SAFA Skysailor Magazine

2 SKY SAILOR January | February 2020 A s we rapidly approach Christmas and the holiday period, I want to start this update by wishing all members, their families and loved ones, a safe, enjoyable and relaxing end to 2019 and a fulfilling and successful 2020. Some of the things and events that mark this time of year are time away from work, time spent with family, the dreaded Christmas shop- ping, eating too much, Boxing Day sales, the Boxing Day test, the Sydney to Hobart, and the list goes on. We generally follow the same routines or traditions as our festive season unfolds. In many ways we take it for granted that this year will be similar to previous ones and we’ll wake up on Christmas morning and enact the same routines that make the annual event the great fun that it is in our part of the world. But for 14 people that’s not going to happen this year, and will never happen for them again. They are the 14 who’ve perished whilst partici- pating in our disciplines over the last 18 months. It almost beggars belief that this many people could have set out for a flight and never made it home. We’ve also seen other accidents where those involved have suffered permanent, life changing consequences. There’s been no apparent pattern to these accidents. No discipline has been spared. Some were pilots, some passengers. Some were among the most experienced and skillful in their discipline. One was a CFI. The circumstances were different for all events and there’s not one under- lying factor that anyone can confidently assert as the root cause of all these tragic outcomes. Except perhaps complacency. And I don’t mean deliberate complacency, or wanton disrespect for the activities we engage in. I mean complacency in the sense that we all get into routine patterns of behaviour and are perhaps conditioned into thinking that today’s flight will be just like yesterday’s and the day before that, and the day before that and so on. Like jumping into the car to drive to work – it’s the same old, same old. The truth is that every flight needs to be approached as if it were your first, where nothing is taken for granted, where we set out expect- ing the unexpected and where we have a predetermined plan to meet any challenges. In our sport, the potential for disaster is our constant companion and it’s only a distraction, or a momentary lapse in concentration away from exacting its deadly price. If it can happen to our best and most experi- enced, it can happen to anyone. Operations Manager Brett Coupland believes judgement is also a contributing factor to accidents. He is a strong believer in knowing your skill set and flying within your capabilities. He notes that pilots are often compromised between the desire to fly and marginal prevailing condi- tions. He reinforces the point that there is nothing wrong with being a ‘fair weather only’ flyer, and he regularly reminds himself and others that it’s better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air, than to be in the air wishing you were on the ground. The Christmas and New Year period is our peak flying time. Please be careful up there; take the time to mentally rehearse what you’d do in the event of confronting the unexpected, make sure your equipment is well maintained and make the sorts of judgement decisions that will enable you and your families to enjoy many more holiday seasons together. Safe flying. by Paul Green President’s Update Photo: Sylvie Hlavaty Wishing all members, their families and loved ones, a safe, enjoyable, relaxing end to 2019 and a fulfilling and successful 2020.