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A QUESTION OF SAFETY GEORGE ROGERS
NATIONAL OPERATIONS OFFICER, ACTING
2009 was a bad year for gliding accidents –
a very bad year
There were sixteen reported accidents in New Zealand since the start of 2009, in which three pilots lost their lives and four sustained serious injury. Looking at the accidents, it seems that Lady Luck prevented a further five fatalities – imagine the consequences of that! In the 10 years prior to 2009, our fatal accident rate averaged 2.4 per 100,000 launches – putting us amongst the highest in the gliding world. But the 2009 fatals bumped our previous 10-year average up to 3.3 per 100,000 launches – this is roughly treble the comparable rate in the UK, Germany and the USA. Clearly, we have a long way to go in the risk management stakes. Over the last ten years, half of the accidents occurred during soaring flights involving experienced or relatively experienced pilots. Terrain impact caused 2⁄3 of the fatalities (8 of 12) over the 10 years. Outlanding accidents caused the other 1 ⁄3. In the sixteen reported accidents, nine caused the destruction of the glider and four gliders were substantially damaged. That is almost 4% of the total fleet. I urge you to re-read the article by Bernard Eckey on Risk Management published in Issue 11 (August/September 2009) of SoaringNZ.
“The Local Firm”
WHY?
It is clear that pilots must understand and appreciate their current skill and currency levels so they can make informed judgements about prudent limits they should set and discipline themselves to operate to. Bernard suggests we should “review our risk profile periodically – at least prior to every new soaring season”. We have to conclude from the review of serious accidents that Bernard’s words are prophetic, “One poor judgement will increase the probability that another will follow ... If the poor judgement chain is allowed to grow, the chance of a safe outcome decreases rapidly.” GNZ will be putting a focus on supporting pilots at all levels in prudent decision making, especially about the limits they should set and discipline themselves to operate to. At the end of the day, only you the pilot can make the in-flight decisions, and you need to realistically prepare yourself through honest and reasoned understanding of your skills and competencies. Opportunities to work with experienced instructors, at briefings or at periodic or Biennial Flight Reviews, to understand where you are at are a valuable opportunity to improve your safety.
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211 Waitaki Drive, Otematata Ph (03) 438 7724 Fax (03) 434 9398 203 Thames Street, Oamaru Ph (03) 434 9010 A/h 434 6728 Mobile 027 434 0608 Contact: Tony Spivey (Snr) Email: acspivey@xtra.co.nz www.acspivey.co.nz April 2010
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