Trust but Verify

Dealing with engine trouble over the foreboding North Atlantic.

- James P. Creamer

Ferrying light single-and twin-engine airplanes around the world is not a job for the inexperienced or the bold. I am reminded of this fact several times a year on flights in sometimes-remote parts of the globe.

We all have read stories of pilots who push their luck and lose. Some don’t bother with getting a thorough preflight briefing and find themselves in extreme weather conditions where Mother Nature often wins. The pilot is sometimes taught the ultimate lesson. Many times, just a lack of attention to planning is the cause of an off-airport landing due to fuel starvation. Other times, a thorough walk-around or run-up might have prevented something simple from causing a tragic outcome.

Unfortunately, even the most diligent pilot cannot uncover all the hidden dangers that lurk, or prevent the random failure of a part while in flight. Extra diligence in all aspects of flying can help find the small things that are not “right” before they become something big and cause an inescapable problem. Knowledge, whether learned from personal experience or from someone else’s experience during those all-important flight lessons or “hangar flying,” can help improve one’s chance of survival.