When performed in a safe and controlled environment, stalls are a blast! But being caught off guard by an inadvertent stall can be a terrifying and dangerous experience. That’s why stall training is such an important part of the private pilot syllabus. But students are only trained in the methods of stall entry and recovery, and are left unaware as to the most high-risk phases of flight.

Jason Schappert the flight instructor at M0A.com took the time to outline the three points where inadvertent stalls are most common:

1. Base to final
2. After takeoff on climb out
3. In the landing flare

Number one and two may seem obvious, but I find high-risk area number three intriguing. After fourteen years of flying, I’ve never had a good discussion on the landing flare stall. Why is that?

It’s not like this is an uncommon cause for accidents. I recall seeing an airplane with it’s struts physically pushed through the wings after landing. The pilot had over flared, leading to a stall followed by a very hard landing (or perhaps a soft impact).

It’s surprising that landing flare stalls don’t happen more often. This is the time where the pilot’s eyes are completely transitioned outside of the airplane. We have to rely on visual (outside) and tactile cues during those final moments before touchdown, and if the airspeed bleeds away there is little to no warning that something bad is about to happen.

This is precisely why it’s important to know your airplane. When that “stall mush” begins to dominate the flight controls, it’s time to do something about it. If that includes a go-around, then so be it.

A favorite question among private pilots. Should I get my instrument rating? In short, the answer is a resounding yes! Pilots who continue their training are 52% less likely to have an accident. Not only are the statistics in your favor: imagine this.

Now if you had your instrument rating you could have easily made a routine
IFR flight with minimal “actual” conditions.

I’ll be the first to tell you that my instrument rating was one of the hardest
things I’ve done. My instructor was very demanding but it made me into a much better pilot.

I’m a firm believer that a good pilot is always learning! So why not step up to
the plate and make an appointment for your first or next instrument lesson.
Your instrument rating will not only make you a safer pilot but a more confident pilot.

Last April, I dealt with diversions, windshear, flap failures, and Category-II ILS approaches. All of this in just over four hours of flight time! Well, maybe it wasn’t actual flight time, but after a few minutes in a full-motion flight simulator it’s very easy to forget that you are only “playing a game.” You can read my account of airline LOFT training in the CRJ-200 in my post at PlasticPilot.net.

NPR’s Talk of the Nation raises questions on the quality of airline pilot training and support made available to newer pilots. Topics discussed in this thirty minute show include Captain Chesley Sullenberger’s handling of US Airways flight 1549, airline schedules, crew rest periods, and flight safety. Airline pilots call in and discuss the state of the airline industry, advancements in technology, and raise questions on the quality of airline training programs.

Guests include Matt Wald, aviation safety reporter for the New York Times and John Nance, a former captain for Alaska Airlines and prominent aviation author. 

Ferry Boats Rescue Passengers of US1549

Nance makes a great point about the importance of cockpit standardization and its effect on safety. He breaks it down into Star Trek terms to say that the airlines have “fired Captain Kirk and hired Captain Picard.” He also discusses the differences between the pre-standardization days and drops the bombshell that it was not uncommon for checklists to go unused in the past. Furthermore, Nance discusses the advancement of crew resource management and the importance that captains create an open environment and encourage feedback from the rest of the crew.

One Chicago based first officer (presumably from American Eagle), provides his insight on the importance of experience and its importance to aeronautical decision making by highlighting his ever changing perception of aviation as he accumulates more hours.

“Experience is excellent, but an experienced pilot can make a mistake too,” responded Nance. He cited the military’s ability to train pilots to land on carriers with only 400 to 500 hours of experience.

Nance focuses on airline training and cockpit procedures. Not wanting to take away from Sully Sullenberger’s deeds, Nance claims that well established procedures may have made the key difference in the Hudson River crash by unloading the flight crew’s mind and providing “a bubble of time … to make a decision.”

A corporate pilot called in and questioned the movement towards “heads down” flying and reliance on automation as opposed to stick and rudder skills.

Related:

Read the full story at NPR.org
Transcript of US Flight 1549