I flew with him on three continents. I chased him down black diamond slopes. I helped introduce him to his wife. I was his best man at his wedding. We talked about flying from every angle. More than once. Floatplanes, gliders, antiques, airliners, biz-jets, military jets. We talked about it all. We even talked about Cockpit Resource Management – CRM. That’s airline speak for “How do you work with the other pilot in the cockpit to safely operate the airplane?”

Andy was killed in a biz-jet crash this month two years ago. He was the co-pilot in a Cessna Citation. What bugs me is the links in the chain of events leading to his death began well before the early morning crash. His death has more to do with the softer side of aviation than the harder side. What do I mean by that? I think it is more about the personalities and the emotions involved than the technical skills involved. I think the relationship between pilots in the cockpit was huge factor in the accident. The cockpit recorder doesn’t tell the whole story – just the minutes leading up to the end. [Read more →]