Staff Sections
Main Content
Sights on Safety November 2009
Welcome to November and the last 30 days of the 2009 hurricane season. This ‘cane season has been a nice change from recent years as no part of the country has taken a beating from the Atlantic storms.
This month, NC Wing is concluding the Fall Safety Blitz sponsored by the Middle East Region. There has been a goodly amount of safety activities for your squadron's use and participation in this event is mandatory for everyone. These activities include flight operations, personal health, flight safety, and activity safety. Make sure you get your reports to your Group CC or SE by 11 Nov 09.
And it's TIME to TURN BACK the clocks. We get an extra hour of sleep on Sunday November 1, 2009. Extra nap time will be nice after a night of trick or treating!!
Flight Operations:
Night flying is a standard topic for this time of year. With the return of standard time, it is dark by 5:00 pm. This impacts our air operations by reducing the amount of time that we may spend in visual search during daylight.
The cooler night air usually means better visibility at night, along with smoother air to fly in. But, there are considerations for night ops in order to keep us safe.
From AOPA Online:
“Night VFR Flight
When you contemplate a VFR night flight, planning takes on another dimension—well beyond your usual VFR daytime flight planning; if not it should. Some of the questions to ask yourself before any night flight:
- Are you night current?
- Do you feel comfortable with night takeoffs and landings?
- What’s the possibility you’ll encounter clouds? You will not be able to see clouds on a dark, moonless night.
- Is there rising terrain after departure, along your route, or on the approach path at your destination?
Fully brief your flight and understand weather conditions that can produce marginal visibility leading up to IMC levels. At night marginal VMC should be considered a no-go for VFR operations. Be sure to review the free resources below and test your knowledge with a quiz.”
Visit the AOPA online location for lots of night flying safety information:
http://www.aopa.org/asf/hotspot/night_vfr.html
Personal Health:
It's a month for good eating and a good time for smokers to commit to quit. The Great American SmokeOut is held in November. Here’s a little more information.
“The American Cancer Society holds the Great American Smokeout® every year on the third Thursday in November. This year the Great American Smokeout® will take place on November 19, 2009. The purpose of the event is to set aside a day to help smokers quit smoking, quit using tobacco products, for at least one day, with the hope that they will quit completely.
Not only does the event challenge people to stop using tobacco, it helps to raise awareness about the dangers of smoking and the many effective ways available to quit smoking permanently.
Research shows that smokers are most successful in kicking the habit when they have some means of support, such as nicotine replacement products, counseling, prescription medicine to lessen cravings, guide books, and the encouragement of friends and family members.1”
www.preventionpartners.com
If you are a smoker and want to give up the habit or if you have a friend or family member that wants to be smoke free, visit:
http://www.preventionpartners.com/events/great_american_smokeout.cfm
Flight Safety:
Propellers provide thrust for flight but they also provide an instantly lethal opportunity for the uninformed and careless.
“Working around the propeller
Naturally, the propeller, attached as it is to a powerful motivator called an engine, deserves respect on the ground. The single most important concept you should understand is this - the propeller must always be treated as though the ignition has been left on and the engine is just a hairbreadth from starting. Even though most pilots are careful to occasionally check that the mags properly shut down the engine - not all do. Assume the worst and you’ll never be surprised.”
www.hartzellprop.com
Hartzell Propeller Company has a web page full of safety tips concerning operations around propellers. Visit their web site for more information:
http://www.hartzellprop.com/flight_safety/index_safety.htm
Activity Safety:
Deer strikes are common in
“November is the peak month for vehicle-deer collisions, and a new analysis of insurance claims and federal crash data indicate the problem is growing. The Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI), an affiliate of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), recently examined insurance claims for animal strikes under comprehensive coverage month by month from January 2005 through April 2008. The main finding is that insurance claims for animal collisions are nearly 3 times higher during November than the typical month earlier in the year.”
"The months with the most crash deaths coincide with fall breeding season," Anne McCartt, IIHS's senior vice president for research, points out. "Crashes in which people are killed are most likely to occur in rural areas and on roads with speed limits of 55 mph or higher. They're also more likely to occur in darkness, at dusk, or at dawn."
“Safety belt use is a major factor. IIHS research from 2005 examined 147 police reports on vehicle-animal collisions in which there was a human fatality in 9 states during 2000-02.”
“Most of the crash deaths occurred after a motor vehicle had struck an animal and then run off the road or a motorcyclist had fallen off a bike. Many of these deaths wouldn't have occurred with appropriate protection. The study found that 60 percent of the people killed riding in vehicles weren't using safety belts, and 65 percent of those killed riding on motorcycles weren't wearing helmets.”
"A majority of the people killed in these crashes weren't killed by contact with the animal," McCartt says. "As with other kinds of crashes, safety belts and motorcycle helmets could have prevented many of the deaths."
For more on this topic, visit:
http://www.iihs.org/news/rss/pr103008.html
Safety Officer of the Month:
The Safety Officer of the Month for November 2009 comes from NC 801, the Apex Cadet Squadron. Since taking on the responsibility of squadron safety officer, this officer has fully embraced all available safety training, completing all phases of ORM training, all three courses for safety officer training, and the aircraft ground handling training. He swung into the MER Fall Safety Blitz by providing his squadron a safety quote of the day (which Group and Wing safety personnel snagged and sent to all subordinate units) for the duration of the squadron’s safety blitz activities.
This officer is also a FAASTeam member and safety counselor working with all pilots, CAP and general aviation to keep them safe.
Congratulations and a Wing shout out to Lt Col Dominic Strug, November 2009 safety Officer of the Month!!
Remember, CAPR 62-1 requires all new Safety Officers to complete the on-line safety officers course with in 90 days of appointment.
If you’re an "old safety dog", you may view the Powerpoint presentation and take the test if you would like a refresher. It doesn't take an hour of your time.
Get your credentials reported into NC Wing and be the next safety officer of the month. The goal is simple; we want 100% of our squadrons to have trained Safety Officers.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving holiday.
Stay Safe and always remember:
Don't Do Nothing Stupid.
“Lt Dan”
Dan McCollum, Major CAP
NC Wing Director of Safety
919-614-2450 (cell/home)
919-755-8632 (work)