INTERNATIONAL
The Worst of Agricultural Aviation, an Accident by Martin Porto
As a pilot, I try not to be reactive. I try to anticipate the plane and I also try to apply that to my personal life. But when catastrophic events occur, the human instinct for self-preservation always prevails and the “reactionary man” comes out. Obstacles, enemies of the ag-pilot.
Whether you see antennas or not depends on factors such as a dirty windshield, haze, smoke, distractions in the cockpit and sunlight.
A 16 | agairupdate.com
The great philosopher and thinker, Viktor Frankl, speaking on the meaning of life said, “An abnormal reaction to an abnormal situation is normal behavior.” That was what motivated me to write this article, “my reactionary man.” The worst thing about aviation is an accident. Until it happens, until a colleague is taken, until it happens to us, it is something abstract. But, accidents are undoubtedly the worst thing in aviation. One morning this year, I received news that an agricultural pilot had been killed. I did not know the pilot, but he worked at a friend’s company. I immediately set out to learn more and with each message I received, more and more my heart ached. The friend who informed me said the pilot had been drinking mate (South American tea) with him that morning. The pilot took off and due to smoke from fires in the region, he did not see a cell phone antenna. He hit it and crashed just 100 meters from his house. No one doubts the world depends on antennas, a technology that helps us and used well, it facilitates man’s life. For us agricultural pilots, apart from being a help, antennas are a danger. While it is true antennas must be marked by paint, strobes and other means of distinction, from a pilot’s perspective, all these aids often mean nothing and it is as if they did not exist. Whether you see them or not depends on factors such as a dirty windshield, haze, smoke, distractions in the cockpit and sunlight. Each of these factors are present everyday in the work of an agricultural pilot.
As a general rule, agricultural pilots fly in the same, general geographical area. There are exceptions. So the most important thing, even if we are not from that area, is we must know the area through aids such as maps and by asking local pilots. Using on-board technology to our advantage, most DGPS (Differential Global Position System) systems used by agricultural aircraft today have a function that allows the pilot to load the position of an obstacle simply by pressing a key. Then, when the distance between the aircraft and the obstacle is within the alert time, GPS units like the AgNav will give a warning to the pilot on the light bar and screen to get their attention. The file can be downloaded and shared. Create a database of obstacles and share it. Safety should transcend competition and as pilots / operators we should be generous to our colleagues by sharing this information. The FAA makes available to pilots the Digital Obstacle File (DOF) and it is updated every 56 days. The file describes all known obstacles to aviation users in
