Pilots, air traffic controllers and aircraft engineers may work in different environment using diverse equipment and technology but in whatever mishaps or incidents that happens, they share the same common denominator - human factor or error. If you or your colleague is in a situation where either one have uttered the following words, watch out, they are usually a precursor to a serious accident.
These words implies one or more of the "dirty dozen" [1], or a reckless and hazardous attitude. [2]
Famous Last Words
From Flight Safety Poster: [3]
"There's a quicker way to do it."
"No, thanks, I can manage it myself."
"One of this days I'm going to get this checked."
"I can do this with my eyes shut."
"I don't need the manual, I know how it works."
"I'll tidy that up when I'm finished."
"This is how we've always done it."
"You needn't switch the power off if you know what you're doing."
"It looks strong enough to take my weight."
"I know you shouldn't do it this way but ….."
"Gloves makes my hands sweat too much."
"I never take my wedding ring off."
"Rules are made to be broken."
"Just watch this!"
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| (Image embedded from GC on 10 Oct 2009) |
One Liners
From Aviation Humor: [4]
"A good simulator check ride is like successful surgery on a cadaver."
"A terminal forecast is a horoscope with numbers."
"Takeoffs are optional. Landings are mandatory."
"Good judgment comes from experience. Good experience comes from someone else bad judgment."
"An airplane may disappoint a good pilot, but it won't surprise him."
"Learn from the mistakes of others…you won't live long enough to make them all yourself."
"Any attempt to stretch fuel is guaranteed to increase headwinds."
"A thunderstorm is nature's way of saying "Up yours!"
"Keep looking around, there's always something you missed."
"Remember, you're always a student in an airplane."
"It's best to keep the pointed end going forward as much as possible."
"Hovering is for pilots who love to fly but have no place to go."
"The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire."
"The probability of survival is inversely proportional to the angle of arrival."
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| (Image embedded from GC on 26 Sep 2009) |
"A "good" landing is one which you can walk away from. A "great" landing is one which lets you use the airplane another time."
"Any pilot who does not at least privately consider himself the best in the business…is in the wrong business."
"The only thing worse than a captain who never flew copilot is a copilot who was once a captain."
"The first thing every pilot does after making a gear up landing is to put the gear handle DOWN."
"The three most useless things to a pilot are the altitude above you, runway behind you, and a tenth of a second ago."
Want to know more?
- Flight Comment
- An overview of Canadian Forces flight safety magazine.
- Flight Safety Newsletter
- An informative page on debriefing for the purpose of accident prevention.
