Have you ever had occasion to fly with a "private pilot? you might want to reconsider after reading this.

[Bricealan]

AND THEY ARE ONLY IN A CAR!, I HAD THE DOG'S EXPRESSION!

There are literally thousands of persons who hold a Private Pilot Certification, and not all of them are qualified to be flying ANYONE around-- even themselves. I hold a Private Certificate and have held it for years, and only found out how dangerous some, so-called-pilots really can be.

While employed at Fluor Engineers and Constructors, I med a Manager in Contracts Administration who was a pilot who asked me to accompany him on a flight to Chino California, along with another employee, for an air show. Much to my panic, upon landing at Long Beach and then taking off, (supposedly for Chino airport) this man was flying over Carson, and Torrance California, which I pointed out to him after losing control of my bladder. The man did not know even by dead reckoning, that he was flying 180 degrees in the wrong direction, as he had not set his instruments on the ground.......Now days pilots fly by GPS, the same, or nearly the same, but more sophisticated than the systems in our cars and trucks.

Correcting that, we finally landed at Chino, and the man was taxiing the wrong way on a one-way- taxi way and Ground Control had to tell him to turn about and go the opposite direction.

In the return flight, I had the man land at Orange County, and I drove the other Manager back to Long Beach in my private vehicle.

Driving with a careless driver, or a shitty driver can get you killed or injured, but FLYING with him is CERTAIN DEATH and I should have contacted the FAA and reported the man to be called in and evaluated for his flying skills

The man had several hundred hours of flying time.

Think about it, driving is dangerous enough ............but flying with a nincompoop, is certainly hazardous to your health.

FORE TOLD IS FOREWARNED.

[smne35]

That's insane and careless of the FAA or who ever is responsible for ensuring these pilots are up to date and credible, personally I will not ever get on a plane, until t there is a100 percent guarantee that if I go up I'm landing safely, with airlines cutting corners to save cash I'm good on the ground, if I can't get there by boat car train scooter horse back or skate board I don't need to go, besides at 30,000 feet up that's a heck of a long time to think about what's coming up if there s pilot error, can say good bye to everyone you know but way to much time to drop from so high, and think about the inevitable next time I see a small plane above, I'm taking cover

[Bricealan]

@smne35 Thank you for you input, and I was asking the same question? Who signed him off to get his certificate? When I took my FAA check ride, I was 'nerve sick' in the plane due to the immense pressure of doing the FAA check ride. I almost threw up in the plane and must have been 'green' from doing the "unusual attitude" and "Stall' maneuvers... When the examiner knew I was 'air sick' he told me..."if you can land safely like that (sick) I will sign you off" I, of course, landed carefully and he signed me off... knowing I could safely land in that condition.

Thanks again.

[Guido]

I have with a friend and he was extremely good and competent. I was in the airforce and was very knowledgeable about flight so it was easy to assess his skill level.

As in everything, there are incompetent people. Skills must be maintained and people lose skills if not practiced regularly.

[Bricealan]

@Guido well thought out, sir. After that I did fly with a guy in Graduate school, he was Middle
Eastern, and we flew to Catalina, and landed on that really hazardous cliff side runway, 800 feet above the water... basically flying into the cliff if you make an error and drop below the runway level. In hind sight, that was foolish of me in that I did not know how competent a pilot he was, but as it was he was very competent. When we landed on the 'uphill' runway and down the other side there was a Cessna Citation - 9 passenger jet that had crash landed and burned at the end of the runway? No idea WHY anybody in their right mind would land a JET on that runway. I did not ask about fatalities. I have to say that seeing that solidified my view of how dangerous General Aviation can be. Also the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant and all of those other many people a few years ago and THAT pilot ignored the dense fog and ALL of the Sheriffs helicopters were GROUNDED that morning and HE flew anyway?

Thank you for your input, Sir.

[Lliam]

I've flown quite a few times with private pilots. A friend of my dad had a Piper Tri-pacer and later a Beach Bonanza that he kept at Orange County Airport before it became John Wayne International. We went a lot of places but to Chino a lot. He taught me to do touch and goes, wing overs, and simple stalls, and let me fly left seat. He and my dad were airplane buffs and loved air shows. The guy was a P-51 pilot during WWII. Needless to say, the guy was expert.

Another friend had a Cessna 310, twin engine. We used to fly from Hawthorne to Santa Barbara for lunch.

Another friend did the stunts in a Pit for the Tobi Haliki movie, The Junk Man.

Damn that guy could fly.
He flew me from Torrance to Mojave Airport where he kept his Folland Gnat.

He had a hot shot test pilot friend of his from Edwards AFB take me up and do crazy shit in his jet. I even took the controls and rolled it a few times.

A couple years ago, I went up in a Stearman PT-17 and the pilot did aerobatics for me.

Fortunately, I've never been up with an incompetent pilot.

[theothersider]

Well the reality is that general aviation makes up the vast majority of aviation fatalities. That is due to a number of factors. But primarily it is because flying an airplane is exceptionally unforgiving of carelessness, stupidity and ego. Airline pilots required to have. Thousands of hours of flying before they can even apply to an airline. CRM training. Two pilots to cover the fuck ups of the other. When you're a private pilot. You've got no one to catch your mistakes your laziness or your incompetence... until it becomes fatal.

[Bricealan]

@theothersider Thank you. Your comments match my thoughts exactly, and we both know that General Aviation DOES make up the majority of aviation fatalities, and I have never taken off, without having those same thoughts in the back of my mind.
Having done some stupid things as a private pilot, (flying to Cleveland near Lake Erie, AT NIGHT, in a single engine aircraft being one of those colossal blunders) Luckily my passenger helped me locate the runway lights, and everything was alright in spite of my wrong doing.

I'm assuming you are a pilot, either GA or Commercial pilot?

[Bricealan]

@theothersider Wish I had heard from you sooner, as I certainly would have given you one of the MHO "awards' as on of the most informed writers here. Thank you again.

Bruce

[DryGermanGuy]

I took a few one- and two-engine Cessna flights to various North-German islands twenty+ years ago. Personally I can't report any pilot-related problems, but ten days or so after my holiday that air taxi crashed, killing everyone on board. Oof.

[Bricealan]

@DryGermanGuy Damn! You are a lucky man!

[AviatorTom]

I've flown over a million miles in commercial aircraft, and I have also flown in a general aviation aircraft, my son-in-law (former commercial pilot) as pilot.

Flying overall is safe. It's sad that these kinds of posts scare people.

Yes, there are pilots who shouldn't be flying, and the FAA and agencies in other countries do their best to monitor them.

Nothing is ever 100% safe. Ee all live our lives managing risk. You can trip and fall getting out of bed.

[Bricealan]

@AviatorTom... Thanks Tom for your input. My post was for persons like my boss's daughter who was going to fly with this same guy after my encounter with him. I talked to her and my boss in his office and tried to discourage her from flying with him for the obvious reasons I stated in my post.
Thanks again.

I failed as a pilot to report him to FAA and have him reviewed by the agency.

[Anonymous]

Sort of. I took a private sailplane (glider) flight where it was just the pilot and me in the glider, and we were towed up by another small plane to a certain altitude and then cut loose to ride some thermals and slope lift for 30 - 40 minutes before returning to the airport. It was a blast. The guy was a verteran pilot so I never worried about him.

[KrakenAttackin]

I hold an ATP although I haven't exercised it in years. Who are these clowns? Basic people holders?

[KrakenAttackin]

Basic people holders.

[Bricealan]

I cannot figure who would have signed this guy off, with what I saw of him. Later at work, my bosses daughter had been asked to fly with this guy... I talked to her and her dad (my boss) and told her I would suggest she not fly with him and told them why.

[KrakenAttackin]

I learned to fly with a "six pack" of steam gauges. My instrument check ride was almost all ADF work. My check pilot said, if you can navigate/approach with ADF/NDB, you can do anything else. I think we have strayed from the fundamentals.

[Surely]

Yes I have. No bad experiences to report. I flew in a couple of helicopters. A single engine plane that flew around Denali and landed on a glacier in Alaska. A twin engine that took us over the Artic Circle to Coldfoot, Alaska. Would do all of them again!

[Anonymous]

I know some people that should go on a flight with him.

[KostasKouvalis]

Just earlier today, but I ain't paying the pilot