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May 2008 Newsletter.
Next meeting: Saturday, May 10,
2008, at 10:00am.
Location: Clubhouse, Blair Field, Knutsford.
Note: I am having problems
with this page... If it does not look right,
blame it on me!
Cam
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President's Letter
Hello
Everyone:
Richard
Suttie.
Editor's
Notes
I
had some good reasons not to attend the Rust
Remover in Vernon last Saturday: first, I
screwed-up my back working in the garden and
could hardly walk; second, I had a bad cold;
third, my sister-in-law and her husband dropped
in on Friday, and I would not have been a nice
guy if I went away! My sinuses are congested, and
I still have a sharp pain in the neck caused by a
pulled muscle. No kidding, I did not make that
up!
So,
if the Beaver is not ready for the Mother's Day
Fly-In, you will have a pretty good idea why. Add
to that my Attention Deficit Disorder, and my
propensity for procrastination... I think there
was something else, but blame that on
Alzheimer....
Also: The Ninth Annual
Fly-In Breakfast will be on Sunday, May 11th,
Mother's Day, at the Cache Creek Airport,
starting at 8:30am. For more info, contact Andy
Anderson 250-453-2281 or 250-457-7333. Everyone
welcome!
Photos
by Dave Jones
In
April, Bart Lalonde, Dan Nelson and Dave Jones
came to the Knutsford Strip. Notice the snow...
They were just coming from
practicing landings on the sand bar across from
the Kamloops Flying Club. Look at the size of
those tires!
More
photos courtesy of Bill Huxley.
Bill
and Dan Berwin at Quilchena
Dan
Berwin on the way back
Some
of the usual suspects at Knutsford
Hally Walcer's hangar at
Hefley.
Wally's strip is smoother
than Knutsford, sorry to admit!...
Paul Villeneuve with his
Cessna 150. Ken Vike's mechanics looking. He had
two new mags, new plugs and a new battery
installed.
Paul coming for a fly-by.
Pilot
Unconscious, Passenger Lands Plane
By Barry Meek
A friend and fellow pilot is about to lose his
livelihood. He has a problem with his eyes
that will be picked up on his next medical.
As we get older, we become more and more
concerned about it happening to us. A few
years back, I had a personal experience which
fortunately was resolved as a misunderstanding
and mix-up in paperwork between physicians.
But for about a week, it wasn’t a good
feeling to think I could be grounded
indefinitely.
Perhaps the requirements for a category one
medical are a bit too strict. After the age
of 40, a commercial pilot is obliged to pass the
exam every six months, and face an ECG every 12
months. On the other hand, who would want
to be aboard the aircraft with a pilot who is
unable physically and mentally to fly? As
far as his emotional condition during a flight is
concerned, unfortunately there’s no way to
police that under current regulations.
Although it does happen, it is rare that a pilot
is disabled to the point where he cannot control
his airplane. Heart attacks do occur.
Gastrointestinal disorders are in fact, quite
common, but rarely totally debilitating. Insulin
shock can render the diabetic helpless, sometimes
unconscious. But insulin-dependent
diabetics are restricted from holding a cat one
medical. Proven cases of diabetes mellitus
may be considered fit provided certain specific
control criteria are met. Movies and television
play up the possibilities and produce dramatic
accounts of an aircraft in distress where the
unconscious pilot is tossed aside by a
pilot-wanna-be passenger who successfully lands
the airplane, which is chased down the runway by
a cluster of fire engines.
Only in the movies you say? Documented
cases prove that in reality, this type of thing
does happen!
In February of 2002, a ten-passenger Cessna 402
was on a flight between the island of Martha’s
Vineyard and Hyannis, Massachusetts. The
short 15 minute commute carried three
businessmen, a female security official from the
airline, and the pilot. The security
employee became concerned when she noticed the
plane was off-course, and the pilot began acting
inappropriately. It was obvious that he was
unable to control the aircraft. At the
time, this security employee was also a student
pilot, and had about 48 hours logged in small
aircraft. The other passengers were
non-pilots. With their assistance, she was
able to climb into the right seat, and as the
captain was restrained by the passengers, she
assumed control. Totally unfamiliar with
the radios, twin-engine operation, retractable
gear and instrument procedures, this was about to
turn into an experience that could have been a
movie script.
Cessna 402. Photo borrowed
from home.global.co.za
Fortunately, the new pilot had done some
cross-country work in the area, and recognized a
familiar airport below. In the darkness she
was able to execute a successful, wheels-up
landing at the uncontrolled field, from which
everyone aboard walked away uninjured.
The investigation revealed that the captain was
in a state of insulin shock. He was a
diabetic but had somehow managed to keep that
fact from the FAA for his entire career. In
his early 50’s he controlled his blood sugar
levels well enough to stay out of trouble, but as
is the case with so many who suffer from the
condition, circumstances sometimes catch up and
overwhelm the patient before he’s able to
correct the problems.
In my work as a paramedic, it would be impossible
to count the number of diabetics we responded to.
Insulin shock occurs when blood-sugar levels drop
below the point where the brain can function
properly. The first signs include a
decreased level of consciousness. The
patient becomes confused, incoherent, and can
progress to aggressive and violent
behavior, seizures, unconsciousness and even
death. It happens quickly. Fortunately,
the condition is pretty much always reversible
just as quickly with administration of IV
glucose. In just a few minutes, the
paramedics have the situation under control with
a fully coherent patient sitting up and wondering
what just happened. These calls were
usually very gratifying.
The captain of the flight was charged with making
false statements to a federal agency (the FAA)
and early in 2008 pled guilty. He received
a sentence of 16 months in jail and 2 years
probation following the jail term. He had
managed to control and conceal his insulin
dependency for many years. It’s
fortunate no one was injured or killed in this
incident.
The
next time you’re tempted to stretch the
truth, omit a few details or actually lie to your
aviation medical examiner, remember the
consequences can be severe.
The whole adventure makes
for good discussion around the coffee table.
What would you do if you needed to take control
of an airplane and had little or no pilot
training?
bcflyer@propilots.net
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See more pictures on webpage http://sr7xl.com
We
welcome your feedback. Do you have any
contributions for the newsletter? Photo would be
great! So would flying stories, project updates
or tall tales... Contact me: Newsletter Editor:
Camille Villeneuve 1-250-374-4181 villeneuve@shaw.ca
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