Articles for category My Two Cents Worth
“Sacred trust,” is what your passenger exhibits when they get into your helicopter to go on a flight. By their very actions they are telling you, “I am placing my life in your hands.”
[Read More...]
Categories:
My Two Cents Worth
“But all twins are not alike”, I said to the air medical flight doctor who is very keen to make it mandatory that all air medical programs in America operate twin-engine helicopters. He replied, “I wasn’t aware of that.”
[Read More...]
Categories:
My Two Cents Worth
I received a message from a person responding to comments I’d made on my professional Face Book page that deals with crew resource management topics, about the UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter crash that occurred back in March 10, 2015 off the coast of Florida. The crew, who was extremely experienced, had lost spatial orientation when doing an overwater exercise in sea fog killing the crew of 4 and the 7 soldiers on board. The aircraft was from the Louisiana National Guard. The person who wrote to me concluded, “The LA guard is the best aviation unit in the world.”
[Read More...]
Categories:
My Two Cents Worth
On December 22, 2016 a State District Court judge in Austin upheld a ruling, giving the State of Texas the right to regulate fees paid to air ambulances for transporting patients covered by Workers' Compensation Insurance. On the surface it doesn’t look like that ruling affects the American HAA (Helicopter Air Ambulance) industry, but it could prove to change the fabric of the industry. The ruling has the potential to create a negative ripple effect in our industry, if successfully argued and used as a precedent in other State class-action lawsuits currently filed against for-profit HAA providers.
[Read More...]
Categories:
My Two Cents Worth
Reshaaz Mohammed, a helicopter pilot from Trinidad wrote asking me, “Why is it so difficult to get that first flying job?” Here is what he had to say:
[Read More...]
Categories:
My Two Cents Worth
Have you ever accidentally done a loop in a helicopter on a moonless night at 1,000 feet on downwind leg to an airport because the pilot flying lost spatial orientation? I have. The sudden and abrupt transition from controlled flight to uncontrolled flight, when the pilot “lost it,” then fighting for control, took me as much by surprise as it did the poor pilot.
[Read More...]
Categories:
My Two Cents Worth
Often times I receive comments from readers who have an observation or two about a column I’ve written. I recently received an email from a Captain Mark Sobaszko who flies for a major airline offering his 2 Cents’ Worth about my latest article, “Sully Welcome to our World”. As a former helicopter pilot, I find Captain Sobaszko’s comments quite interesting as he’s seen both sides of the coin. Here is what he had to say:
[Read More...]
Categories:
My Two Cents Worth
In the seven years since an airline pilot saved 155 lives by ditching his crippled airliner in the Hudson River, there's been enough time to write a book and make a movie, but apparently not enough to carry out most of the safety recommendations stemming from the accident. Of the 35 recommendations made by the National Transportation Safety Board in response to the incident involving US Airways Flight 1549, only six have been heeded.”
[Read More...]
Categories:
My Two Cents Worth
In life it’s good to know what you have control over and what you don’t, which of course is true in aviation too. I have an aviation story that illustrates my point when I tried to convince an aviation psychologist that I’m a dog.
Upon reaching the age of 62 pilots at Abu Dhabi Aviation were told they would need to pass a psychological evaluation as part of their six-monthly Class 1 medical to maintain their ATP licenses. The idea of a psychological evaluation seemed ludicrous to me after 42-years in aviation further exacerbated knowing it was a money spinner for the government so I decided I was going to have some fun and try to convince the psychologist I was a dog.
[Read More...]
Categories:
My Two Cents Worth
When I flew for the Royal Oman Police, the British, Scottish, and Australian pilots I had the pleasure to fly with had a lovely saying. Whenever they wanted to convey an idea, but wanted you to know that you may already know it, they would preface their statement by saying, “Now, I don’t want to teach Granny to suck eggs but….”
[Read More...]
Categories:
My Two Cents Worth