jan mansfield

A member of the Philip Greenspun's Homepage community since August 6, 2005

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August 6, 2005, on General Aviation Safety:
I survived a plane crash in Dijon, France in 1998...We were flying in a Rockwell Commander (4-seater). Both the pilot and co-pilot (who was a Flying Instructor/Examiner) were killed instantly. Both myself and the other passenger sustained critical injuries. Prior to the accident, I myself had flown light aircraft for just under 100 hours in the UK. I witnessed many near-misses and often heard of planes creashing,usually on landing. From my own experience and of hearing of the circumstances of other light aircraft crashes invariably it is put down to pilot error or occasionally bad weather (but then in my mind a good pilot wouldn't take chances knowing the weather may change....). I think some people, once they have their PPL, become laisez-faire and very often, especially when taking friends on trips, tend to show off and that's where the trouble lies. They also become complacent. Of course, not all pilots act this way but many do.