The Accident Chain Starts in Training: Hard Lessons from the Cockpit and the Crash Site

Presenter: Gregory Feith

Host: Aaron Dabney

Description

We all know that learning from others' experiences can be a lot less painful and more efficient than learning "the hard way," but in aviation we don’t always resist the latter. Sometimes, it seems we just can't get out of our own way.

The root decision making and skill deficiencies that contribute to some accident types as old as aviation itself can often be found in flight training---whether in actual operational deficiencies or in ways we often fall down as a profession when it comes to teaching decision making. This candid conversation between an experienced accident investigator and an experienced flight instructor will illuminate several of these patterns and provide actionable steps for improvement.

Presenter Bio

Gregory Feith is a former Senior Air Safety Investigator and “Go-Team” captain with the NTSB who has investigated over 2,500 aviation accidents worldwide during his 40-year career. He spent 21 years with the NTSB as an Investigator-In-Charge or U.S. Accredited Representative for numerous high-profile accidents, including the ValuJet DC-9 in-flight fire in the Florida Everglades, the American Eagle ATR 72 icing crash in Roselawn, and the Korean Air Boeing 747 CFIT crash in Guam. Greg also led an expedition to 21,000 feet on Mt. Illimani in Bolivia to investigate Eastern Airlines Flight 980, the highest aviation-controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) accident in history.

Greg holds an ATP, CFI, CFII, Advanced and Instrument Ground Instructor certificates, and a BS in Aeronautical Studies from Embry-Riddle. He has received multiple industry awards, including the Aviation Week and Space Technology Laurel Award and the SAFE Association’s Michael R. Grost Award. A respected aviation safety expert, Greg is an NBC News Aviation Safety Analyst, a frequent speaker, and has appeared on MAYDAY, Seconds to Disaster, and Why Airplanes Crash. He was inducted into the Living Legends of Aviation in 2016 and co-hosts the Flight Safety Detectives podcast. He also advises on aviation safety technology and co-invented LapKidz, a safety restraint for infant passengers. Though based in Golden, Colorado, Greg spends much of his time traveling the world, advocating for aviation safety.

Host Bio

Aaron Dabney earned his Flight Instructor certificate in 2009 and has been an active instructor ever since. He has provided more than 5,000 hours of instruction in more than 30 models of aircraft, mentoring pilots from their first hour through becoming accomplished instructors themselves, and all points in between.

Aaron is a 7-time NAFI Master Flight Instructor and serves as a lecturer in the Baylor University Institute for Aviation Sciences in addition to working as an independent instructor. He serves on NAFI's Board of Directors and serves in several volunteer roles including coordinating MentorLIVE.

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