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Posted for Don Barnes <don@cellarideas.com>:
I think Ron's candor and generosity in sharing the details of his wreck are to be commended. We can all learn from this. I'm privileged to call him my friend and have flown with him. He's good. Real good.
To cheapen this gesture by suggesting he get in contact with an instructor to learn how to fly with out instruments and remind all of us, in a rather not-so-subtle nature, that this is why our insurance is getting unaffordable is really a cheap shot. It does not help others to share either.
I think there is some practical reason for this advise. In the next few days or weeks, Ron is most probably going to receive a certified letter from the FAA saying that the FAA is questioning his skills as a pilot and giving him the option to take a mini-checkride with a FAA inspector in lieu of the FAA starting enforcement action against him. The checkride is going to focus on the areas, that in the opinion of the FAA, contributed to the accident. Refusal to take the checkride, or the failure to pass it, is going to result in enforcement action against the pilot's certificate.
While the tone of the posting could be considered offensive, its contents can not be. Let me add my appreciation to Ron for putting aside his ego and pride and openly sharing his experiences for the benefit of all. He is a better person than most for doing so. However, we do not do anyone any service by pretending that no mistakes were made.
Now that I have started on this subject, I would like to point out one other link in the accident chain that has not really been addressed: Know your systems and know them well. As an ATP with scads of hours in heavy iron, Ron was used to the setup found in the big birds, where the AOA is a completely independent and redundant system. However, the Frantz AOA works off the pitot and static system (in addition to the wing sensors) and in Ron's installation shares these with the standard airspeed indicator. If this system knowledge had been at the forefront of the pilot's mind, a stall warning in that situation would have been interpreted as a confirmation of a problem with the pitot/static system, rather than a confirmation of low airspeed and impending stall.
Hamid
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