Collision at West Bowl

[glenny]

wow... lots going on here... ive skimmed most of the posts but i perhaps have missed anyone commenting on how pilots communicate while flying....(besides flashing the bird)... if i have a "situation" where rules may be not followed or i am giving up my right of way .. then we must make every attempt to let the other pilots know what what YOU are going to do.... starting with eye contact and exagerated gestures such as sticking your hands or feet way out to one side to show your intent of flight direction.... back to my coffee....

[dschuhl]

Just a thought inspired by posts above and crowded surf sessions at C-Street:

Would it help (as a reminder) to post the Rules of the Road at launch? I laughed when a similar approach was used to reduce surfing collisions at C-street in Ventura, but now I'm thinking it might be a decent idea.


We all should know the rules by heart and shouldn't need a reminder,but....

[Rich]

Just about everyone that day flew with a 2 meter radio. Where were these ubiquitous and excellent communication tools throughout all this, other than being used by a traumatized witness to communicate the sobering fact regarding what had transpired? Let's all use our radios- all the time! We are all over radio checks at launch and do keep idle chatter to a minimum, but I can't help but question whether these wonders of technology we generally carry could have done more good? Might we encourage 100% radio utilization in hopes the next poor sap may avert a collision or whatever? Yelling, and to a great degree gesturing, won't cut the mustard with the helmets, iPods, wind noise and distances involved.

KI6QIX

[Cormac]

Wow what a great discussion and positive throughout. A plethora of good info here. I was in the air over the peak earlier in the day and noticed a lot of disorganized gaggle flying possibly due to newer pilots and small cores. I couldn't agree more about telepraphing turns. I actually got on the radio prior to the event and tried to voice my concern about people trying to choose the same direction because I got "bowling pinned" a few times. Unfortunately it became clear that some of the pilots were on a teaching freq. And not the one I was talking on. Yes we all are the PIC but on busy days like that could an instructor monitor both frequencies and parrot back any important comments/concerns?