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When the pilot dies and you have to land the airplane


Ed Cesnalis

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Fabulous Job by the stand in single engine pilot.

 

I was recently in a King Air 350 on a charter across the midwest (Willow Run to Grand Rapids to Milwaukee). I had a chance to fly right seat on the hop from Grand Rapids to Milwaukee and hand fly the plane across lake Michigan, it was a lot of fun but I'll admit a little stressful for this Sport Pilot (and I had a living pilot talking me through it while the co-pilot chatted up my staff in the back).

 

I'm CEO of a large company that frequently uses a King Air 350 for business trips (Charter). I have a golden rule that I follow that had these folks also followed, would have prevented this emergency landing being performed by a non-rated pilot. That golden rule is I require 2 pilots on all trips (even though the King Air 350 can be operated with only 1). Charter service costs a lot of money. Adding a second pilot to a trip only adds about 75 an hour to the cost. When you are spending several thousand to hit 2 or 3 cities in a day, adding a few hundred more for the safety of a second pilot is cheap insurance. I require it for this EXACT REASON! (and to lighten the cockpit workload).

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As a former charter pilot, I suggest you need to know what you are getting when you hire a second pilot. There is no doubt (well, maybe a little doubt) that the second pilot is technically qualified in the airplane but there is every reason to suspect s/he is not very experienced, may not be school trained, I would be curious to know if the second officer is type rated in the KA350. Since it is a single pilot plane, the second pilot needn't be qualified and could be the line boy in a uniform with epaulets.

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Jim, Good point, I do require they are in fact rated in the planes we charter (for me that was a given). In comparison to "first landing" by a single engine pilot I'll take "little experience" any day of the week and twice on Sunday :)

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