Pilots should not assume that they can fly safely just because they have met legal requirements and been pronounced proficient; they also must be prepared for whatever situations they face, D. Richard Meikle, FlightSafety International executive vice president for safety and regulatory compliance, told a Foundation safety seminar Thursday.
“Proficient isn’t the same as prepared,” Meikle said during the third and final day of the 66th annual Business Aviation Safety Summit (BASS), held virtually this year in partnership with the National Business Aviation Association. “Consider regulations as the minimum.”
He cited several examples, including the June 1, 2009, crash of Air France Flight 447 into the Atlantic Ocean during a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. The airplane struck the water around the Intertropical Convergence Zone — the area near the equator where trade winds from the northeast and southeast converge, often resulting in brief but intens…
