They Called It Pilot Error: True Stories Behind General Aviation Accidents [Paperback]

Robert L. Cohn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1994

Human factors are reportedly responsible for 90% of all general aviation accidents and incidents. Robert Cohn hopes to reduce that astounding figure with this book. Drawing on completed NTSB investigation findings on actual accidents, many of which proved fatal, Cohn sheds light on serious flaws in both pilot procedures and FAA rules and training requirements. He examines how and why a variety of normal human frailties adversely effect pilot performance, a subject rarely addressed by the FAA.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Cohn's examination of 26 aviation accidents includes commentary from as many points of view as possible, including those of pilots, passengers, witnesses, FAA investigators, airport representatives, and others in official and unofficial capacities. Cohn's intent is to improve product and personal safety through education. By careful scrutiny of how accidents happen and how they are reported, he hopes to improve training, construction, and regulations. Essential reading for the private pilot; interesting for anyone who has ever flown or plans to. Denise Perry Donavin

Product Details

• Paperback: 330 pages
• Publisher: Tab Books (February 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830644636
• ISBN-13: 978-0830644636
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,784,140 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Robert Cohn is a 'con' - and a lousy writer to boot!, July 19, 2001

By 

Ryan Ferguson (Sanford, FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: They Called It Pilot Error: True Stories Behind General Aviation Accidents (Paperback)

I was lounging in the FBO killing time when I started thumbing through this book. I was patiently waiting for several level 3-4 cells to pass over the airport so I could be on my way. I'm an instrument-rated, multi-engine pilot. Like most safety-conscious pilots, I regularly read NTSB accident synopses, not out of morbid curiosity but in the hopes of learning something new from the mistakes of others. Cohn's book had an interesting title and it didn't take long to get drawn into one rather vivid account of a Cardinal picking up ice on an approach into Charleston. I bought the book and tucked it away in my bag with the intention of reading more later.

Wish I hadn't wasted the $20! This book has several key problems. First, it is a work of fiction. The author claims that the accounts of pilot error are 'based on fact' and are 'carefully' researched, but since no real names, locations, (or facts?) are given, it is impossible to determine how much of the book is really fiction. The author also claims to have 6,400 hours under his belt, but his aviation terminology and basic aeronautical knowledge are so deficient that I have serious doubts as to the veracity of that claim. Furthermore, to the best of my knowlege, the author never really provides his credentials; is he a commercial pilot? CFI? Pilots are skeptical people by nature; our lives depend on it. I have my doubts about the legitimacy of Robert S. Cohn, master pilot.

Cohn thinks that "oxygen concentration levels" (?) are lower at night, and that this contributes to hypoxia. Clearly, Cohn is not familiar with the Aeronautical Information Manual, which is a basic bible for every pilot -- ranging from student to a commercial, instrument-rated pilot. Ironically, Cohn attacks the FAA for not requiring pilot applicants to more thoroughly demonstrate a knowledge of day/night oxygen requirements/recommendations and how to combat hypoxia on their checkrides. Cohn consistently refers to the attitude indicator (artificial horizon) as the "HSI" in one amusing passage. No aviation editor could have missed these glaringly erroneous references, which leads me to believe that Cohn wrote and edited his own book. That is suspicious in and of itself. Cohn also likens stall entries to 'intentionally slamming the brakes on in your car,' as though it were a dangerous and useless exercise; yet, later in the book, in a fictionalized tale wherein a private pilot stalls his ice-laden aircraft, his 'automatic response to release back pressure on the yoke' probably saved his (imaginary) life. Is this guy really a pilot? I have a hard time believing it.

This book is a platform for some of the author's ill-conceived notions that the FAA should allow ATC to supercede the Pilot-In-Command's authority in the aircraft. Both ATC and pilots are well aware of their responsibilities, and the system produces millions of safe flights per year. Perfect? No, but the real problems are not where the author is pointing his fingers - the problems are technology and congestion, not bumbling pilots running amok in the skies.

A student pilot could poke this book full of so many holes that it would never be airworthy. As a work of pure fiction it is mildly entertaining; as a soapbox for anti-general aviation propaganda, it is a) poorly researched, b) embarassingly inaccurate on basic facts, and c) unconvincing at best.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars UNTRUE Stories Behind General Aviation Accidents, December 11, 2000

By 

Gregory D. Mcgann (NC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: They Called It Pilot Error: True Stories Behind General Aviation Accidents (Paperback)

I have two problems with this book. First, the subtitle - "True Stories Behind General Aviation Accidents" - might lead you to believe that these are, well, TRUE stories. They are not. Read the Forward carefully and you find that "This book is a work of fiction."

My second problem is with the fictionalized stories themselves. As a Flight Service Station Specialist I certainly agree that many aspects of the FAA are bureaucratic nightmares and need updating and revision, but the conclusions here are absurd. For example, a drunk guy with no license and only a couple of lessons under his belt rents an aircraft with forged documents, loads up 3 drunk friends, and flies around shooting birds with a shotgun out the windows until one of the drunks blows a hole in the wing and they crash. The author's conclusion? "Perhaps this will...change the way alcohol, substances, and drugs are dealt with in general aviation." Give me a break!

Pilots fly into lines of thunderstorms despite FSS briefers begging them not to in both preflight and inflight briefings. The author blames the result on the system. A pilot constantly plays games by seeing how close he can calculate his fuel burn so as to arrive with virtually no fuel in the tanks. Of course the inevitable fuel exhaustion accident is the fault of the system. A VFR-only pilot not only files IFR flight plans and flies in IMC, but breaks every rule and weather minimum in the book, with the inevitable result. Gosh darn the system, we've just got to educate pilots better!

As a comic look at idiots using aircraft to improve the gene pool by taking themselves out of it it's not a bad read, aside from the fifth-grade level it's written in, but as an indictment of the system it's a joke.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Caveat emptor, November 30, 1999

By 

Roger Harris (Toronto) - See all my reviews

This review is from: They Called It Pilot Error: True Stories Behind General Aviation Accidents (Paperback)

The book's content is interesting and, I suppose, somewhat educational. However, there is a hidden, perhaps fatal, flaw. Notwithstanding the misleading subtitle (True Stories Behind General Aviation Accidents), at page xii of the introduction the author concedes [quote]: this book is a work of fiction that is based upon carefully researched and thoroughly documented facts (sic) and enhanced (sic) with contributions from aviation experts.

There is no way to tell which portions of the purported accident reports have been slightly modified to preserve confidentiality, and which have been entirely invented by the author. Accordingly, the authenticity of the whole book is highly suspect.

If you want to read detailed accounts of imaginary events, by all means buy the book. Anyone searching for accurate reports of real life accidents is better advised to look elsewhere.