Texting while driving…
Need I even print a word? Is there anything that needs to be added to make this any clearer? Bottom line…texting while taxiing can cost you dearly.
And, it’s not just texting. During recurrent training, one of my pet peeves is to see pilots fumbling with the avionics while taxiing. I’m going to bet that a full 50% of those that come to recurrent training try to set up entire clearances in the GPS while taxiing to the runway. 99% of the time it works just fine, but on that one day that the wind catches the tail and you keep your head “inside” for just a few seconds longer, a REALLY bad incident can occur.
No…the PA46 is NOT a good soft-field airplane!
In the case of this Meridian mud-riding event, nothing was damaged except for an ego. But, had this pilot (who shall remain nameless) been going just a little faster a wing-bending event could have occurred.
If you are “one of those guys”, I’m going to challenge you to stop the airplane, do whatever needs to be done “inside the airplane”, and then continue taxiing. The time saved is minuscule, but the damaged airplane can be super-costly!
