Spring Cleaning
Dusting Away Those Fuzzy Edges

Spring is a wonderful time to fly, especially if we have been hibernating a bit during the winter months. It is a good time too to look at our flying currency requirements and skills that may have gotten a little fuzzy.

The pilot was 62 years old, had an air transport certificate and held a first class medical. He’d flown a total of 4,414 hours, 2,989 in twins and 1,862 in the Cessna 414 he was flying. He was committed to the personal minimums he used as an extra safety measure when flying Instrument Flight Rules. He was known to set his own minimums for instrument approaches several hundred feet higher than published altitudes for an extra margin of safety.

On the day of his flight, there was a slow moving trough west of Reno which was expected to pass across Colorado during the day with conditions improving by late afternoon. The weather briefing at 10:00 o’clock that morning called for occasional moderate rime icing in clouds with the tops of the clouds around 10,000 feet.

The pilot had already waited a day for improving weather and when he heard this forecast, he filed an IFR plan at 17,000 feet for his fight from Reno to Centennial Airport, located about 15 miles southwest of Denver. He intended to stay well above the clouds until he had to descend for his approach to Centennial.

The 3.5-hour flight went as planned until the approach phase. Sky conditions at his destination had not improved as originally forecast and were 400 feet broken and 1,000 feet overcast. When trouble came, it was quick and deadly. The Cessna 414 began to ice up as soon as it entered the clouds.

Even with the icing, he should have been able to safely land at Centennial had the pilot descended to published minimums but he stuck to a personal plan which kept him in the clouds. Well above minimums, he began a missed approach in an aircraft loaded with ice. The plane stalled and spun in northeast of Centennial killing the pilot and his passenger.

Investigators found that the pilot’s Biennial Flight Review was several months overdue and he that was not current for instrument flying. The plane had been loaded over gross weight was and 5.15 inches aft of its center of gravity limits. Because of fuel burn during the flight, the plane was within gross weight at the time of the accident, but the center of gravity had actually moved another inch aft of limits.

Air Traffic Control tapes of his weather briefings indicate that the pilot, once he heard that conditions were forecast to improve, interrupted the briefer several times and did not get the full report. He also failed to update his weather information during the three hour flight and was not aware of a SIGMET, a warning of significant hazard to all aircraft, that had been issued for severe icing in the area of his flight.

All of these are untidy bits, BFR, Instrument Currency, Gross Weight, CG limits. Although he kept in mind his own personal limits on instrument approaches, he failed to keep the limitations of his aircraft as part of his judgement sequence.

Spring is a great time to clean, clean house, clean hangers, and clean out some the fuzzy areas around our flying.

What is in your flying house that needs some dusting off. Are you as proficient as you would want in the situations you will face? What about a spring lesson with a good flight instructor just to brush up? I can guarantee the effort will result in an unplanned bonus - renewed enthusiasm for the pure joy of flying. Kathleen O’Brien, SPM, LGB FSDO

SoCal Aviation Safety Seminars

For up to date information on the status of these seminars and to make online reservations visit www.awp.faa.gov/flightstandards

April's Technical Tour
Emergency Locator Transmitters

We teach our children about 911 as soon as they are able grasp the information. That number means there is help when we need it.
Recently, in a discussion of aircraft accident survival strategies, one expert urged us to include getting to our Emergency Locator Transmitters, (ELTs), making sure they were operating properly and keeping them with us if necessary.
ELTs are the pilots' 911 number. They call for help when we need it most. Whiles 911 access is maintained by our government, we, as pilot-in command, we are expected to assure that the ELT is in proper working order.
This month's Technical Tour will feature Mr. Bob Chambers from Airtex. By attending one of the five presentations being given, you will have the opportunity to:

• Understand how ELTs work and how to check for proper installation
  
• Learn about ELT batteries and proper logbook entries
  
• Understand how ELTs today and those in the future do their job.

Socal Seminar Times are from 7:00 to 9:00 PM unless otherwise noted. No reservations are required unless noted by *. Never a fee. - For more information contact the Safety Program Manager listed in the FSDO area heading containing the event in question. All FAA Safety Seminars satisfy the requirements of AC-61.91H; the Pilot Proficiency Awards Program (Wings) and /or the Aviation Maintenance Technician Awards Program; AC-65-25A.

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