A Pattern of Safety

Safety is the first priority for pilots. There are multiple checklists we complete before taxiing, one that we complete while taxiing, a run up checklist, a before take off checklist, and many more. All of these are for our safety so we pay attention to them and make sure our plane is in working order.

We have all these safety measures that we make sure are complete before each take off, yet there is one time in the air when safety gets thrown out the window and we don't even think twice. Have you got an idea of when this may occur? I'll give you a hint- It's in the pattern. Still nothing?

Well it happens most at Purdue when we have a congested traffic pattern. We enter the downwind following the traffic ahead like we should be, we watch the traffic ahead of him turn, he turns when that plane turns final and is abreast his wing tip, and we turn when our traffic is turned final and abreast our wingtip.

This is where you should be able to spot the problem. A normal final at Purdue is a half to three quarters of a mile. The final you just turned is a five mile final. That means if your engine were to quit right there at 1500 feet you would have roughly three minutes before you need to land. That will get you close enough to the airport to just see the runway- on the other side of the building that you're about to smash into!

There is no reason we should be flying five mile finals. There are multiple ways around this. We could fly longer upwinds, we could fly wider downwinds, or ideally the students who are not in AT 145 would exit the pattern and fly to another approved airport.

Pilots entrust their lives to the checklists, but they don't make one of those for a retarded tower. So we need to use our heads and bring a pattern of safety to the pattern.