By Tom Myers, IAC 16830 with Dave Watson, IAC 26557
The story of the following event, at first glance, may appear to be an example of finger pointing. The reality is that Dave Watson agreed to my request that we write an article about this event so that others may benefit. Dave strongly believes that what happened to him can easily happen to anybody, and that it is important for us to forewarn each other about these sorts of events. I agree. We often fixate on the overt risks of the sport at the expense of attention paid to the subtle risks of the sport. All risks in our sport carry potentially significant consequences. The more subtle the risk, the more important it is that we educate each other about that risk.
Dave Watson is as conscientious a pilot as any pilot I know. At this year’s Apple Valley contest, Dave had strapped into his MX2 to fly his unlimited free sequence and was closing his canopy when he was interrupted by the starter. The starter noticed that Dave had not fastened his chin strap. Unbeknownst to the starter, Dave leaves his chin strap loose until his runup. Dave let the starter know that it was ok. The problem was that the starter interrupted Dave just as he was about to latch his canopy. As a result of the distraction, the canopy never got latched. The canopy stayed closed during the run-up, but when Dave got out onto the runway to take off and hit the throttle, and the canopy started to whip open. Dave acted quickly enough to grab the canopy before it fully opened, and to get the throttle closed before any airplane parts experienced rapid catastrophic disassembly. In doing so, Dave wrenched his arm and neck, and lost his concentration and focus on his upcoming sequence.
Dave taxied back in to inspect everything to assure it was all in one piece. He also took the opportunity to get himself calmed down and back on task. After checking that everything was ok, he got back in his plane to have another go at the sequence. However, after hard-zeroing the first figure, he recognized that his head was apparently not fully in the right place, and made the responsible and safe decision to call it a day and land. Shortly after landing, Dave was overcome with elbow pain and back and neck spasms from the awkward strain of catching the canopy.
The next day, Dave felt that his head and his body were still not good to go, and elected to pass on flying the unknown sequence. It was the correct and safe call to make. It is never an easy call to make. I applaud Dave for making the right call.
I have had several talks with Dave about this article. It is not an easy thing to be the example for such an article. Dave feels that it is important for his example to be pointed out as something for everyone to learn from. Again, I applaud Dave for making the right call.
It is a situation that could have happened to any of us. One distraction at a critical moment having a domino effect. When we fly, we are constantly being bombarded with a world of potential interruptions at the same time that we are performing required tasks. A lot of piloting is prioritizing all of the interruptions and tasks. Likely, all of us have experienced distractions at a moment that resulted in an important task getting omitted. It has happened to me many times over the years. I have written about them in IAC publications. Dave has also written about his adventures. We consider ourselves to be very fortunate that we have been able to deal with them successfully.
There will always be distractions. They come with the territory. Piloting includes distraction management. Distraction management includes recognizing the many forms that distractions take, and dealing with their inevitable presence. Like going back to the beginning of a procedure when interrupted in the middle. Like double-checking the most critical steps. Like being honest with yourself about your physical and mental condition. Like not being in a rush. Especially around airplanes. Ever.
Fly safe.
