Wed Aug 18, 2021 8:26 pm
#1865827
Hi all,
Last night I heard the horrible news about a close friend of my family who was killed in the CAP10 crash in Somerset last Thursday (12th August). She was flying with a pilot friend - they regularly went flying together as his wife was afraid to fly as she viewed it as too dangerous.
I don't know any details about the accident yet as the investigation results haven't been released, but from reading a post on this forum I have learned that it appears to be the result of inadvertently flying into IMC.
I have been flying light aircraft for about 6 years now, and I regularly fly a C42 and a Eurostar EV97, both belonging to my flying club near where I live (near Gothenburg in Sweden). Whenever I hear about an accident, I always read the investigation report so that I can try to ensure that I don't make the same mistake. Sadly, the causes of the accident are nearly always the same things: inadvertently flying into IMC; running out of fuel; flying low and slow and stalling/spinning; flying in unfavourable weather conditions (I am sure I've missed one of two here but I can't think of them just now).
I am very careful about my preflight checks (particularly fuel), I avoid flying low and slow, and I am extremely careful and err on the side of over-cautious regarding the weather conditions I choose to fly in. Therefore I feel that my flying is relatively low-risk.
However, this accident, because it resulted in the death of a close friend, has caused me a lot of mental anguish, particularly with regards to a trip that I have planned for this coming weekend. It is our 19th wedding anniversary, and to celebrate I have booked the C42 for a weekend away with my wife. We have a friend here who will be looking after our two young daughters (aged 10 and 12), for the weekend.
So the question is this: do other people who have young children fly together with their spouses, or do you consider it too risky to have both of you up there in the plane? My feeling has been that if I consider it so risky that I shouldn't fly with my wife then I shouldn't be doing it myself as I don't certainly don't want to leave my children growing up without a father. If I continue to be so careful and conservative about checks, weather conditions etc. then I consider it to be about as safe as driving in the car (which we do without a second thought for risk), but am I being naive?
I'd be very interested to hear some other opinions on this, whatever they may be. I am struggling with this one...
Last night I heard the horrible news about a close friend of my family who was killed in the CAP10 crash in Somerset last Thursday (12th August). She was flying with a pilot friend - they regularly went flying together as his wife was afraid to fly as she viewed it as too dangerous.
I don't know any details about the accident yet as the investigation results haven't been released, but from reading a post on this forum I have learned that it appears to be the result of inadvertently flying into IMC.
I have been flying light aircraft for about 6 years now, and I regularly fly a C42 and a Eurostar EV97, both belonging to my flying club near where I live (near Gothenburg in Sweden). Whenever I hear about an accident, I always read the investigation report so that I can try to ensure that I don't make the same mistake. Sadly, the causes of the accident are nearly always the same things: inadvertently flying into IMC; running out of fuel; flying low and slow and stalling/spinning; flying in unfavourable weather conditions (I am sure I've missed one of two here but I can't think of them just now).
I am very careful about my preflight checks (particularly fuel), I avoid flying low and slow, and I am extremely careful and err on the side of over-cautious regarding the weather conditions I choose to fly in. Therefore I feel that my flying is relatively low-risk.
However, this accident, because it resulted in the death of a close friend, has caused me a lot of mental anguish, particularly with regards to a trip that I have planned for this coming weekend. It is our 19th wedding anniversary, and to celebrate I have booked the C42 for a weekend away with my wife. We have a friend here who will be looking after our two young daughters (aged 10 and 12), for the weekend.
So the question is this: do other people who have young children fly together with their spouses, or do you consider it too risky to have both of you up there in the plane? My feeling has been that if I consider it so risky that I shouldn't fly with my wife then I shouldn't be doing it myself as I don't certainly don't want to leave my children growing up without a father. If I continue to be so careful and conservative about checks, weather conditions etc. then I consider it to be about as safe as driving in the car (which we do without a second thought for risk), but am I being naive?
I'd be very interested to hear some other opinions on this, whatever they may be. I am struggling with this one...