Training and Safety Tip: Assert command
The buck stops with you
On a recent flight with an instructor, operating a new-to-me aircraft type, I was once again reminded that mistakes happen, even to the best pilots, and also to the best air traffic controllers.
Many mistakes are avoidable, and most avoidable mistakes are forgivable. Thanks to technology and heightened attention, they’re also survivable.
It was a beautiful Wednesday between two rainstorms, drawing pilots out of their hangars like bees to honey, when a leisurely afternoon flight turned precarious.
There were five aircraft in the pattern, with two more holding short of the active runway, waiting to take off. The tower controller had his hands very full keeping tabs on everyone.
After a touch and go, we turned onto the downwind leg and the controller noticed we were creeping up on the student pilot ahead. He asked us to do a right 360-degree orbit to create some spacing. We confirmed and began to bank right.
We’d completed about a half-turn when a heavier and faster aircraft came screaming up behind and slightly above us. Thanks to the quick thinking of my instructor, who immediately grabbed the controls, turned sharply left, and pitched down, we avoided—by just a few hundred feet—ending up as a sad statistic.
“Taking evasive action,” he said on frequency. “There was a plane right next to us.” I am so glad he saw it on his iPad because my own workload, as a newbie on the aircraft, was already sky-high.
“Sorry, that was my fault,” the tower controller said.
The rest of our flight passed uneventfully. When we later taxied back to the hangar, the tower controller added, “Thanks for helping out today.”
What’s the lesson here?
Even in the vicinity of towered airports (some might say especially around towered airports), you can’t solely rely on ATC to keep you out of trouble. You are the pilot in command, and it’s essential to always maintain your situational awareness. Have a mental map of the airport environment, including any other aircraft that could be in the immediate area, and in which direction they are likely traveling. And remember that they might be moving toward you faster than you think. Your eyes are great, and ADS-B is even better.
While we are always grateful for our friendly air traffic controllers who do their absolute utmost to keep us safe, remember three things: all of us are human, controllers are never in the airplane with us, and the pilot in command is responsible for the safe conduct of every flight.
It is up to us to fall back on our training and assert our PIC privileges should things get unexpectedly dicey or too close for comfort.
