Former NTSB investigator shares cautionary tales

By Rob Finfrock

Why? That is the question that is often on Greg Feith's mind. In his over 20 years as a Senior Air Safety Investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) it was his job to ask it, while trying to determine the causes behind such high-profile accidents as the 1996 ValuJet crash in the Florida Everglades.

It was also the question he posed to audiences attending his two forums at AirVenture 2005, both titled "Lessons Learned From 20 Years With NTSB."

"Anyone ever been to Ruidoso, NM?" asked Feith, as a photo of a wrecked Beech Musketeer nose down against a rocky hill appeared on the screen behind him. "The runway is on a high plateau, with a steep drop off at the end down into a valley." The caption on the photograph shows there were four people on this airplane-a CFI, his student, and two other passengers.

"Runway elevation 6,800 feet, temperature 89 degrees Fahrenheit," Feith continued. "Just do the math in your head what the density altitude was. Ten thousand feet. What is the service ceiling of a Musketeer?"

Feith's voice then grew quiet. "You're a flight instructor. You've got a student. You've got two observers, full gas, and bags. Even before you go near the airplane, what kind of mentality do you have to have to really believe you're going to make it off the runway?"

The audience answers him with silence. Some of the people have puzzled looks on their faces, while others shift uncomfortably in their seats. They have stunned looks on their faces, the looks of those who have just witnessed what could have gone wrong, perhaps, when they've tried something similar.

"Why did this guy keep flying?" Feith asks as he moves on to the next slide, the wreckage of a V-tail Bonanza now looming from the screens behind him. "He ran out of gas. But he passed not one airport, not two, three, four… he flew over ten airports, thinking he could make it. He wanted to get home."

Feith then pointed to the row of trees visible behind the wreckage. "The pilot was trying to glide to this field, and he was almost there but for those trees. He pulled back on the yoke to try and clear them, but he bled off airspeed and stalled 300 feet off the ground. Both he and his wife died, 25 miles from the pilot's home."

There is no condemnation in Feith's voice as he tells his stories, no admonishment. He isn't there to ridicule the pilots involved in these crashes, or to pass judgment on them. He does manage to impart some humor to his tales, such as the case of a Comanche 180 pilot who crashed the airplane his wife had given him, with his mistress onboard at the time.

"All I hope is that what I talked about today gives you some pause, and heightens your awareness," Feith tells his audience at the end of the presentation. "Refresh yourself with the FARs, with procedures and policies. I want you to leave the building today thinking about some of the things that I said."

"Remember that we are ambassadors of aviation."

FMI: www.ntsb.gov, www.aviationspeakers.com/