10/10/2026
It’s been a tough fall so far for the Alaska aviation community. We’ve lost some good folks.
People always want to know what happened. Generally it’s the pilot screwed up. While it’s important to try to learn from the mistakes of others, it’s easy to Monday morning quarterback. Whenever I hear about the mistakes of others I think ‘there but for the grace of God go I.’ You’re always on the edge doing this work. Mistakes happen in every aspect of our lives but few professions are as unforgiving of them.
I’ve got well over 10,000 hours of flying the Alaskan bush, mostly off airport. I still screw up all the time. Here’s a video to prove it. Short off airport landing location. Had not previously landed here. I didn’t fully commit so came in a little hot and stepped on the brakes to correct for it, then started hitting the whoopties I hadn’t seen. This one had a happy ending with a go-around (slightly delayed) but could have quickly ended up otherwise. You’re always only an instant away from disaster. Stay sharp. Always have an out. Hope for good luck.
