Really Sloppy
I've stewed about this for awhile. I doubt there is any originality here, but I had to write something anyway.
On my last flight I had scheduled a different 182 than the one I ended up renting. It's a bit cheaper and of the same vintage. Just before I made the trip to the airport I noticed some automatic email messages from the Ahart scheduling program that indicated that I had been moved to a different plane.
When I picked up the keys for my flight I was told the other 182 was in maintenance for a,” Hard landing..". Later on I checked the owners web site and saw that the hard landing was only discovered after a maintenance inspection.
As a former lease back owner I can understand his pain and anger over the situation. I had my share of maintenance surprises over my short duration on the line. Fortunately none were this serious, or caused as much downtime. (Scroll down here to see one ding)
As a pilot I have to wonder at the mindset of the person who caused the damage. Given the extent of the damage they must have known that something bad had just happened, but decided not to say anything.
My first thought for the avoidance is of course financial. I'm embarrassed to say that I don't know if the Ahart insurance policy has a non-subrogation clause or what the deductible runs. Regardless, any standard aviation deductible will take a healthy bite out of someone’s flying budget, and the 20k estimate plus loss of business income listed on the owners site, would be a life changing penalty for just about anyone.
That withstanding, being a pilot requires responsibility. Not reporting an incident like this is plain sloppy and irresponsible. The owner and the FBO have to live with the expense. The PIC has to live with some level of regret I’m certain and loss of honor
How can the rest of us make it work, and make for more honest pilots? On the deductible side, the first club I was in had a program where you could put in an extra dollar amount, 5 dollars back then I believe, and be part of the deductible insurance pool. Most everyone put in for this.
How can we encourage honesty and honor? Practice it ourselves, insist on it with others. That’s all I know.
posted by SloppyPilot @ 2:26 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
At least with 45H the pilot owned up... (a bit hard to miss, though, in that case).
What I think worries me most about the Ahart 182 and similar incidents is that the pilot may not have even noticed the incident or realised the damage -- which is in some ways as worrisome as the thought that they might just have tried to cover it up. I haven't a clue how to instill in people a decent sense of responsibility or honour, though. It's a problem...
It is hard to imagine the pilot who could have done that kind of landing, parked the plane, and thought,"Not great, but I've had worse...".
You'd think so, wouldn't you? But six years of GA flying 'round here has made me aware of just how many oblivious pilots there are out there....
Having said that, though, looking at the photos of the buckled panels, etc., I'd be amazed if the pilot didn't know what he or she had done -- and I'm a little puzzled why the damage wasn't noticed earlier. I think I'm going to start looking a lot closer at any unobtrusive little bends or dents during pre-flight. Urgh...
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