After disappearing from view on the social media site where we found it, the video is back.
It shows a kid lounging in the back seat of a Cessna, sans seatbelt, when he suddenly starts floating. What happened, of course, is that dad pushed the nose forward to get some negative Gs. Curiously, most Cessna singles are certified to a negative G limit of 1.52, so that’s no concern. And the maneuver is gentle enough to make it benign. The lack of seatbelts, by the way, is not an issue here. The regs call for rear seat passengers to be belted for takeoff and landing, but they can be without while enroute. It’s actually the responsibility of the passenger and not the pilot to make sure seatbelts are used for takeoff and landing, though technically the pilot does need to brief the use of belts.
And make no mistake, the kid loved every second of it. Still, some commenters thought the maneuver was unsafe. If that’s the case, we didn’t see it. Just a huge smile from that kiddo.
