it's mid-afternoon on the 15th of
November 2007 on the ramp at the
Arlington Texas Airport a flight
instructor and two foreign students one
receiving instruction the other writing
along to gain experience and radio
communication are preparing for a
cross-country flight in a Piper arrow
the day is calm and clear and there's no
outward sign that this will be anything
other than a routine trip behind the
facade of normality though why
disturbing indications of what's to come
the instructor for the flight though
relatively inexperienced has gained a
reputation as a quote-unquote good pilot
albeit one with a certain reckless
streak namely a fondness for aerobatic
maneuvers in non aerobatic aircraft
later testimony from his fellow CF is
corroborated by emails from one of the
students killed in the crash
describes multi turn spins barrel rolls
wing overs and aggressive pull ups in
normal category aircraft hardly the
stuff of typical flight instruction
shortly before the flight another CFI
the primary instructor for the student
riding along to observe caution sir
colleague not to do any funny stuff the
warning however seems to be given more
out of concern that the student will
pick up bad habits then over worries
about danger
either way it goes unheeded the arrow
departs Arlington westbound and from
there ATC radar tells the tale analysis
shows the aircraft performing several
maneuvers in the moments leading up to
the crash most of the maneuvers begin
with pitch overs in which altitude is
rapidly traded for airspeed most likely
in preparation for aerobatic maneuvers
though due to the imprecise nature of
radar evidence this cannot be determined
definitively at 3:03 p.m. the aircraft
makes one last climb to 11,000 to 800
feet before pitching over its airspeed
peaks at 135 knots well above
maneuvering speed and has just begun to
decrease when radar contact is abruptly
lost
on the ground witnesses described
hearing an engine cutting in and out
along with whirling sounds and a loud
bang as the aircraft falls to the ground
in pieces
you
this is an admittedly extreme example of
what can happen when unsafe practices
are left unchecked such recklessness is
rare in the world of flight instruction
and yet despite its egregious 'no
--scent is instructive for one it shows
how dangerous one bad apple can be both
in the obvious physical sense and in the
potential to influence the behavior of
others but it also points to an
uncomfortable truth one that's perhaps
more broadly relevant than we'd like to
admit when the peers of a rogue pilot
stand idly by the implicitly endorses
behavior in this case other c-f eyes
clearly knew what was going on and they
certainly knew that it was both illegal
and dangerous one or two voiced concerns
but nothing further was done friendly
warnings from peers are relatively easy
to brush off at a minimum those who had
concerns should have followed up to make
sure that things had changed
if they hadn't a discussion with flight
school management would have been
appropriate and from there perhaps even
stronger measures it's easy to follow
the path of least resistance to overlook
safety issues to go along to get along
to carry on with business as usual
following a different path requires
action difficult choices and sometimes
even courage but as more of us do it the
easier it gets for everyone and the less
often we have to hear about accidents
like this one
you