The risk of the spiral dive is the burden of pilots worldwide. Forty percent of fatal accidents occurred because fixed-wing airplane pilots lost control of their planes, according to National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) data.
According to data from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), forty percent of fatal accidents occurred because fixed-wing airplane pilots lost control of their planes. While the risk of the spiral dive is a burden to pilots worldwide, professional pilots like Ron Rapp find stats like these mystifying.
Certified pilots can fly for miles and miles without experiencing a spiral dive. But then, all of the sudden, a simple turn pulls you into a downward spin. The downward spiral accelerates, hurdling your aircraft into a deep vertigo, G-force is increasing, and seconds flash by in an instant.
Spiral dives are perilous situation for pilots and are difficult to prepare for.
Can we accurately simulate spiral dives in digital simulates, or even in real training scenarios? Many experimental training methods encourage real life simulation of the scenario to teach pilots vital skills that can serve to help them rescue themselves from these spiral dives.
In the past, there has been confusion about how to accurately train pilots to navigate spin dives and spiral dives. Sometimes, a trainee is told they’re supposed to pull up when the aircraft is going down. But the strategy works almost like a skidding car – you have to steer into the skid in order to veer into safety.
Bruce Landsberg offers great advice about how to fly through spiral dives. He says that telling pilots to pull up when you’re pulling down is, “exactly the wrong guidance! It’s going to be wings level and a push — if the aircraft continues to climb for a bit, getting away from Mother Earth is a great solution.” Pulling back only increases the G-force and the airspeed.
Light aircrafts often make the news when they crash, and many people think small planes are unsafe. However, we can try to avoid more accidents by educating our pilots. I’m proud to be a pilot, and hope to share the pleasures of flying with everyone I meet. By teaching the best safety techniques to pilots we can help pilots and passengers avoid the risks of the spiral dive.
Here’s a great video on Spiral dive recovery training:
Check out Ron Rapp’s take on the Spiral Dive Conundrum.