Radadavirus
At the start of this much-delayed season, our passion, frustrated and thwarted for a few months, may make us want to make up for lost time and revel in regaining our freedom. "What if we let ourselves go a little, we've earned it, haven't we?" is what the Mr Hyde sleeping inside us will not fail to whisper in our ear after a few moments in flight. So before giving in to these temptations, it is important to reawaken in ourselves a healthy awareness of certain dangers.
A good many accidents that happen every year could have been avoided. This is the case, for example, of accidents in low-level flight, outside any take-off or landing phase. Low flying is often meant to be spectacular for the passenger and for onlookers on the ground, intoxicating through the rapid passing of the scenery, sensational through the sudden changes of direction, and flattering to the pilot's ego as a show of mastery.
Nevertheless, a case study by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) shows that low flying is behind many accidents because:
- The number of obstacles to avoid is high, and many are hard to detect in time, particularly power lines;
- The pilot's mental workload is higher, because of the number of hazards to be considered at the same time;
- Unexpected turbulence and shear may be encountered, entirely absent at a greater height;
- There is no room for manoeuvre to regain control of the aircraft in the event of unexpected difficulty.
The two main dangers of low flying that emerge from this study are:
- Striking a power line,
- The inability of pilots to recover their aircraft after an unusual attitude (stall, steep turn, back of the power curve, loss of control…).
Not only are power lines found in places where you do not expect them, the cables are also very hard to see in flight. And even having spotted a line, it is difficult to judge its distance correctly, because of the lack of reference points and optical illusions. The sudden changes of attitude needed to avoid it, or made purely for thrills, can cause an unrecoverable departure from the flight envelope. Professionals in low-level aerial work are trained for it, carry out precise reconnaissance of the places to be overflown, plan their flight paths in advance to control the risks and, above all, have a legitimate operational reason. That is not our case when we fly for pleasure.
For your own safety and the happiness of your loved ones, do not let your enthusiasm carry you away with the "radadavirus" as freedom returns, and do not add to the number of these accidents that should never have happened. Just gain some height.
