Anyone involved in the FAASTeam or similar safety program knows this story: the pilots showing up for safety presentations are already the safe ones, not the rogues. We are continually “preaching to the choir!” As a frequent presenter, this is frustrating. Our message misses the mark. We need a new methodology to inject safety where it is most needed. We need a way to reach the outliers. With this goal in mind, I now always end my safety presentations with the appeal to all pilots attending to reach out directly to those they know who fly dangerously.
This is a tough job, and somewhat violates some unwritten “pilot code of privacy” – live and let die? As a personality type, these pilots are pretty “self-sure” and convinced they have superior methods (and skills). They usually know their way is the better way and safety advice is usually not welcome.
“How many people here have lost a friend or acquaintance in the last year due to an aviation accident?” “How many people were *surprised* at this occurrence?” The takeaway is that we often know who the dangerous pilots are (accident waiting to happen) and these people do not attend safety seminars…
How do we reach the rogues?
Safety programs do very little good if we are just talking to people who are already committed to safety. For the most part, more FAA outreach is probably not the vector to reach these individuals. A characteristic of rogue pilots is anti-authority. It takes every committed (safety-conscious) pilot reaching out personally to affect a change in these (quietly overconfident) pilots.
Dr. Bill Rhodes has identified this personality type in his extensive study of “Scary Pilots.” The only invitation that has a possibility of working is a safety-minded pilot (like the readers of this blog), reaching out directly and quietly motivating these “scary pilots.” Something like “that might not be wise, we don’t want to lose you – we care about your future!” It is a tough love discussion to be sure, and success is uncertain and must be handled carefully. It is important to start with a mutual interest and bonding. Then work carefully to the difficult issues of safety. I often confront some pretty harsh push back when working with FAA violations during “remedial training” (the lucky ones). If you fail to do this and a friend hurts themselves from a stupid pilot trick, you will feel terrible for not making the attempt. My commitment to safety moving forward is: “Friends don’t let friends fly stupid.” Reach out and try to help your neighborhood “scary pilot” – we know who they are. Fly safely out there (and often)!
Join us at Airventure, we are in the Bravo hangar #2081/2 and have great give-aways for new joining and those that support us daily (thank you!)
Tickets are on sale now for our SAFE Dinner (Thursday, 24th 5PM) with CPt. Michael Maya Charles presenting; author of “Artful Flying!” Sample a very generous audio sample HERE (and get your ticket to the SAFE dinner HERE)
Tell us what *you* think!