Aero-Tips!

A good pilot is always learning -- how many times have you heard this old standard throughout your flying career? There is no truer statement in all of flying (well, with the possible exception of "there are no old, bold pilots.")

Aero-News has called upon the expertise of Thomas P. Turner, master CFI and all-around-good-guy, to bring our readers -- and us -- daily tips to improve our skills as aviators. Some of them, you may have heard before... but for each of us, there will also be something we might never have considered before, or something that didn't "stick" the way it should have the first time we memorized it for the practical test.

Look for our daily Aero-Tips segments, coming each day to you through the Aero-News Network.

Aero-Tips 10.12.06

According to the AOPA Air Safety Foundation over 70% of all lightplane mishaps are the result of human factors-pilot error. And here's what the FAA calls the "top 10" most frequent causes of pilot-error accidents:

1. Inadequate preflight preparation and/or planning.
2. Failure to attain and/or maintain flying speed.
3. Failure to maintain direction control.
4. Improper level off.
5. Failure to see and avoid objects or obstructions.
6. Mismanagement of fuel.
7. Improper in-flight decisions or planning.
8. Misjudgment of distance and speed.
9. Selection of unsuitable terrain.
10. Improper operation of flight controls.

In coming days we'll be looking at each of these factors in turn... and discovering ways to avoid falling victim to the "top 10" accident causes.

Aero-tip of the day: Recognize the high-risk flight operations that lead to mishaps, so you can avoid repeating mishap history.

FMI: Aero-Tips