AOPA Safety Seminar
Attended AOPA’s “Single Pilot IFR” safety seminar this evening on the campus of the University of Texas at San Antonio. The presenter, Mark Grady, was excellent! He kept the crowd laughing while at the same time drilling in the message that sometimes we - as pilots - are our own worst enemies.
It was an informative seminar that identified “seven keys” to safe flight and included one harrowing ATC/pilot conversation in which the pilot had a dual vacuum pump failure in IMC conditions. The pilot did not declare an emergency and unfortunately for him, the controller didn’t know a vacuum pump from a vacuum cleaner. The pilot and his passenger perished. Like many aviation accidents, this one should have had a different ending.
The safety seminar, on a Monday evening at 7PM, attracted a decent crowd. Kudos to the AOPA and the FAA for sponsoring these events. Check their web site for one in your next of the woods.
Stuart Coleman said,
August 18, 2005 @ 7:04 am
Mark Grady did a similar excellent presentation in Pensacola this past year. Eventhough the turn out was decent it still was only a very small percentage of the pilot population in this area. Pilots seem to like being together, but not getting together.
Justin said,
August 19, 2005 @ 4:39 am
I think I’m going to try and take a more active role in getting the word out about aviation safety seminars in my area. There is an event calendar in the forums here at NoticeToAirmen.com. I’d like to see a lot more pilots at these seminars. They are free and offer insight and reminders that we should all be diligent in reducing the risk during our flying. Thanks Stuart!
Shannon said,
August 19, 2005 @ 4:40 pm
Justin — perfect timing! I’ve updated your NOTAM Forums and made “Today’s Events” more prominent (they’re at the bottom of the page, by default). I haven’t added more than 1 event, however — did you know today is National Aviation Day? I’ll add your calendar into my queue of work to update my forum & calendar.