The Aspiring Pilot

Chicago storms wreak havoc at O'Hare, destroy planes at Dupage

After an evening of warnings to prepare for what was expected to be one of the worst storms in the last 70 years, the system moved in overnight, intensifying near the start of rush hour.  The storm started with moderate winds and gusts overnight, with the light rain moving in prior to a squall line forming and tearing through Chicago.  There are unconfirmed reports of tornado's in Will County and possibly Kane County as well as Wisconsin and along the Illinois/Indiana border.  

O'Hare International Airport (ORD) experienced a complete ground stop of both departing and arriving flights and, once operations resumed, most airplanes were still unable to land.  Winds at one point were reported from the southwest at 50mph sustained, gusting to over 65 mph. This resulted in planes diverting to other area airports such as Madison (MSN), where the winds were more favorable and better aligned with the operating runways. If planning any flights on airlines today, please check with your carrier as the delays, cancellations and diversions can effect operations across the country resulting in significant delays or additional cancellations. 

At DuPage County Airport (DPA) in West Chicago, the storm destroyed 3 airplanes as it passed through. 

For full story and details, see my Chicago General Aviation article. 

178 seconds to live...

We hear about it all the time, a small airplane crash due inadvertent flight into instrument meteorological conditions during VFR flight.  I had heard a similar audio recording during my training at Delta Connection Academy and haven't been able to locate it since.  It appears that the AOPA has made a public service announcement (PSA) of sorts for pilots with a similar audio track.  it describes how quickly a pilot can experience spatial disorientation.  Without being trained properly for flight 'in the soup' or full IMC, it's easy to go by your seat of the pants feel, rather than the instruments.  Your body WILL LIE to you when you have no reference to the horizon or ground.  I HIGHLY encourage ALL aspiring and private pilots to consider pursuing an instrument rating for  your license.  

The ASF did a study years back that showed that our of 20 pilots that were non-instrument rated, 19 of them entered the 'graveyard spiral' after entering inadvertant IMC.  The 20th pilot actually also lost control, but with a different manuever and not the graveyard sprial.  The average time from entering IMC to full loss of control as 178 seconds, therefore, the title of the clip.   At the end of the clip, there is also a sobering statistic, in addition to the 95% chance of entering a graveyard spiral, 90% of accidents resulting from inadvertent flight into IMC are fatal.  

So, if you are not instrument rated, or even well out of instrument currency or experience in real IFR, think twice before pushing it and suffering from 'get-there-itis.' Don't fly into IMC, if you do, fly the instruments, and TURN AROUND!  the best way to exit inadvertent IMC in most cases, is to go back the same way to came.  

Watch the video and share this to all your pilot friends.  It was sobering listening to it in my private pilot course.  

 

Category 4 Hurricane Earl and Tropical Storm Fiona bearing down on the US

General Aviation Examiner

Earlier today, the NOAA's National Hurricane Center classified an area of low pressure following behind Hurricane Earl as Tropical Storm Fiona, bypassing the Tropical Depression classification.  Hurricane Earl also has been upgraded to a Category 4 storm, making it the second major hurricane of the season.  Currently, Earl has sustained winds of 145MPH and is expected to retain this strength as it approaches the US east coast.  The models still have not agreed on a consensus for landfall; however, the NHC and other hurricane experts are giving Earl a 25% chance of landfall in the continental US, possibly in North Carolina by the end of the week.

The affect of Earl on general aviation could be significant, especially with what appears to be the next system, Fiona, following almost directly in his footsteps. (rest of the story at National General Aviation Examiner.)