Seggy....as for Alaska flying which the discussion evolved to fairly quickly......have you ever watched the tv shows such as Mountain Men, Flying Wild Alaska, Alaska State Troopers, Ice Pilots, Wild West Guns Alaska, Alaska's Toughest Pilots, Buying Alaska, Alaska Wing Men, Tougher in Alaska?? These are shows which air and many have aired around the world and many in several seasons. They have details and examples of the type of flying done in Alaska, the Yukon and in Northern Canada.
Now here you have entire tv shows showing the type of flying in all kinds of wx, conditions,terrain, winds, hell you name it, throughout Alaska, the Yukon and Northern Canada and you are upset over one You Tube video which demonstrates the same thing seen on many of these shows?
You do realize that the type of flying shown in that video happens often up there.......that is just for example for, hunters, fisherman, skiers, geologists, climbers, gold miners, an array of scientists, hikers, goods and supplies, the mail and packages, rescuers, sightseers, campers, the inspections done by fish and game, pipeline workers, remote tiny villages or locations (yes people live out in the middle of nowhere up there where their nearest neighbor might be 150 miles away) that must be serviced, people who must be taken to larger cities for health reasons, and much more are brought to and from remote locations in the state which include the necessity of landing on the sides of mountains, on ice fields, on sand and gravel bars, river banks, on grass strips or fields, on home made runways which can be covered with snow, slipping through mountain passes and valleys,and that there are thousands of locales in Alaska which can only be traversed by air?? And that it has been this way since the first bush pilots flew there?
A pilot who can do what this pilot did with his plane and the skill that he obviously has, will be less likely to have a serious incident IMO, because he can pull something like this off if he has too. It does not mean that he flies like this all the time. It shows what he is capable of doing and how his aircraft can perform when or if he needs it to.
If nothing else, Alaska is the ultimate flight training environment. Many, many pilots there are also airframe and power plant mechanics. They have to be. They know the performance limits, can effect repairs, can modify and maintain their planes far better than most pilots in the lower 48.
According to the Alaska Department of Transportation, there is something like one registered pilot for every 58 residents there! There are 6 times the pilots there than anywhere else in the United States. One has to look at the extreme conditions, the smaller aircraft use, the extreme wx and terrain, and the types of flying done, when looking at accident/incident rates there.
I can bet you that pilots who have flown for years there, have better stick and rudder skills, judgement, and have had to deal with a more wider range of issues and conditions than most pilots in most other locales in the lower 48 have.
It's very disappointing to me that with no experience in the type of flying done in AK, you seem so ready to dismiss the history of aviation up there, the conditions, the aircraft, the nature of the flying there and those members here who do that type of flying for a living whom I admire, respect and enjoy listening to them. I try to learn something from them, and very much enjoy the videos and photos that they post here and their bank of knowledge on the types of flying, the various locations and in the equipment that they fly in AK and the advice, discussions and support they have given me about many things in AK, as I intend to have my own little adventure/life time dream there when I retire.
Take the blinders and the mindset off for a moment.
