It’s Not Worth Showing Off

NTSB finds that a fatal 2021 accident is linked to the pilot using Snapchat.

DAVE ENGLISH

WITH HIS PARENTS watching, an F-14A fighter pilot took off from the Air National Guard airfield adjacent to Nashville International Airport (KNBA) in Tennessee. He immediately pitched up more than 50 degrees, climbing up into the clouds in a noisy blaze of afterburners. The pilot became disorientated, lost control, crashed, and died. A Navy inquiry determined the nonstandard, steep climb was intentional. It found the aviator’s judgment was “influenced by his parents’ presence at the field.” An admiral said the pilot was “showing off” to his parents. This was back in 1996. A recently released National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report puts a modern twist on pilots showing off. It turns out we don’t need Mom, Dad, or a Tomcat jet fighter to bend our safety sense. We don’t even…

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Plane & Pilot (Digital) - 1 Issue, January/February 2024

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