Risk Management Magazine

My crew was fortunate that the terrain surrounding the airfield was flat, no major obstacles were present between the FAF and the runway, and clouds were above minimums. A similar mistake at many other airfields could have resulted in a controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) mishap with dire consequences.

This crew was lucky they found the fire source in time. The hazard of storing a spool of safety wire near the drill driver battery could have resulted in a fire and/or explosion.

On that day, we got lucky in not having an aircraft accident — or seriously hurting someone. I learned the importance of power management. Even though we had calculated our performance planning just as we had been taught in flight school, I didn’t have the experience to truly apply it in flight.