Mon Feb 11, 2019 6:17 pm
#1674285
I’m sure I am not the only one to know pilots who offer Wingly flights.
I have personal experience of two pilots who succumbed to the pressure of needing to get their Wingly passengers back home after a weekend trip, when the Wingly passengers “complained” that they needed to get back to go to work the next morning.
In both cases, the pilots took off into weather conditions that they knew were well beyond their licence privileges.
Neither pilot held an IMC / IRR.
One pilot encountered bad weather but turned around and landed at an enroute airfield. He then contacted me asking for advice on how to circumvent the weather. I was able to advise him to wait 2-3 hours, then check the weather at specific enroute airports, and if they were good VFR, to route that (circuitous) way home.
The second pilot contacted me before take-off for advice on how to circumvent the weather. I advised him that the weather was way too bad and he should cancel the flight and wait for better weather the next day. I assumed he had taken my advice, however an hour later I received a text message saying that he was airborne, about 1/3 of the way home, and encountered severe bad weather, and asking for my advice. I advised him to turn around and land back at his start point. He said he couldn’t / wouldn’t do that, and again asked me to look at the weather radar and advice him of safest route home. I again told him he should turn around to find an airfield in VMC and land. I even told him which airfields near him were VMC. However when it became clear that he was intent on continuing, I gave in and gave him the information he requested (he eventually landed safely)
I have had strong words with both pilots. I advised them not be so stupid as to risk thier (or their families) lives on someone else’s agenda. I advised both to give up Wingly and to get the training to get an IRR.
One has followed my advice, the other hasn’t (and is off my contact list).