Recently the news covered a couple of pilots that were “meowing” and “barking” on the 121.5 frequency. We all learned about the frequency during training, but many have never realized it was a place for pilots to meow and bark [sarcasm intended].
If you do a quick internet search you can find a basic description of the frequency and its use. Wikipedia says, “121.5 MHz is the international aeronautical emergency frequency (IAEF), or “Guard,” used by civil aircraft for distress calls and emergencies. It is constantly monitored by Air Traffic Control (ATC) and most aircraft, serving as a critical channel for declaring MAYDAY or PAN-PAN, as well as locating emergency transmitters (ELTs).
After reading the articles and listening to the recorded audio, it seems like today, more than ever, the flying public (you and I, not the passengers) needs to take pride in our industry and protect what we have.
I believe we (all pilots) must work together! Working together means striving to become a professional pilot. Professional in most circumstances means a pilot for hire or in the corporate or airline industry. But we all need to be professional; professional in our manner, our skills, and our radio voice. Professional in the way we think and fly.
To bring all of us up to speed, let’s review a few definitions. Webster’s New World Dictionary defines professional as, “engaged in some SPORT or in a specific OCCUPATION.” And the occupational comments were, “An occupation requiring advanced academic training, as medicine, law, etc.” I’ve used this definition before, because as pilots, we have advanced academic training. Recurrent training is nothing more than continuing education. We need to be experts in our field — our lives depend on it every flight.
The New Merriam-Webster Dictionary’s definition for “private” is “belonging to or intended for a particular group” or “restricted to the individual or carried on by the individual or independently.” Independent is an important key word here. If we are too independent, the rest of the group will suffer.
Bad Choices Cost Us All More
I don’t want to pick on private pilots as I am one. Being a professional pilot, having an ATP or commercial pilots certificate, doesn’t automatically make you a professional. It may allow you to use the term professional pilot, but there is more to being a professional pilot than just the job. The behavior of a professional is what really counts.
Does this mean that a private pilot is less professional than a professional or a commercial pilot? Not at all. In my opinion all pilots are private pilots by definition! The private ticket gives us the opportunity to fly for our individual needs, but being independent doesn’t relieve us from responsibility to others around us. We are independent (and private pilots) because our nation, as a group, has kept it that way. A pilot can have a private pilot certificate with 100 hours in his or her logbook and still be a professional.
Remember in one of the Star Trek movies when Spock is telling Captain Kirk, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one.” That line is very important — as pilots we have a responsibility to act like professionals. The needs of the many (general aviation) outweigh the needs of the one (the lone pilot breaking the rules).
A while back, one of the FBO/flight schools I insured had a pilot sign up to fly an aircraft at night. The pilot claimed the need to keep up night-flying proficiency. That person then passed the keys for the aircraft to a low-time pilot friend who went flying at night with a full load of passengers. In this case there was a crash on take-off by an inexperienced pilot. Luckily there were no fatalities, but that one poor decision by a private pilot changed the aircraft rental policies at this FBO.
I remember one time after 9/11; I was listening to the news and was surprised to hear that a group of college kids decided to go flying and drop water balloons on a nearby fraternity house. Not smart during normal times, but during a time when things falling from the sky is a fear many of the non-flying public had, extremely not smart! That didn’t stop these private pilots. They felt that they could do what they wanted. Was this professional pilot behavior? No!
Now and then you hear about pilots flying over events, busting TFR’s, landing on highways, and more. While most of the pilots are not in the spotlight, a few bring the news trucks racing to the scene for the eyewitness reports. Social media influencers creating emergencies, hitting power lines, or even airline pilots hitting power poles on landing create news stories. Most witnesses are usually members of the non-flying public. Their perception becomes reality on the nightly news. What does this bad exposure do for those of us who are trying to do the right thing? It makes us look bad and costs us money!
It’s a known fact that fuel, maintenance, and keeping up with the regulations as they currently are, can be a very expensive experience. But if the public perceives danger and the regulations become stricter, the cost will go up. It is up to the pilots to keep the cost of flying to a minimum.
The “Twelve-Step” Program
I came up with a simple twelve-step program for pilot excellence. I figure if a pilot can follow the steps of this program to become a professional pilot, their individual flying costs might be reduced. If I follow the guidelines to become a professional pilot, flying should be a more efficient and enjoyable experience. Efficiency usually saves on the bottom line. If a pilot followed the same path, their cost in aviation could be reduced. Regular maintenance on aircraft could reduce failures from neglect and in turn reduce the number of insurance claims as a result. Recurrent training could do the same.
Everyone should get to work on their “professional” pilot status. Here is a brief list of what we need to do. If we all attend to the following items, it should save us money, let alone add a little more respect to general aviation.
Take Pride in your skills and aircraft.
Participate in Recurrent training.
Maintain Optimism about aviation.
Focus on doing the best possible on each flight.
Always listen to Experience, good or bad.
Always practice Safety, no matter how short the flight is or experienced the pilot.
Good Sportsmanship is vital to growth of a sport. Treat each pilot as an equal.
Be Involved in pilot and community organizations.
Be Organized as a pilot. Use checklists and plan.
Never Skimp on Maintenance
Have a group or team Attitude. We are all in this together.
Never stop Learning.
Notice the subtle use of the word professional. Most of these items have to do with training, actions and attitude. Don’t get misled by this. Training isn’t the “cure all” for saving money. Training is important and actual flying experience is even better. But the real savings come in the overall behavior and attitude. A pilot that does regular training, regular maintenance and regular flying usually gets better insurance rates and lower costs annually.
And remember what Spock said, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one.” Let’s all work at being professional pilots and keep flying affordable.
