Before and after
SOP stories from the staff
It doesn’t (and shouldn’t, really) take an NTSB report to give us insights into things we can change to make ourselves safer, whether by small measures or degrees of magnitude. Here are a few tales from around AOPA of the ways people have modified their personal standard operating procedures as a result of either their own incident or someone else’s to protect themselves just that little bit more.
I learned to fly in Southern California, where I grew up and now live, and flip flops are easily my most-worn footwear (followed only by high tops and Vans). When I learned to fly, I saw no reason to start wearing closed-toe shoes and would often fly barefoot with my sandals on the floor. Nowadays I always wear real shoes. During my first year of full-time flight instructing, a friend of mine and my boss at the time was in a banner towing accident, which she narrowly survived. She also almost exclusively flew barefooted, but for whatever reason, decided to wear her brand-new Vans on the day of the accident. Good thing, too, as they were destroyed in the crash, just thick enough to protect her feet from serious damage. Seeing the tattered shoes, which had been brand new that morning, stuck with me. I rather like having both of my feet, and since then—even when I got my seaplane rating, and with almost no exceptions—I fly with closed-toe shoes. I understand that my shoe obsession is almost to a point of superstition, but, oh well. Beyond being better protection in the event of a crash, they’re also way more useful in the event of an unplanned off-airport landing, or in a fire. I will forever be a sandals gal on the ground, but I’m strictly shoes-only in the air.
Rob Geske, AOPA Air Safety Institute manager of aviation safety, commercial pilot and CFI, spends more time than most examining accident reports. He puts together ASI’s yearly McSpadden Report in general aviation accident statistics (formerly Nall) and has several learned tips for safer flying.
“Parachutes for those aerobatic inclined; had a buddy bail out after a control cable jam; tie the chocks down or put them in the baggage compartment under netting after a pair hit me in the back of the head; warm clothing especially on night flights,” he says, noting that he “had another buddy get stranded and could not get into the FBO.” His final recommendation is a seat belt cutter/window breaker for unplanned landings, just in case.
A second is all it takes for turbulence to happen, even on a clear air day, which is exactly what happened to me.
“Always buckle up,” says AOPA Content Producer Niki Britton. “That’s always been my mantra when getting in a car or airplane, but sometimes during my professional career as an aerial photographer I would have to move about the fuselage, requiring me to loosen or unbuckle my seat belt. It’s just for a second, what could happen? was always my justification for unbuckling before I’d move from the front seat to the backseat and back again, reaching for a map, or fiddling with some other piece of equipment. But a second is all it takes for turbulence to happen, even on a clear air day, which is exactly what happened to me. On a beautiful and smooth day, I unbuckled and was quickly launched into the ceiling, which resulted in a concussion. I’m a pilot now and no longer work as an aerial photographer, but the lesson remains the same. I will always think twice before removing or loosening my seat belt.”
AOPA Senior Content Producer Ian Twombly recently was weighing the decision on where to base a new-to-him Piper J-3. “I was really interested in basing out of a private strip that’s five minutes from my house. It’s in a beautiful spot with a nice, paved runway, and a bulk hangar was available for rent. But it’s cut out of the trees with no options for an engine failure on takeoff. And after Richard’s [McSpadden] accident I thought long and hard about whether I wanted to trade safety for convenience. In the end I decided to base at the public airport about 20 minutes away because it had nice fields on one side, and decent options off the other runway. I occasionally wish I were at the closer airport, but ultimately, I think it’s the right decision.”
Whether you change the way you operate in a big way, like where you base your aircraft, or a smaller way like personal seat belt rules, always keep learning and finding ways to make your flying just that slightest bit safer—you never know when it’ll make a critical difference.
