoke, haze, etc.) 3. Maneuvering (one or both ships maneuvering) Enough, of this! Let's not be looking at out toys, too much. Watch out when working the wispies, call out your altitude or ask the other guy for his. Clear all turns and give a quick, "JJ's going left". JJ Sinclair |
#7
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Dear Paul!
thank you very much for your posting. I have lost a friend a littel over 4 weeks ago in a midair and have thought a lot about why we have an increased number of mid airs of pilots that fly together on the same frequency in a team for the entire day and collide close to the finish or shortly after the decision to fly back home. I think one of the riskiest things is the trust that we place in our team partners; especially that they see us if we don't see them in times of relaxation. Use that dammed radio and inform your partner that you have lost contact as soon as you have, one day it will safe your life. I wish all of you many safe flights Hans |
#8
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#9
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Here is some more to add to Paul's excellent post:
Paul and I had flown the earlier part of the day team flying for about 3.5 hours or so. We had worked our way from the local foothills and eventually ended up about 30 miles away over the rugged snowy peaks at the end of the Skykomish Valley; and the start of the Stevens Pass highway. This was pretty good considering the day was somewhat windy and the building high pressure was starting to affect the thermal activity. During our trek we were in constant radio contact: "turning left.....turning right......reversing course....." etc........Paul had brought a high end digital camera with him and was hoping to get some great in-air photos. By communicating very thoroughly, he was able to come in for some wonderful shots.....at no time was there ever any concern regarding closing rates or distances because we both were keenly aware of where we both were and what we were doing. Once we made it to Lake Isabel the lift above the peaks was consistant enough to allow is to gracefully swoop along the ridgetops, dive through the snow covered gaps of Zekes Peak and Stickney Peaks and generally cavort to our hearts content. After doing this for several minutes I decided to start heading back to Arlington. While making the jump to Mount Pilchuck, Paul and I discussed the options: I was tired and after 4 hours I was ready to go back home......I also realized that there was a strong possibility of landing out, there was a good headwind and I would have to find lift before starting the final glide. Paul however was still going strong and made the decision to go to the east side of Pilchuck and hook up with a great looking cloud street that headed back towards 3-Fingers......a beautiful set of 7500' peaks. So......Paul went east and into the lift, and I went west, into the blue and strong headwind. Paul and I communicated our decisions and he said he wanted to fly for another hour or so....and I said I was ready to head for home.....at this point we heard Willy make a call.....of course he had to make a point of using April Fools day, declaring he was on the ground with engine problems.......I recall giving him a hard time about that when he laughed and said "nah.....I am at Jim Creek at 4500 and climbing" Now Paul chimed in and said he was close to 3-Fingers in good lift........the next few minutes on the radio were really fun; listening to Willy and Paul as they described their locations and eventually hearing them say "hey.....I got you spotted" and something about the glaciers on WhiteHorse.....All to soon it was evident I was not a player anymore, kicking myself for not following Paul into the good lift, but also remembering I was wanting to land.....I called out and said I was probably going to land about 8 miles short at a small grass strip.......no reply......so I turned off the radio and 10 minutes later had safely landed. Fast forward a few hours......Ron and Chuck retrieved me with the trailer. I owed Ron dinner, so off we went to Arlington, trailer in tow. Upon arriving at the trailer tiedowns we were a little surprised to see Paul's and Willy's trailers and cars sitting there with no sign of either glider......the lift had long since dissapated and they were not back. We were concerned but figured they would come streaking in at anytime. While we were ordering dinner, and still no sign of either glider, I became really concerned and decided we had to do something.......I called 911 and had the dispatcher send an officer to check out 2 airports that I figured they may have landed at......but the scary thing was Willy should have come home, he had a DG-400 and could have motored back, but to console ourselves we figured he made have landed with Paul so they could plan a retrieve together. About 20 minutes later the Sherrif called back and said no gliders at either Darrington or Concrete.........Willy had a cell phone, we knew if he landed in a field close to home he would have called us, there is no cell coverage at the 2 airports.....now we knew somthing had gone wrong and I told the sherrif that these two were indeed MISSING and quite possibly had suffered a mid-air. Now we had the ball rolling and the next several hours had us in communication with the authorities and with a couple members of our club who were also making phone calls to try and figure out what we could do. I went to bed that night in a motel close to the airport, ready to help coordinate with Search and Rescue early in the morning since I was the last to hear Willy and Paul on the radio, and somewhat familiar with where they might have been.........I went to bed that night scared to death that 2 of my close friends may be in terrible trouble up in the mountains and I did not know what else to do. Well.......in the morning I turned on my cell phone and heard that Paul had survived and hiked out of the mountains........and all to soon we found out what happened to Willy. This event has ripped a hole in my heart.....I lost a very dear friend and could have easily lost 2. Thank God Paul survived, and as I grieve for Willy I'll find solace in knowing he died doing something he loved to do....with tears in my eyes I end this by saying "Blue skies to you Willy Otis......You will always be in my memories" Brad Apis 199AK |
#10
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Your description of the accident was very articulate and sobering.
I would like to hear more about the bailout. In particular: 1. What was your approx. altitude (AGL) at collision. 2. How difficult was it for you to exit the glider and how much altitude did you lose in the process. 3. What was your attitude when you pulled the rip cord. 4. Did you have any problems separating from the glider. 5. What brand of chute did you have. 6. Did you have any injuries landing in the trees. 7. What problems did you have getting down to the ground after landing in the trees. 8. Did either glider have an ELT. thx, Tom Seim Richland, WA |
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