Training corner

Training Corner

Safety6 March 20182 min read

instructor

So that the dream of flying continues to exist

It was during an ISAL (Light Aviation Safety Body) meeting that I learned today that there has been the third death of the year in microlighting.
My thoughts go first to his family and loved ones and also to our community, because we have just lost a fellow flyer.
At the General Assembly 2018, I presented the 2017 accident statistics for our activity and the REV operation to the members present, and I had an attentive and concerned audience in front of me.
During the last training of the EPI at the BEA, we watched, at their request, the film shot by the first paramotor pilot to die this year: flight at very, very low altitude over water, the pilot fiddled with his camera, probably to reframe, he lost altitude and ended up in the water. The weather was mild, the machine was working perfectly, but not the pilot…
It was January, the Charente was in flood, flying suit, ankle boots, water temperature, the verdict was final. There is no doubt that in the middle of summer, the outcome would certainly have been different, and the same on land too.
Rest assured that one does not come away unscathed from this kind of viewing, which is very far from reality TV when you know the ending.

And I repeat the same message to everyone. We need you:
Pilots, instructors, club presidents, so that this kind of thing stops. An American accident analyst who worked a great deal on the subject often said: I don't know when the next accident will happen, but I can tell you who it will happen to.
And if we look objectively around us, we all know pilots who behave in risky ways.
Yes, flying is not without risk, we all agree, but we know the risks, our instructor taught us to detect and manage them; is there any need to add to them with macho attitudes bordering on invulnerability, sensation-seeking, or an overestimation of our handling abilities, compounded in most cases by a lack of training for situations that cause common accidents?
REV is being rolled out in clubs and among our isolated members; let us leave our egos aside, let us know how to question ourselves, the first quality of an aviator, let us do a REV and the sky will be even bluer.
Promoting REV and taking part in it contributes to improving flight safety, but may also prevent us from losing a mate, a friend, a brother of the air tomorrow.