377 Why Good Pilots Crash with Dr. Tony Kern + GA News

Aviation News Talk podcast

Glass Cockpit Publishing

General, G1000, Leisure, Gps, Ifr, Glasscockpit, Safety, Sr20, Trescott, Flying, Tips, Cirrus, Aviation, News, Max, Sr22, Garmin, Waas, Perspective

4.8 • 730 Ratings

🗓️ 29 March 2025

⏱️ 80 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Max talks with Dr. Tony Kern about human error, airmanship, and the hidden threats pilots pose to themselves. Tony shares how his passion for understanding error began with the tragic loss of two of his former B-1 bomber students in 1992. The crash, attributed to "a failure of airmanship," prompted him to research the elusive meaning of that term—work that eventually led to his book Redefining Airmanship.

Beyond medical transport, they assist military veterans by flying them to camps designed for rehabilitation, as well as special events like Major League Baseball games. They also provide commercial airline tickets, through partnerships with JetBlue and Southwest, as backup transportation.

Tony emphasizes that even the best pilots are “one decision away from disaster” and discusses how errors often don’t result in negative outcomes, which falsely reinforces bad habits. He introduces the concept of a “personal fingerprint of error” and advocates tracking errors—both in and out of the cockpit—to identify behavioral patterns.

The conversation also touches on complacency, fatigue, and how inexperienced team members can sometimes better sense danger than veterans. He recalls the Thirtymile Fire as a case study in poor decision-making and leadership under stress. Tony concludes by stressing the instructor’s responsibility not to pass along a faulty product, and encourages pilots to be relentless students of their own behavior. He also shares resources from his company, Convergent Performance, and his books, podcast, and LinkedIn newsletter.

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Mentioned on the Show
Buy Max Trescott's G3000 Book Call 800-247-6553
Lightspeed Delta Zulu Headset Giveaway
Dr. Tony Kern's Convergent Performance company
Only Human with Dr. Tony Kern podcast
Dr. Kern's Books
Blue Threat: Why to Err Is Inhuman
Redefining Airmanship
Flight Discipline
Going Pro: The Deliberate Practice of Professionalism
Darker Shades of Blue: The Rogue Pilot
Armored Knight
The Ghost of Nathan Hale
Dark Wind by Buck Myles (Tony Kern)
13 Bullets: A Blue Walker Action Thriller Series by Buck Myles

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Transcript

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0:00.0	What if the biggest threat to your safety isn't whether mechanical failure or other pilots,
0:07.1	but you? Dr. Tony Kern, former B-1 instructor pilot and leading human factors expert,
0:13.6	joins us to reveal why even the best trained professionals make deadly mistakes,
0:18.2	and how to outsmart the one pilot most likely to betray you yourself.
0:23.4	We also have new information from a congressional hearing this week on the DC midair collision
0:28.3	between a Black Hawk helicopter and a regional airliner. Plus, we have audio from a vision jet
0:33.7	that had an in-flight emergency. Hello again and welcome to Aviation News Talk,
0:38.3	where we talk general aviation. My name is Max Truscott. I've been flying for 50 years.
0:42.9	I'm the author of several books in the 2008 National Flight Instructor of the Year, and my mission
0:47.4	is to help you become the safest possible pilot. Last week in episode 376, we talked with
0:53.5	Adam Brown of PALS Skyhope, a volunteer pilot group
0:57.4	that provides free air transportation for medical patients and veterans. So if you didn't hear that episode,
1:03.4	you may want to check it out at AviationNewsTalk.com slash 376. And if you're new to this show,
1:09.0	welcome. Welcome. Glad you found us. Now, if you would, take a moment in whatever app that you're listening to us, touch either
1:14.6	the subscribe key or if you're using Spotify or the Apple Podcast app, the follow key,
1:19.6	so that next week's episode is downloaded for free.
1:22.6	And my thanks to these people who've signed up in the past week to Sport Aviation News Talk.
1:26.6	We have new monthly donors, including Chuck Callagher and Samuel Ellis II, and one-time donations from Greg King and Galena Vesnina.
1:35.2	If you'd like to hear your name next week, sign up now to support the show by going out to AviationNews.com slash support.
1:42.9	Coming up in the news for the week of March 24th, 2025, airline pilot hiring is down.
1:48.7	AOPA is leading a national GA safety campaign, and two United Airlines pilots cost that airline
1:54.9	a bundle when they both made the same error.
	...

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