Instrument Proficiency Checks Under The Revised Instrument Practical Test StandardsWritten by Greg Reigel
In April, 2004, FAA updated and revised Practical Test Standards (“PTS”) for Instrument Rating. The new standards went into effect October 1, 2004. Of particular interest to instrument flight instructors (“CFII’s”) and pilots holding instrument ratings is a substantial change in requirements for administering an Instrument Proficiency Check (“IPC”).Prior to October 1, 2004, a CFII had discretion regarding what PTS tasks he or she could require for an instrument rated pilot to demonstrate instrument proficiency. That discretion allowed a CFII to be flexible in order to accommodate/address a pilot's strengths/weaknesses, as well as pilot’s aircraft, instrumentation and intended missions. That is, CFII was allowed to decide what tasks pilot needed to accomplish in order to show CFII that pilot could competently operate an aircraft solely with reference to instruments. Although this discretion presented opportunity for a CFII to conduct an IPC with minimal demonstration of ability by pilot, most CFII’s required pilots to demonstrate sufficient skills and competence to show that they could safely fly in instrument meteorological conditions (“IMC”). After all, no responsible CFII wanted to be last IPC sign-off in a pilot’s logbook if pilot was later in an accident or incident: Too many questions to answer and potential liability for CFII. However, revised PTS no longer give CFII discretion in how an IPC is to be conducted or tasks to be performed. The current PTS now require completion of specific tasks including holds, unusual attitudes, intercepting nav-aids and dme-arcs, precision, non-precision and circling approaches, partial- panel and review of instruments and aircraft equipment. Unfortunately, removal of CFII’s discretion seems to convert what used to be a learning experience tailored to a pilot and his or her needs into what is more closely akin to an actual check-ride. Under prior PTS, a student and instructor could discuss and determine appropriate and/or necessary tasks to ensure that pilot could demonstrate necessary competency to pass an IPC. This allowed a pilot to use IPC as a learning tool by agreeing with instructor to review or practice specific tasks on which pilot may have felt he or she needed additional practice.
| | Truck Accident StatisticsWritten by Michael Monheit, Esquire, Monheit Law, PC
In 2003, there were 58,512 total vehicle accidents involved in fatal crashes in U.S. (NCSA). 4,669 were large trucks involved in fatal truck accidents. Large trucks are more likely to be involved in a fatal multi-vehicle crash than are passenger vehicles. Most fatal truck accidents occurred in rural areas (68 percent) during daytime (66 percent) and on weekdays (78 percent). Only 1 percent of fatal truck accidents were DUI-related on part of truck driver compared to other types of fatal crashes. Higher DUI occurrences are 22 percent for drivers of passenger vehicles and light trucks and 29 percent for motorcyclists. About 27 percent of all large truck drivers involved in fatal truck accidents had at least one prior speeding conviction compared to 19 percent of passenger vehicle drivers involved in fatal crashes. California had most with 5,725 total fatal vehicle crashes but Texas had most fatal truck accidents with 438. Here’s a breakdown of top 5 states as to fatal truck accidents in 2003: State Total Fatal Vehicle Crashes Fatal Truck Accidents California 5,725 332 Texas 5,040 438 Florida 4,432 343 Georgia 2,277 208 Pennsylvania 2,233 213 Compared to a breakdown of top 5 states as to fatal truck accidents in 2002: State Total Fatal Vehicle Crashes Fatal Truck Accidents California 5,544 346 Texas 5,039 401 Florida 4,431 351 Pennsylvania 2,198 174 Georgia 2,188 202 More truck accident statistics from FARS (Fatality Analysis Reporting System) Large trucks accounted for 9 percent of vehicles in fatal crashes, but only 4 percent of vehicles involved in injury and property-damage-only crashes. Of 4,898 large trucks involved in fatal crashes, 76 percent were combination trucks.
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