THIS WEEK: >> Alternative LESSONS >>Elevator trim stalls >>Archie and Scott
FLYING LESSONS uses recent mishap reports to consider what might have contributed to accidents, so you can make better decisions if you face similar circumstances. In most cases design characteristics of a specific airplane have little direct bearing on the possible causes of aircraft accidents—but knowing how your airplane’s systems respond can make the difference in your success as the scenario unfolds. So apply these FLYING LESSONS to the specific airplane you fly. Verify all technical information before applying it to your aircraft or operation, with manufacturers’ data and recommendations taking precedence. You are pilot in command and are ultimately responsible for the decisions you make.
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This week’s LESSONS
First, an update: The NTSB Preliminary Report on the 12-fatality skydiving accident at Butler, Missouri is out. You may recall I used first reports of this tragedy as inspiration for one of Three Most Basic LESSONS in the June 17, 2026 Mastery of Flight. The LESSON from initial accounts of that accident centered on briefing beforehand on where you’ll go in the event of engine failure immediately after takeoff and executing your briefed plan immediately when needed. The idea is to make these sorts of decisions when you’re on the ground and not under the pressure of an emergency, so all you have to do is follow through in the brain fog of real-time events.
The specific LESSONS from the June 17 report inspired by this crash were:
Attempting to turn back to the departure runway following engine failure after takeoff almost never has a successful outcome (that’s why it’s such a big media and chat board deal when someone makes it). Landing more or less straight ahead to touch down wings level, under control at the slowest safe speed…use[s] the aircraft’s structure to protect occupants and provide the very best chances of survival.
Those LESSONS are no less valid to making us all safer pilots. But the now-NTSB, still-preliminary reports are that the engine was operating normally to the point of impact and (despite some internet chatter that I did not include in my report) the pilot was not inexperienced—the NTSB reports he had over 4100 hours total time and was in his second season with the skydive company, having flown jumpers in a Cessna 182 and Cessna Caravan the year before. Weight and balance appears to have been correct, if the airplane was in fact loaded as entered into the skydiving flight management software.
The Pacific Aerospace Limited 750XL simply entered a left turn before reaching 100 feet above ground level that quickly devolved into a stall and spin. Undoubtedly a whole new set of LESSONS may be derived from the NTSB Final Report when it is released.
That still makes committing to land straight ahead if the engine quits immediately after takeoff a valuable reminder of the first-report circumstances of this terribly loss of life.
But now, as promised the last two weeks, on to your comments and insights in the Debrief.
Questions? Comments? Supportable opinions? Let us know at [email protected].
Debrief
Readers write about recent LESSONS:
Reader John Majane writes about last week’s LESSONS on the skills needed to be safe flying into Oshkosh…and for most other flying as well:
I think the comment about go arounds is very important. We never do them and…it is a very busy time with the trim changes, gear and flaps. People have done trim tab stalls in go arounds because they were not ready for it.
The FAA’s Airplane Flying Handbook Chapter 3 includes this description of elevator trim stalls, with my emphasis added:
The elevator trim stall demonstration shows what can happen when the pilot applies full power without maintaining positive control of the airplane. This is a demonstration-only maneuver; only flight instructor applicants may be required to perform it on a practical test. However, all pilots should be familiar with the situations that can cause an elevator trim stall, recognize its development, and take appropriate action to prevent it.
Demonstrating and then having a pilot experience the trim effect of a last-minute go-around while trimmed for over-the-threshold final approach speed is something I present to every pilot I fly with for the first time. We (collectively) “never do them,” as John accurately states, because they are not required on any Practical Test and even on the Flight Instructor checkride the applicant is only required to do ONE of the following: Cross-Control Stall Demonstration, Elevator Trim Stall Demonstration or Secondary Stall Demonstration. “Not on the test” pretty much equates to “not on the training syllabus”…and this is not a new phenomenon in pilot training. My gut tells me most CFI applicants are asked to demonstrate the secondary stall and the elevator trim stall rarely occurs on a FAA Practical Test.
The traffic pattern stall record, however, suggests power-on stalls during initial takeoff and the early stages of a go-around are by far the most common fatal stall scenarios—but the pilot who loses control in one of these scenarios is probably seeing it for the very first time when it happens. Thanks, John, for reminding readers to specifically ask an instructor well-experienced in the type of airplane you fly to include the elevator trim stall in your next Flight Review.
Reader, instructor and Air Safety Investigator Jeff Edwards writes about my June 25th LESSONS, “Take the Long Way Home”:
I attended Archie Trammel’s radar seminar at an American Bonanza Society event years ago. He said when flying around thunderstorms using radar its purpose was to get our eyes on the cells. In order to do that you have to remain VMC. I have taken the long way around more than once to avoid bad weather. Look at the weather and pick what state you want to fly through. Dr. Scott Dennstaedt’s www.ezwxbrief.com is a great briefing resource that I have been using for several years to avoid the bad stuff.
I expect many (or even most) of today’s readers have not heard of Archie Trammel. For decades he was the authority on using airborne weather radar and his classes, books and media presentations (starting with VHS tapes) were the industry best-in-class standard, a regular for high-end corporate flight crews and even at time personal aviators like me (I watched a lot of his VHS tapes back in the day). The next generation of weather experts like Scott Dennstaedt build upon Trammel’s significant work and add the many new resources available today. Thanks, Jeff.
Well-known instructor and author Bruce Williams adds:
I enjoyed reading about your recent trip around T-storms.
I have had several similar experiences, including one a few years ago on my annual flight across the U.S. to Nashua for Pilot Workshops. I was en route to Sheboygan, Wisconsin (KSBM). My preflight briefing showed a glob of T-storms projected to move basically S-N before my ETA, so I launched out of Aberdeen, South Dakota (KABR).
En route, however, my Sirius/XM NEXRAD display showed that the storms weren’t moving along as quickly as forecast. As I crossed the MN-WI border, I told ATC that I’d like a reroute southeast to Badger (BAE) and then north to KSBM. After a few moments to coordinate, the controller cleared me as requested, and I watched the weather move north. As I arrived at KSBM, the storms had left the area with only a ragged MVFR ceiling and wet pavement behind. Video of that flight on my YouTube channel, here.
Two years ago, again on my trek from Seattle [Washington] to Nashua [New Hampshire], I was on the last leg into KASH when, again, my NEXRAD display showed a vigorous and unforecast blob of T-storms appearing around Nashua. I was still west of Albany, New York, so I told the controller that I wanted to divert to KALB to wait out the weather far ahead. I quickly received vectors for an approach and landed at rainy, but not stormy, KALB, where I stayed overnight.
We often rightly emphasize the lag in presenting the radar picture to our panel or EFB displays. But these experiences point out one advantage of in-cockpit NEXRAD, whether ADS-B or Sirius/XM—the ability to look far ahead (indeed all around) our present position to see weather that an approach or even center controller working a particular sector may not have readily available. During both of the flights described above (and I think also during the trip in your account) I was able to get the big picture, monitor the general progress of threatening weather, make early decisions, and request specific reroutes and options from ATC. In other words, use in-cockpit weather as intended—strategically, not tactically.
That’s why, although I fly a very well-equipped company airplane with multiple ways to display ADS-B weather, I still maintain my personal subscription to Sirius X/M weather displayed on my now-old Garmin 796 handheld—the ability to look not only where I’ll be in the next couple of hours, but what is likely to get to my destination by the time I do. Most importantly, like you I can watch to see what might impact the next leg after a fuel stop and make a decision to change course a little now to avoid having to change a lot, or stop altogether, later on. Thank you, Bruce.
More to say? Let us learn from you, at [email protected].
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