Examples Of Pilot Errors

Pilot Errors. I have seen many examples through my military career of professionalism, though this one seems to come to mind. This is a personal example of how pilots in one of my past unit would share their errors with others. This can be very hard to do for pilots in general due to most of us not wanting to fail in front of others. This also takes a command structure that does have a “knee-jerk” reaction to discipline or punish the pilot making the mistake.
It was like any regular Friday morning, our unit had a pilots meeting. We would all get together at a conference room; to go over some training slides and for some updates on our next scheduled mission or training event. Most of us wondering who our Senior Instructor Pilot (SIP) would call upon to share something with the group. Today it was Van.
Earlier that week, Van had been on a training mission supporting a local infantry unit. The unit was knocking down doors and searching this small training area just a few miles from the airfield. Van and his co-pilot were talking with them on the radio and doing some mission maneuvers. Then he had a transmission chip light. This was an indication of a relatively large particle of metal that the transmission detected. Van quickly assessed the situation, as Pilot in Command there were two options. Either land in a field next

This is simply an example of true professionalism in that we need to be concerned with the greater good. That one person’s mistakes can be a valuable teaching tool for many while in a professional atmosphere. This is not something that many units or companies can say they foster. In fact, I have seen quite the opposite over my years in aviation. Many people are scared of the boss punishing them for making a mistake, and for good reason. They have seen it happen to others. This in-turn builds a unit or company where everyone is looking out for their own