Stupid Things Pilots Do

[Elan Head]

Hi everyone,

 

Beginning with the October-November issue of Vertical, Kevin Nelson will be writing about "Stupid Things Pilots Do" in a two-part Rotor Roundtable series. Most of us have done a few stupid things ourselves... and most of us know pilots who have done things that were even stupider. If you've got a good "stoopid" story, please share it here, along with the lessons learned (if any!). Names may be changed to protect the guilty.

 

Cheers!

 

Elan

[helicopter4u]

Kevin Nelson here. As Elan said, we will be publishing a Rotor Roundtable column on the stupid things helicopter pilots/crews do this fall. I'm interested in hearing form you via this forum. Even if you have a story of a dumb thing a passenger did and can forewarn the rest of us of the things none of us could imagine someone not familiar with helicopters might come up with in the mind or in behavior.

 

Don't worry, no names or places will/need be disclosed. Remember, the purpose of Rotor Roundtable is to help each other and the less experienced of us learn from each other. We may even safe a life or airframe in the process. We'll never know! Prevention through shared experience is a cheap lesson learned.

 

I will certainly talk about the time I walked myself into a communications snafu that I fessed up and shared in the April/May 2008 issue of Vertical in the "There I was,..." column. I won't admit to the other dumb things I've done that I will share inthe upcoming column.

 

Looking forward to hearing from you. Kevin Nelson, Vertical Magazine Contributing Editor.

[newfieboy]

Try Pprune rotorheads section. Two threds running on there :

'The stupidest thing youv;e done as a pilot' and 'The stupidest thing a passenger has done'. Both subjects been done to death on said forum.

[deuce bigalow]

Try Pprune rotorheads section. Two threds running on there :

'The stupidest thing youv;e done as a pilot' and 'The stupidest thing a passenger has done'. Both subjects been done to death on said forum.

 

 

I respectfully disagree. I noted that there was a true reluctance to tell the truth on PPRUNE about "How I screwed up". I would say about 1 in ten posts actually told a story.

 

The rest were things like "I chose helicopters over airlines" "joined CHC". Very little admission of stupidity.

 

I have some doozy stories. But everyone knows who I am here and I'm worried it will affect my reputation. (Yeah Yeah I know.........how could my reputation get any worse)

[newfieboy]

I;m afraid I respectfully agree somewhat with you there Duece. Pprune is on the whole guys on the N.Sea , SAR etc plus a lot of wannabes for sure, but a little hesitant to post in case they are "outed' by their buddies in the crew room.

 

I think we all have had our little mishaps if you like, but are also hesitant through fear of recognition.Had one or two meself over 25 years, but alas, I think I will keep them to myself with There but for the grace of God attitude.Best to keep the lid on maybe, through fear of the proverbial can of worms......

[deuce bigalow]

I;m afraid I respectfully agree somewhat with you there Duece. Pprune is on the whole guys on the N.Sea , SAR etc plus a lot of wannabes for sure, but a little hesitant to post in case they are "outed' by their buddies in the crew room.

 

I think we all have had our little mishaps if you like, but are also hesitant through fear of recognition.Had one or two meself over 25 years, but alas, I think I will keep them to myself with There but for the grace of God attitude.Best to keep the lid on maybe, through fear of the proverbial can of worms......

 

 

Nah!! Lets let er rip boy!!

 

I'll start chronologically tomorrow from young and stupid to middle aged and stupid and work up to don't really give a crap what anyone thinks and stupid.

 

It's instructive for the noobs.

 

[longliner]

Duece

You seem to be somewhat like me..mind of a 16 year old...body somewhee between 16 and 60...can't wait til I reach 21 and grow up...lots of mistakes...but I know one thing...when I grow up I want to be a real hlicopter pilot...hopefully another 20 years to reach maturty.

[helicopter4u]

All right, alright guys/gals.....I hear you. I have no desire to get anyone in hot water with current employers or coworkers or subordinates. I want honest input to make this a quality article.

 

How about people emailing me from their aunt's email account so I can't ID you, and I assure you I never would list anyone or give any info to go on. I don't want to ID you! Send me an email to kevin@verticalmag.com with your honest story, offer only details to make the point so others can learn. Use some obscure email source if you wish. I plan on just capturing the story and dropping the email source in the round file.

 

Kevin Nelson

[Winnie]

I'll share one here!

 

Fires, about 3 summers ago in northern Manitoba.

 

THe fires were pretty much out, so the Conservation officer decided to do a "loaded patrol" with the required fishing gear.

 

So loaded up, with 1 conservation officer, 1 engineer apprentice, and me. Flying a light, with loads of fuel and water, and gear, can't forget the fishing gear.

 

Anyways, find a very nice river between Oxfor House and Gods Lake Narrows, where we could JUUUUUST barely get in. So I set the helicopter on a rock, just skids on, while the engineer and conservation guy do a half arsed hover-exit. All is going well, b ut I can't shut down there, so the apprentice gets the axe outta the baggage compartment of my 206. Up until this point all was well, but then the apprentice decided to PUSH the door shut. Pushed me right off the rock, and let me just say, that is EXACTLY what happened. The machine started ROCKING violently...

 

Managed to recover it with no damage done, but scary!!!

 

Finally they got enough trees cut, so that we could do what we came for. I landed, scalded the apprentice, about not thinking etc. So we got our limit in about 25 minutes (LAAARGE pickerel), and get outta there.

 

SO what did I learn?? well NEVER do something that the crew is not experienced and trained to do! Hover exiting is in itself difficul in a light, and then with someone who is relatively new (3 months) into the business?? nah...

 

Anyways, that is my stoopid moment of that season...

Cheers

W.

[212wrench]

And remember to blame it on someone else. "I landed, scalded the apprentice, about not thinking" And you were? I make this comment intentionally with no intent on malice, to make a point. This is where I see this thread going. Whose choice was it to land where you did? Yours. The fact that the apprentice pushed the door closed is irrelevent as it was the position of the machine that caused the incident. You can push a door closed on the aircraft without causing an upset. The point you made "well NEVER do something that the crew is not experienced and trained to do!" is the best piece of information posted on this site in a long time.

 

This is a bit of a rant, I know, but I made this post to point out what I expect will happen when we try to post "What we did that was stupid". I like your story as an example more of how good intentions can go drastically wrong as opposed to stupid things we do.

 

 

Stay safe all.