Friday Focus on IFR

25 April 2014 1900 Z

Starting today, and every Friday for the foreseeable future, I will be posting while I call Friday Focus on IFR to include an excerpt from “Instrument Flying: 10 Indispensable Principles to Know and Remember.” See www.doubleiLLC.com.

These excerpts, individually and collectively, are designed to inspire all IFR instructors and pilots to take a step back and examine their respective skill sets to improve safety and operational efficiency. Here’s today’s installment:

“I began this book with my personal admonition, Be forewarned:
Instrument flying is unforgiving of neglect. I conclude it with a cautionary
statement from Capt. Eugene A. Cernan, a highly respected naval aviator and astronaut. Capt. Cernan writes:

‘I consider myself to be an experienced aviator: 22 years in the
Navy, 9,000-plus hours accumulated in both military and civilian
aircraft, most of which were high-performance flying machines. I’ve
made more than 200 carrier landings, and three space flights. . . .
All that . . . and yet I violated a cardinal rule by entering an active
runway without clearance. My incident should be a wake-up call
for everyone starting with myself. The message is that no matter
who we are, where we have been, how many hours or landings we
may have, or how good we may think we are, we all are prone to
the inevitability of making a mistake . . . if it can happen to me—IT
CAN HAPPEN TO YOU.’

While admittedly Capt. Cernan’s experience occurred on the ground, I trust that the essence of his “confession” will not be lost on you as an instrument pilot.” (Instrument Flying, p. 120).

Original Source: Eugene A. Cernan, “It Can Happen to You: A Runway Incursion Confession,” FAA Safety Briefing (September/October, 2013): 24-25.

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