Airline pilots dying in small airplane crashes
 

I lost this week yet another friend in a small airplane crash. I stopped flying Pipers and Cessnas the second I was hired at my airline, as I deemed the risk too high and didn't want to leave my 4 kids without a father.

I believe that pilots are taking a BIG risk by flying small airplanes, as the 6 children left behind in two crashes the past two years can attest to. Rant over.

We've lost a few here at Alaska too. I flew a C-172 a few years after getting on with Alaska and could not believe how odd it felt. I felt like I was in a toy. From that point on, small planes were not for me. The only exception I think might be sailplanes when I retire. I've always loved the idea of soaring for hours in a mountain wave.

My prayers are with you, having lost the friend, but my argument falls on the other side of the fence.

Each trip in the jet, I look forward to getting home so I can hop in the Cub for a trip around the patch. Or the Zlin. Or the Mooney. Heck, even the Yankee is fun compared to the jet.

It sure seems that many pilots who get the airline job, hang up their stick and rudder (mostly rudder) skills and a part of them dies without even bothering to say bye as it walks out of their lives. The departure goes unnoticed, until one day, some kid F/O climbs in and starts telling flying stories about knocking around the patch in a taildragger, last week, having a ball.

I honestly believe there's more risk for me driving in to work at ATL than when I am in a small plane.

Before you start accusing me of being wet behind the ears and not understanding the risk, know that I'm no stranger to losing friends from airplanes. I toured on the air show circuit for years as a crew chief and announcer.

But, one of the most tragic is possibly unfolding before our eyes right now. The Aeroshell Airshow Team's lead pilot Alan Henley is in intensive care with massive head and spinal injuries. His wife gives us daily updates on his condition as he fights complications--

Oh, did I mention he fell while playing with his kids on a chin-up bar? The bar gave way.

I used to say the only way to be sure nothing bad happens is to stay in bed, but then a friend pointed out such things as bedsores and staph infections.

Whatever you do, your day is coming and you never know whether it's right around the corner or decades away. Look out for your family if you've got one (I don't). Take reasonable steps to minimize risk, but don't stop living because you're afraid of dying.

Again, my prayers are with you and your friends' family.

Sorry to hear of your loss, we just lost another pilot in Seattle on Monday - a UAL pilot who was lost with her 10 year old daughter onboard.

Victims identified in Skagit Co. plane crash - Seattle - MSNBC.com

This recent trend should serve as a wakeup call for us. ASEL flying is like motorcycle riding...the level of safety varies tremendously based on the rider and the mission.

I'm doing more GA flying nowdays, but not nearly enough to achieve the same level of competency I had back in the day.

I limit myself pretty carefully, and basically fly as a VFR pilot with the option to penetrate the marine layer if needed. Not much point in hard IFR, since you can't enjoy the view...may as well nonrev instead. No night mountain flying either.

I'm not flying light twins, but even when I did I NEVER maxed out the GW. I always left myself a fat performance margin.

I agree, if you cant enjoy the view its not gonna be for me anymore, unless im forced to instruct down the road.

I have not lost one pilot friend to plane crashes. However I have lost:

1 to a motorcycle accident
3 to car accidents
1 drown
2 to cancer

Point being, life is a risk. As tragic as it may be, he died doing something he enjoyed. If we don't get out and enjoy life, we're pretty much dead already.

This is indeed very sad. It is unfortunate. I've heard that you could be doing everything right and still not come out alive. I echo Bug Smasher, live your life to the fullest, but always be prepared to go, you never know when. Be safe out there . . .

I have to say that I too feel that flying little planes is a bit too risky for my taste. For a while there I just blamed it on the fact that general aviation with respect to small airplanes attracts a lot of inexperienced people yet it is still flying and just as dangerous. But I see quite a bit of experienced airline pilots and such going down. Here's a little experiment for you. 1st do a search in google images for "large aircraft". Then do the same but with the term "small aircraft". I was amazed that just about 1 in 8 images were a destroyed airplane when I searched for small aircraft.

It's always sad when some one looses their life. Personaly, I'd rather get killed flying, then getting shot in my neighborhood, or driving my car. At least dying in a plane, is dying what we love doing. My thought are with the family. If your number is up, it's up! No way of beating that. Just be careful though.