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N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 5 N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 5 F E A T U R E S
1
Lake Tahoe
5
N.I.G.H.T.
9
FITS-Based Scenario Training
15
Misunderstanding Part 91.175
18
Determination, Communication, and the Worst Disaster in
Aviation History
26
Did You Know Your Airplane Has a Phone for Calls to AFSS or
Clearance Delivery
30
Transition of Flight Services
32
FAA Certificates First Commercial Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
16
From the Logbook: 200-knot Airplane Meets 90-knot Mind
22
Tales from an FAA Inspector: And All I Wanted to Do Was Go
Have Breakfast!
25
Medical Stuff: Denial of Health Insurance and Medical
Certification/Are They
Mutually Exclusive?
27
Aviation Maintenance Alerts
34
AvNEWS
BACK COVER Editors Runway
D E P A R T M E N T S
FRONT COVER: ...with our best wishes for a
happy holiday season! ( Mario Toscano il-
lustration with a Dean Chamberlain photo)
BACK COVER: A breath-taking moment at
the 2005 Reno Air Race. (Kenneth R. Kelley,
Reno FSDO, photo)
U.S. Department
of Transportation
Federal Aviation
Administration
N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 5
V O L U M E 4 4 N U M B E R 6
Norman Y. Mineta,
Secretary of Transportation
Marion C. Blakey,
Administrator
Nicholas A. Sabatini,
Associate Administrator
for Aviation Safety
James J. Ballough,
Director,
Flight Standards Service
Peter W. Dula,
Manager,
General Aviation and Commercial Division
Carol W. Dieterle,
Manager,
Plans and Programs Branch
H. Dean Chamberlain,
Editor
Louise C. Oertly,
Senior Associate Editor
A. Mario Toscano,
Associate Editor/Designer
The FAAs Flight Standards Service, General Aviation and
Commercial Divisions Plans and Programs Branch (AFS805)
publishes FAA Aviation News six times each year in the interest of
aviation safety. The magazine promotes safety by discussing cur-
rent technical, regulatory, and procedural aspects affecting the
safe operation and maintenance of aircraft. Although based on
current FAA policy and rule interpretations, all material herein is
advisory or informational in nature and should not be construed to
have regulatory effect.
The FAA does not officially endorse any goods, services, materials,
or products of manufacturers that may be referred to in an article.
Certain details of accidents described herein may have
been altered to protect the privacy of those involved.
Comments or questions about this magazine should be directed to
the Editor at (202) 267-7956. Written comments can be mailed to
the Editor at the following address: Editor, FAA Aviation News,
Federal Aviation Administration, AFS-805, 800 Independence Ave.
SW, Washington, DC 20591. The fax number is (202) 267-9463.
The Editors e-mail is dean.chamberlain@faa.gov.
The Office of Management and Budget has approved the use of
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A
D O T / F A A
F L I G H T
S T A N D A R D S
S A F E T Y
P U B L I C A T I O N
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FAN SMITH212J JUN05 R 1 423
JOHN SMITH
212 MAIN ST
FORESTVILLE MD 20747
I S S N : 1 5 5 4 - 0 2 4 9 T
he name conjures up
thoughts of a beautiful alpine
lake set high in the California
Sierra-Nevada Mountains.
Located on the California-Nevada bor-
der just west of Reno, Nevada, the
lake is a year-round playground for the
young at heart. For many, it is their
winter skiing escape on some of the
best slopes in the nation. For others,
it is their summer weekend get-away.
For those who live there year around,
it is home. But for some pilots flying
into the South Lake Tahoe (TVL) air-
port, it can be a potentially dangerous
operation. According to several of the
FAAs Reno Flight Standards District
Office (FSDO) aviation safety inspec-
tors I spoke with recently while work-
ing in Reno, Lake Tahoe airport can
challenge the unprepared pilot landing
and taking off at the airport. One of
the safety inspectors here in Washing-
ton, who used to fly into the airport
from the San Francisco Bay area be-
fore he joined the FAA, concurred with
the Reno inspectors and added a few
stories of his own.
So why is FAA Aviation News writ-
ing about the Lake Tahoe area? The
answer is while I was at the 2005
Reno Air Races in September, I asked
the safety inspectors I was working
with what were some of the hot
safety issues within their FSDOs area
of responsibility. The Lake Tahoe air-
port was the first airport mentioned.
Having flown in a glider over the
mountain that forms the eastern shore
of Lake Tahoe just days earlier, I could
easily visualize the airport and its sur-
rounding mountains. Based upon my
flight and the inspectors comments, I
realized the Lake Tahoe airport would
be a great example the magazine
could use to remind pilots of some of
the risks involved in flying into an air-
port that might have significant geo-
1
N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 5
Lake Tahoe
by H. Dean Chamberlain graphical differences from their home
airfield as well as a way to remind all
pilots of the need to consider density
altitude and resulting aircraft perform-
ance in their flight planning. Differ-
ences that, if not recognized and
compensated for, could spell danger.
Are we saying South Lake Tahoe is a
dangerous airport? The answer is no.
It is not. But as the safety inspectors
pointed out, local pilots familiar with
the area have no problem safely flying
into and out of the airport. Those who
are at risk are those pilots operating
outside their normal operating area.
The purpose of this article is to remind
all pilots to be careful when operating
into airports outside of their experi-
ence levels.
Located on the south end of Lake
Tahoe, the airport is located 6,264 feet
above mean sea level (MSL). Its single
runway (18-36) is 8,544 feet long by
150 feet wide. For most general avia-
tion pilots, such a runway should meet
everyones basic needs. But therein
lies the problem. This is not your nor-
mal eight thousand plus foot long run-
way near sea level. It is 6,264 feet
above sea level. According to the
Reno safety inspectors, pilots taking
off towards the south have a unique
problem. There are mountains off the
south end of the runway that tower up
to more than 10,000 feet MSL. The
rapidly rising terrain forms a restricting
funnel that can trap the unwary pilot
flying a marginally performing aircraft
southbound. Add in the fact Lake
Tahoe is surrounded by mountainous
terrain that goes up to more than
10,000 on some nearby peaks, and
you can begin to understand what
makes Lake Tahoe so unique.
When I searched the National
Transportation Safety Boards (NTSB)
aviation database for anything relating
to Tahoe, the database returned 154
records dating back to 1964. This
number may not be significant com-
pared to other airports considering the
fact the number covers more than a
40-year period. However, a quick re-
view of some of the fatal accidents
over that period reinforced what the
FSDO inspectors had said. Although
the NTSB database contained some
of your typical aircraft accident causes
such as engine failure and pilot error,
many of the fatal Tahoe accidents I re-
viewed fit into three broad categories:
density altitude and lack of aircraft
performance, weather-related factors
(such as turbulence, ice, snow, and
reduced visibility), and rising terrain.
Some of the aircraft crashed when
they could not out climb the rising ter-
rain or while trying to avoid rising ter-
rain in a blind canyon. According to
the FAA inspectors, a typical scenario
has a lowland pilot from the coastal
area or central valley area of California
flying into Lake Tahoe. B