A plane crash involving mountains, ground or other airplanes make for a lousy end to a flight.

Vern Weiss

Have you ever thought about what it would be like to be Pilot-in-Command of a plane crash? Just because we don’t like to talk about them doesn’t mean they don’t happen and accidents come in all sizes. Some are surprises such as controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) or running off the end of a runway. Some are intentional like landing when your gear won’t come down or a water-ditching when low on fuel. Then again, sometimes they reach out and grab us unexpectedly like getting entangled in wind-shear. It’s obvious that they’re never a good thing. Even so, unfortunately, there are times when it is inevitable you are going to crash. When such misfortune comes your way the more planning you are able to do, the more you improve the outcome.

When impact with the Earth is a certainty, pilot preparation for it is different than when one is a passenger on a large aircraft airline flight. The most important thing you can do is keep your wits about you. There is an ancient cliché thought to be originally written for helicopters but the sentiment is pertinent for airplanes as well: “Fly it till the last part stops moving.” In other words, keeping aircraft control is paramount.

On a commercial airliner, the safety briefing by the flight attendants covers only the most rudimentary of preparation and this is so because the actual aircraft response to impact is unknown. Federal law requires that persons seated near an emergency exit be asked if they feel they can open the exit door. They usually and nonchalantly grunt, “yeah” and go back to reading their newspaper. I’ve watched experienced airline crews train on opening the emergency exits on a new airplane and it typically takes 2 or 3 tries until they get it right. So imagine the reality when Joe Sixpack is doing it amid screams, a crush of people, cabin smoke et cetera. Although my bringing this up is not really within the context of this article, throughout your flying career you are going to find yourself as a passenger riding in the back of an airplane and I implore you to pay attention, read the placards and take sitting in that vital emergency exit seat seriously.

Most serious injuries and fatalities occur due to impact forces, fire, and smoke. It is not the initial impact but, instead, the second or third impact that injures most people. According to Transport Canada, 22% of smaller aircraft crashes would have been otherwise survivable but post impact fatalities were due to smoke and fire.¹

In the frenzied bedlam that occurs in a plane crash, without flight attendants, it is important for pilots to do what they can to assist other passengers. Early in my career, I had just been type rated on a corporate jet and got a job flying one immediately. Since my training and even the check-ride occurred in a Level D simulator, I had never actually been in the airplane. On my first day with the new employer, I was sent on a trip with another captain whose job it was to more or less “keep an eye on the greenie (me).” The first leg of the trip, he climbed in the left seat while I was to administer the passenger briefing and close the door. Imagine my embarrassment when it came time for me to close the aircraft entry door and I had no idea whatsoever how to operate the mechanism! Now consider how bewildering egress from a smoke-filled airplane, possibly upside down in water would be to a passenger! Any fatal plane crash is sad but the crash of singer Rick Nelson’s DC-3 is particularly horrible because the pilots climbed out of the burning plane through the cockpit windows while the doomed and unassisted passengers remained inside.²

It is incumbent on every pilot able to do so to assist any and all occupants in a plane crash.

There are preparations to be made prior to an inevitable plane crash and these things are applicable for any non-standard landing such as when the gear won’t come down. Safety experts counsel airline passengers to wear non-flammable clothing, remove sandals and high heels and put on a coat if it’s cold outside. But in small planes, you likely will have such preparations stashed away and inaccessible by the time you will need them. So what CAN you do?

• Advise all passengers of what is happening so they too can prepare.
• Passengers, as well as pilots, should remove all sharp objects (pens, pencils, glasses, etc) from pockets and jewelry.
• Cinch up the seat belts and shoulder harnesses.
• Secure (as much as possible) any loose objects. Upon impact(s), anything loose will fly forward.
• Radio your intentions. If not on an ARTCC frequency transmit in the blind on 121.5. All FAA towers, FSS and ARTCC facilities monitor this frequency.
• If fuel dumping is possible, do so. The less there is to burn the less that might burn. (It may also improve handling characteristics of the aircraft.)
• Isolate the fuel systems if possible. If there is a cross-feed, close it.
• If possible, remove flammable cargo by tossing it out of the aircraft.
• Review any pertinent emergency checklists such as those for gear up landings or ditching.

If landing off airport and out in the middle of nowhere you can sometimes get an idea of the wind from cows and horses. Cows, deer, and horses tend to stand north-south but in strong winds, they face into the wind whereas sheep face away from the wind.³ Pay attention to trees, flags or smoke on land and in water land between the swells or if that’s not possible, land on the backside of a swell. See the Aeronautical Information Manual Chapter 6 Section 2 for more information.

Once the aircraft as come to rest it obviously is essential to get everyone out as quickly as possible. To minimize the potential for injury during the evacuation, pilots should take all necessary actions to shut down the engines by using respective fire handles, condition levers, or fire push button to isolate the aircraft engines. This may not be possible due to the extent of aircraft damage.

In the event that the aircraft has come to rest and does not appear to be threatening smoke, fire or explosion, if possible, remove items that will assist in survivability in the event that help isn’t immediately available. Unless you have good reason to believe that search and rescue aid is not forthcoming, it is a better idea to remain with the aircraft. Collecting materials to start a fire and acquiring a mirror (or shiny piece of metal that can be used as a mirror as well as a women’s make-up compact) might be helpful for signaling SAR aircraft.

Although water seems to be more forgiving than the gritty hardness of terra firma, impact in water is not too different than with land. Typically there is a bounce and the structural damage may be just as bad. “Fly it till the last part stops moving” is good advice. Touch down as slowly and as softly as possible and keep flying until the aircraft has stopped. This means to continue to increase back pressure on the elevator control as the aircraft decelerates until the nose can no longer be held off the ground. Landing in plowed fields or on rough terrain often results in the aircraft flipping over on its back at the very end. Be prepared for this with tightly cinched seat belts and shoulder harnesses and securing any loose objects.

When a plane crash is inevitable, maintain slow, soft, control and let the aircraft absorb the impact forces instead of its occupants. Wings can be as effective as a bumper on a car.

You often hear it said that any landing you walk away from is a good landing but this is nonsense. Good landings infer a certain degree of finesse and precision. However in matters of crash landings, there is no such thing as a “good landing.” The best that one can hope for is a survivable landing. Plan for it accordingly because you’ll not have another chance to go around and try it again.

Get Started With Your Flight Training Today

You can get started today by filling out our online application. If you would like more information, you can call us at (844) 435-9338, or click here to start a live chat with us.

Sources:

1 – http://www.skybrary.aero/index.php/Post_Crash_Fires and http://www.tsb.gc.ca/eng/rapports-reports/aviation/etudes-studies/siia0501/siia0501_sec2.asp

2 – Teenage Idol, Travelin’ Man, Philip Bashe, Hyperion Publishing 1992.

3 – http://www.livescience.com/5083-cows-strange-sixth-sense.html and http://www.pnas.org/content/105/36/13451.full

^{Feature Image: Enrique}

John Peltier

Does Special Use Airspace (SUAS) scare you? If you see a Restricted Area on the chart, will you always just avoid the restricted airspace because you don’t even want to think about dealing with getting a clearance through there?

Avoiding all types of Special Use Airspace because you don’t want to deal with the “hassle”, or don’t know how to deal with it, or you can’t even correctly identify them, can actually cause you more of a hassle in added flight time, fuel, and cost.

Knowing how to correctly identifying the different types of Special Use Airspace, their controlling agencies, and their restrictions will take a lot of intimidation out of flying.

The Different Types of Special Use Airspace

If you were to go to your commercial pilot check ride right now, would you be able to name all of the different types of SUAS and their restrictions?

Here’s a good mnemonic to remember them by: MCPRAWN – MOA, CFA, Prohibited, Restricted, Alert, Warning, NSA. Let’s take a look at each of these types of Special Use Airspace and figure out what you need to do to fly in them.

Military Operation Area (MOA)

An MOA is specifically set up to separate IFR traffic from military training traffic. However, this doesn’t mean that as a VFR pilot you’re exempt from acknowledging it. Activities in MOAs can include air-to-air intercepts, “dogfights”, and low altitude training. You don’t want to get in the middle of a dogfight! ATC clearance is not required for you to fly through an MOA.

MOAs have defined vertical and lateral limits – the lateral limits are depicted on the VFR Sectional and the vertical limits can be found in the margin of the sectional. In the same margin, you’ll find the ATC facility and frequency you can talk to before entering the MOA. Just ask them if it’s active. They’ll let you know if there’s any military traffic in there, and where, and then you can make your own judgment call about flying through it. FSS will know as well.

Here’s an example of the information found on the sectional.

Controlled Firing Area (CFA). What does a CFA look like on a VFR Sectional? Trick question – they’re not on there! You really shouldn’t have to worry about these areas while you’re flying. CFAs are generally used for small arms target practice or mortar practice. There are always spotters and/or radar that will detect you approaching the area. When they see you coming, they’ll stop all firing even though you’re most likely higher than any of their shells will reach.

Prohibited Area. A Prohibited Area is established for reasons of national security and you may never fly through one except for in emergencies where overflight cannot be safely avoided. With some prohibited areas, the dimensions start at the surface and as far as you’re concerned, they go up to infinity! However, the Special Use Airspace information in the margins of the Sectional charts contain the precise information for lateral and vertical limits, which vary depending on their location.

Prohibited Areas are identified on charts by numbers, such as “P-40”, which is the Prohibited Area over Washington, D.C.

Restricted. Flight through a Restricted Area is not completely prohibited, but doing so could be extremely hazardous to you! There may be dangerous military activities in restricted areas, like aerial gunnery or live bomb drops. You certainly don’t want to fly through that!

Fortunately, a Restricted Area is only “hot” when the users have it scheduled, which will only be during certain times of the day. You can find the status of Restricted Areas by referencing the margin of your VFR Sectional. Hours will be listed, as well as the ATC agency and frequency to contact for more details. Here’s an example:

Alert. An Alert Area is just as it sounds – when you fly through these areas, be on alert! You’ll usually find these areas where there’s a large concentration of military pilot training, parachuting, or glider activity. Alert areas are depicted on charts by either a hatched box or a Glider or Parachute icon. Alert areas are not regulated and therefore not under any ATC jurisdiction. Be extra vigilant when you fly through them – all parties are equally responsible for avoidance!

Here’s an example, with the “UA” indicating Unmanned Aerial activity near Fort Sumner.

Warning. A Warning Area, or sometimes called a “whiskey”, is only found offshore. They start three miles from the coast and extend outwards as depicted on the sectional. A Warning Area serves to warn pilots that there’s activity going on in there that may be hazardous to them if they’re not a part of it. Examples include air-to-air intercepts and naval exercises. An ATC clearance is not required but it’s advisable to make contact with ATC first and get the scoop on what’s going.

National Security Area (NSA). An NSA may sound like a Prohibited Area, but it’s not. It’s just a place where, for security and safety, pilots are requested to avoid overflight as depicted on the chart. For example, Livermore Labs has an NSA requesting pilots don’t overfly below 800’. Further restrictions can always be put in place by NOTAM, so make sure you check them.

Other Flight Restriction To Be Aware Of

Don’t forget the TFRs! A Temporary Flight Restriction is a “roving” restricted area, temporary in nature. They’re not on the sectionals and are issued by NOTAM. TFRs have different restrictions specific to why the TFR was setup. You’ll need to avoid them by a certain distance, a certain altitude, and/or just not go anywhere near them at all.

Examples for TFRs include rocket launches, wildfires, the Super Bowl, and movements of the President. Details for each TFR can be found in the NOTAMS or by contacting your Flight Service Station.

In Conclusion

It’s prudent to always check NOTAMs and study the charts before you go fly – this should go without saying, but yet many pilots still accidentally fly through active Restricted Areas, Prohibited Areas, and TFRs. Flying through a TFR can cost you your certificate! Don’t let that happen to you.

For more information on Special Use Airspace, see the Aeronautical Information Manual, Chapter 3, Section 4.

Get Started With Your Flight Training Today

You can get started today by filling out our online application. If you would like more information, you can call us at (844) 435-9338, or click here to start a live chat with us.

Additional Flight Safety Articles:

The Different Ways of Checking Your VOR Receiver

Do You Know How To Give the PIREPs?

How Crew Resource Management Makes Flying Safer

A vastly different world exists when transitioning from flying small planes to understanding how to fly a commercial plane.

Vern Weiss

You’ve been grinding away making yourself marketable to large jet companies. Until now, your sphere has been light planes weighing only a few thousand pounds. The phone rings. You’ve been selected for an upcoming class of new-hire pilots flying “heavy iron.” “Flying is flying, right? How different can it be, right?” This new world is not dissimilar from that of someone who has driven only automobiles then transitions to 18-wheelers. Welcome to “The Big Time.”

By “heavy iron” we are talking about aircraft substantially larger than small corporate jets and turboprops. In the simplest of terms, the kinds of aircraft I am referring to are those in which you don’t have to bend to enter or walk through the passenger cabin or into the flight deck. Notice I said, “flight deck?” On larger airplanes, the cockpit is customarily called the flight deck. Behind the flight deck is the “cabin.” The place where the coffee pot and food preparation equipment is called the galley and the john/potty is commonly called, “the lav” (shortened form of “lavatory”). The men and women who supervise passengers in the cabin are called “flight attendants.” The “head” flight attendant is either called the purser, lead or in some cases “A” attendant. Obviously, the big cheese in the front end is called the captain and the second-cheese, first officer. “Co-pilot?”- nuh…not used so much.

How to Fly a Commercial Plane –  The Flight Deck

As a first officer, what’s the first thing you’ll probably think about when entering the flight deck? Preflight? Computations? No. Garbage! In light plane flying, the most garbage you probably accumulated on flights was the wrapper from a Snickers bar. On large aircraft, you’ll likely fly multiple legs that are longer and the garbage mounts up. You and the captain will toss out the equivalent of a kitchen-sized garbage bag full of used coffee cups, scrap paper, TOLD cards¹, weather/release packages, wadded-up Kleenex, pop cans etc. As such, your first order of “housekeeping” will be to obtain a small garbage bag and hang it on one of the pilot seat levers.
Depending on the company’s policies, as first officer, you might start the auxiliary power unit (APU) if it’s a “dark” airplane. This gets electricity flowing in the aircraft and provides heat if it’s cold or air conditioning if it’s hot.

How to Fly a Commercial Plane –  Preflight

Your company may consider the first officer the designated preflight-doer. This means you do a cockpit preflight by checking switch and control settings and doing a walk-around inspection outside. There are some items on these checklists that will be only accomplished on the first flight of the day and not redone on subsequent legs. FAA Part 121 and 125 companies require an external pre-flight and post-flight “walk-around,” regardless of how hard it’s raining outside.
When both crew members are present on the flight deck, the entire checklist is verbalized. Some items only the captain responds to and other items are reserved only for the first officer’s response. Depending on the aircraft, this verbal checklist recitation is recorded on the cockpit voice recorder (CVR). Ordinarily the CVR begins recording as soon as power is applied to the aircraft either via APU, ground power unit or the battery switch selected ON. While older CVRs only record the last 30 minutes of radio and pilot conversation, newer Flight Data Recorders (FDRs) typically store the last 2 hours of ambient noise and conversation.

Once the flight crew receives its load manifest (passenger count, baggage) and has obtained the final “numbers” on fuel load (either through dispatch release or from crew member computations), the engine power settings, V-speeds and minimum needed runway lengths are figured out. This task is usually the first officers. Both pilots electronically or mechanically move little colored markers around on their airspeed indicators to denote important speeds. These are called “bugs.” Glass cockpit screens will “bug” the speeds graphically. It is different from light planes where take-off power amounts to just pushing the throttle(s) all the way to their limits. Because you are dealing with a variety of critical engine limitations, you need to factor in variables like weight, air temperature, and wind speed. Maximum power settings may be required due to available runway length. Use of anti-icing equipment needed for take-off also reduces the available take-off power. Crew computations are necessary to protect against over-torque and over-temp on engines. Noise abatement climbs and “flex” power settings will also require consideration. A “flex” power setting is used at the captain’s discretion when the runways are long enough to use reduced power for takeoff. This reduces noise, engine wear, and maintenance cost. After the “housekeeping” duties are done and you’re within 30 minutes of the flight plan’s proposed departure time, you can radio Clearance Delivery for the instrument clearance.

How to Fly a Commercial Plane –  Taxiing and Takeoff

The flight actually starts with the captain setting the parking brake and calling for the engine start checklist. It is common for the first officer to start the engines. Once the after engine start checklist is complete it’s time to taxi. In large commercial aircraft operations, taxiing is permitted only when all passengers are seated. (There’s always some clod that feels he must stand up to get a roll of Certs out of his carry-on luggage so he can hit on the girl seated next to him.) In Part 121 operations, the flight attendants are required to notify the captain and the aircraft has to stop moving. Obviously, this boogers things up for ground controllers and all aircraft waiting behind you.

In the taxi check list, you set the flaps and trim and the flying pilot will verbalize a takeoff briefing. This briefing is vitally important and delineates who’s flying the leg, confirmation of power settings, climb profile and standard departure procedures to be used. Additionally, planned action in the event of an emergency is included. (“In the event we lose an engine after V1 we’ll continue the takeoff but since we’ll be above maximum landing weight we’ll advise ATC we need to burn off fuel or dump fuel prior to returning to this airport,” or whatever is prudent.)

Let’s say this is going to be your leg to fly. Even so, typically the captain generally taxis the aircraft and lines up the aircraft on the runway prior to takeoff, after which you’re advised to hold the brakes, then, “it’s your airplane.” Once cleared for takeoff, you will increase thrust, attentive to ensure both engines are accelerating equally until you’re close to the target power setting. You may hold full forward pressure on the yoke to place as much weight as possible on the wheels for traction. As you begin to move you will find the rudder/brake peddles are sluggish and won’t become effective until you’re beyond 40 or 50 knots. Meanwhile, believing that you’ve got the power set close to what it should be, you say something like, “SET POWER” and the non-flying pilot (the captain) refines the power settings as you concentrate on the takeoff.

Several call-outs are pretty standard on large aircraft: One is “80 knots” and you respond with “Cross checked.” You’re just confirming that your and the captain’s airspeed indicators agree. Next, the non-flying pilot calls out, “V1.” This is the point of no return: you’re goin’ flying regardless of what happens! High-speed aborts are often disastrous. Even if you blow an engine after V1, you’ll continue the takeoff roll. Shortly afterward, you hear, “Rotate.” You’ll pitch the nose up to the desired attitude and hold it while you wait for the wheels to clear the pavement. Once airborne the non-flying pilot says, “positive rate” (meaning you’ve got a positive rate of climb and not sinking back to the ground) and you’ll respond, “Gear Up.” The captain reaches over and retracts the landing gear. The first time you do this it may surprise you how noisy the hydraulic pumps are and how loud the “ker-thunk” is when the nose gear slams against its uplocks. Depending on aircraft profile, around 400′ AGL you’ll call for the flaps up. Some aircraft momentarily level out around 1,000′ AGL to accelerate at what’s called the acceleration altitude; then resume the climb.

How to Fly a Commercial Plane –  In Flight

Use of the autopilot is encouraged after the configuration changes but especially passing through 10,000 feet. Reduced separation requirements mandate that autopilot use is required between FL290 to FL410 (29,000 to 41,000 feet).

You’ll climb to the cruise altitude using your familiar airspeed indicator but at a point called the cross-over altitude² will transition to flying by Mach number. The reason for this is that, at altitude, the Mach number is limiting whereas your indicated airspeed will be lower than you’re used to seeing and be of little value.

Control responses are slower and take more muscle. The payoff is more stability. Standard rate turns (on which instrument flying is predicated) are no longer are used. Because you’re moving faster you’ll only use half standard rate in turns. In light planes, standard rate requires 15 to 20 degrees of bank angle. In large planes, producing a 3° per second standard rate turn would require a bank angle of 50°. The Aeronautical Information Manual states that turns in a holding pattern should be at 3° per second to a maximum of 30 degrees of bank, whichever results in the lesser bank angle. “Standard rate” in large aircraft typically is no more than 1.5° per second.

How to Fly a Commercial Plane –  Approach and Landing

As you approach your destination a new TOLD card is needed containing runway length at your weight, speeds and go-around power settings. Landing speeds are “bugged” and ATIS information, approach procedures, and techniques for special conditions such as wet/slick runways and LAHSO³ are reviewed and briefed. The approach may seem to move pretty fast at first. The difference is flying approaches in light planes at 100 knots compared to 120 to 160 knots is conspicuous. But after you get accustomed to it, light plane approaches will seem to take forever.

“Grease job landings do not a pilot make.” In large aircraft, you’re interested only in stabilized approaches and touching down at the desired touchdown zone. It may seem awkward how high you are when landing. Depending on aircraft you’ll actually be sitting anywhere from 20 to 100 feet above the ground when touching down. Good positive runway wheel contact and minimal “wing-wagging” trumps a grease job. Yep, in large airplanes, you pretty much wanna “fly ’em on.”

Thrust reversers are maybe new to you.⁴ Before using them, it is important to ensure both reversers are equally deployed otherwise you’ll spin around faster than that guy with the Certs does when checking out good looking women after arriving in Ft. Lauderdale.

On landing roll-out, the non-flying pilot may call out “80 knots” which is your cue to begin stowing the thrust reverser levers. At 40-50 knots the captain will say something like, “I got it” or “my airplane” and take over control, taxiing to parking. You’re done with all flying pilot’s duties at that point and resume radio work and the “clean-up,” retracting the flaps, re-setting the trim and performing the after landing checklist.

One thing that is sometimes hard for first officers to understand is that the airplane is the captain’s airplane. It is the captain who is responsible for that airplane and you are there only to
assist. Although it is customary to alternate flying legs, it is at the captain’s discretion only. Privilege in a multi-crew setting is not a 50/50 proposition.

In Conclusion

The difference between small and large plane flying is “bigness.” Its numbers and speeds are higher. Pilots sit two or more feet apart. Its weight is computed with index numbers such as 100.3 instead of 100,300 pounds. There’s at least one extra fold out seat on the flight deck for jump seaters. Center of gravity is a location measured in percent within the wing’s aerodynamic chord instead of inches after of a datum line. But there is one thing that makes learning how to fly a commercial plane worth it over smaller planes, besides the freedom to stretch your legs and walk around, and that is the salary is usually much better and who can find fault with that?

Get Started With Your Flight Training Today

You can get started today by filling out our online application. If you would like more information, you can call us at (844) 435-9338, or click here to start a live chat with us.

Footnotes:

1 – “TOLD” cards are take-off and landing distance data cards and prepared for each leg and generally include ATIS information for the airport from which you’re leaving and approaching. Once the leg is complete the TOLD card gets discarded. Sophisticated multi-function displays are also being used that present this information.

2 – Crossover Altitude is the altitude at which a specified CAS (Calibrated airspeed) and Mach value represent the same TAS (True airspeed) value. Above this altitude, the Mach number is used to reference speeds.

3 – LAHSO – Land and Hold Short Operations is landing on one of two intersecting runways requiring precise planning. Pilots are not required to accept a LAHSO clearance to land but it can expedite your landing at busy airports.

4 – In turboprops, deceleration is handled with a propeller reversal called “beta” which also slows the aircraft by reversing thrust.

^{Featured Image: Wilco737}

Unsolved Issues: Part 1, Amber Berlin

The FAA’s final rule on pilot fatigue places more responsibility on the pilot by making fatigue a joint responsibility between pilots and certificate holders (i.e. the employers). This stated responsibility is designed to curb the pilot’s desire to stay out too late and become overly fatigued. However, pilot fatigue is not only a product of off-duty pilot behavior but also a result of the scheduling practices of the certificate holder and circumstances beyond the pilot’s control. Some additional factors which contribute to fatigue include both positive and negative stressors, the suboptimal use of caffeine and alcohol, and improper diet and lack of exercise. These factors work together to reduce the quality and quantity of sleep and the level of recovery attained during sleep. With each of these factors even mildly contributing to the fatigue level, a pilot may become fatigued through no direct fault of his own, but simply because of normal human behavior.

Once fatigued, the pilot’s cognitive ability is reduced to a point where they are unable to determine, using their own fatigued brain, the level of fatigue they are experiencing. The conscientiousness that makes a good pilot, which “reflects facets of order, dutifulness, achievement striving, self-discipline, and deliberation” also causes the pilot to underestimate subjective fatigue (Calderwood & Ackerman, 2011, p.441). This attitude causes an erroneous perception of being able to discipline their body into compliance; the false idea they can try harder and achieve a state of wakefulness even though they are under the effects of fatigue. The pilot has a duty to the certificate holder to fly the schedule, and the pilot also wants to be able to fulfill this duty without repercussions. Because fatigue affects perception, the pilot may end up with the illusion of being fit for duty, when he is actually operating under a dangerous level of fatigue.

According to Neri, Dinges and Rosekind (1997), “when attempting to judge how sleepy an individual is, the worst person to ask is that individual” (p.11). When applying this statement to the FAA’s rule, individual reports of fitness for duty cannot include a pilot fatigue assessment because it is impossible for the pilot to make an accurate assessment of his fatigue level. Considering the magnitude of the problem of fatigue, a fatigue assessment is the main factor the FAA is seeking with this report.

While the FAA does realize the pilot is unable to make an accurate self-assessment of fatigue, they assume fatigue education and training will mitigate the problem and have mandated a Fatigue Risk Management Plan (FRMP). However, the solution they have provided is dependent upon a properly functioning brain, which a pilot under the effects of fatigue will not have. Therefore, the solution will not be effective for those who need it most, the pilots who are too fatigued to fly. Whereas a normal, rested brain will be able to assess the situation and make a determination of risk, and also recall from memory the information needed to do so, a tired brain operating at a fraction of its normal ability will not be able to provide an accurate assessment or recall the information necessary to perform this task. Is there a viable solution? This is what we’ll be taking a look at next time, in Unsolved Issues: Part II Countermeasures For Fatigue in Aviation That Are Ignored

Get Started With Your Flight Training Today

You can get started today by filling out our online application. If you would like more information, you can call us at (844) 435-9338, or click here to start a live chat with us.

References:

Calderwood, C., Ackerman, P. (2011). The relative impact of trait and temporal determinants of subjective fatigue. Personality and Individual Differences, 50 , 441445.

D. F., Dinges, D. F. & Rosekind, M.R. (1997). Sustained Carrier Operations: Sleep Loss, Performance, and Fatigue Countermeasures. Fatigue Countermeasures Program. NASA Ames Research Center.

Additional Resources:

FAA Brochure on Pilot Fatigue

Additional Flight Safety Articles:

Halley’s Comet and the Go No-Go Decision

Positive Exchange of Flight Controls and Language

How Crew Resource Management Makes Flying Safer

^{Featured Image: Morgan Schmorgan}

Jennifer Roth

With each stage of working towards a career as a pilot, a rewarding feeling of accomplishment is acquired. Whether it is the very first solo flight or passing the ATP check ride, each step is important as well as celebrated. Where a pilot wants to go with their future in the sky depends on which path they take. Someone wanting to just fly for fun on the side may only obtain their private pilot certificate, while others wanting to fly for a major airline will continue on. Flight instructing is not mandatory in aviation. Many pilots have gone on to very successful careers without ever instructing from that right seat, however, there are many wonderful benefits to becoming a flight instructor that come with learning to teach students how to fly.

Flying is expensive and for most people, and building hours in an airplane is out of the question and out of their price range. Becoming a flight instructor allows for a pilot to build their flight hours while getting paid. This is a win-win. Many times, wherever the pilot completed their training will hire them on as an instructor because they know they have been trained accordingly and know the procedures for their particular training program. Becoming a flight instructor is encouraged for anyone needing to build those 1,500 hours that are required to even attempt the ATP rating.

Let’s be honest, the amount of hours required to receive a Commercial Pilot Certificate can feel daunting to the newest of pilots when thinking about going out into the real world. One of the greatest benefits that becoming a flight instructor offers is to continue to learn through teaching, and one of the best ways to learn more is to teach someone who does not know. Flight instructors do not know everything at the point they start flight instructing. When students have questions, they may not know the answer but they have a multitude of resources available to find out. Through this, the instructor has now learned something they did not know, and most likely will never forget. The best way to expand your knowledge bank is to continually make deposits and flight instructing will always require studying and learning.

We can always create scenarios of “what-if” but even the best-trained pilot cannot know or practice every situation that can occur. Flight instructing takes someone out of his or her comfort zone and requires him or her to stay on his or her game. If pilots get too complacent, that is when an accident can occur. Lucky for instructors, the things students will almost always keep complacency from occurring because students tend to do the craziest things. Flight training allows for practicing in real life scenarios. Situations such as unforecast weather, airplane trouble, air traffic, and other events all help instructors quickly react relying on their training. This helps make them not only a better instructor but also a better pilot in the long run.

Being a flight instructor, here’s a situation a student and myself went through when practicing pattern work at Tulsa International, where F-16’s also spend daily time on pattern work. On this particular afternoon, they began their pattern work while we were on the smaller runway. When the military does their training, the public can only hear the controller talking to them, not their responses. Of course, with fighter jets, things happen way faster than they happen in a Cessna 150, so when we were about midfield downwind, we were waiting on our clearance to land. We continued to wait as we came in closer for landing. We could hear the controller repeatedly giving commands but had no ability to break in and request a landing clearance. As an instructor, I had never been in a situation where the controller forgot we were in the pattern and we had no way of breaking in. It took a go-around due to lack of landing clearance before the controller realized we had been forgotten. At that point, we terminated our pattern work and headed back to our home airport. It was a good experience for both me and my student to experience what happens when other priorities interfere, leaving us to fall back on our training. It gave us both an opportunity to walk through what we needed to do and we had a good ground lesson afterward.

Not all pilots will become instructors, but those who do will gain valuable and life-long experience that cannot be found any other place. There are even a few pilots who, after becoming a flight instructor, stay instructors for the remainder of their career, creating strong bonds with many future pilots and contributing to aviation through teaching. Flight instructing shows future employers that the pilot has commitment and the desire to do what is necessary to be the best pilot they can be.

Get Started With Your Flight Training Today

You can get started today by filling out our online application. If you would like more information, you can call us at (844) 435-9338, or click here to start a live chat with us.

Dr. Mary Ann O’Grady

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issues legally enforceable Airworthiness Directives or ADs for the purpose of correcting an unsafe condition in an aircraft, aircraft engine, propeller, or appliance under 14 CFR Part 39. The FAA Aircraft Certification Service maintains 12 Aircraft Certification Offices (ACOs) within four Directorates, and each one is responsible for the continued operational safety of the products over which it holds jurisdiction. This directorate responsibility is assigned by the type of product: transport category airplanes, small airplanes, rotorcraft, or engines and propellers. The Aviation Safety Engineers (ASEs) employed by the Directorate monitor the assigned products to identify unsafe conditions, and the necessity to generate airworthiness directives. These ASEs are also responsible for monitoring products that are manufactured in other countries but are approved for use in the United States as well as initiating airworthiness directives for those products as deemed necessary. The functions of the four Directorates can be details as follows: to draft, coordinate, and issue airworthiness directives based upon the information that is provided by an ACO or Directorate Standards Staff.

The responsibility of the owner of a Type Certificate that has been issued an AD involves:

• Notifying the FAA when they are made aware of any failure malfunction, or defect in any product, part, process, or article manufactured by them.

• Developing appropriate design changes to correct any unsafe condition.

• Incorporating the correction (corrective action) in the future generation of the product that will ensure that the product remains in a safe operating condition.

Aircraft owners as well as operators are responsible for ensuring that they are in compliance with the requirements of all airworthiness directives that apply to their aircraft. Anyone who continues to operate a product that is not in compliance with an applicable AD is in violation of 14 CFR 39.7. In order to locate all applicable ADs, an online search must be conducted for the product, such as for the aircraft, engine(s), propeller, or any other installed appliance. If multiple series are discovered under the aircraft or engine model, it then becomes necessary to also search for ADs that are applicable to the model as well as to the specific series of that model. No person may operate a product to which an AD has been issued except in accordance with the requirements of the AD, and the owner or operator of an aircraft must continue to remain in compliance with all ADs within the compliance time that relates to the effective date of the AD which determines when the actions are required.

Airworthiness directives are constructed in two parts: the preamble and the rule, where the former section provides the basis and the purpose of the AD while the latter section provides the regulatory requirements for correcting the unsafe condition(s). Typically the ADs will include: the description of the unsafe condition; the product to which the AD applies; the required corrective action, operating limitations or both; the AD effective date; a compliance time; the source for additional information; and information regarding alternative methods of compliance with the requirements of the AD. ADs provide a three-part number designator which can be demystified as follows: the first part is the calendar year of issuance; the second part consists of the biweekly period of the year when the number is assigned; and the third part is issued sequentially within each biweekly period. It is important to note that not all ADs necessitate a corrective action; some ADs just include limitations, but each AD is intended to resolve an unsafe condition.

The Federal Register is the official daily publication of the United States government which generates the printed or hard copy method of providing information to the public regarding laws that have been enacted or will be enacted. Electronic versions of the airworthiness directives are available from the Federal Register and from the FAA Regulatory and Guidance Library (RGL). The RGL contains all of ADs which can be searched under the manufacturer, model or AD number itself. Electronic copies of the ADs can be downloaded from the RGL to the computer of the owner or operator, and subscription services are also available via email from the RGL home page. Once a subscription has been activated, any AD that pertains to aircraft and engine makes and models that have been selected, will be emailed as attachments within minutes of the document being posted. The FAA provides the public an opportunity to comment on the notices of proposed rulemaking as well as on final rule ADS that are published without prior notice. They are all published in the Federal Register and include information regarding how to submit comments. The FAA does not request comments regarding Emergency ADs at the time of their issuance although the FAA does request comments when they are published as a final rule AD in the Federal Register.

The standard airworthiness directive process for the three types of ADs (Notice of Proposed Rulemaking or NPRM, which is followed by a Final Rule, Final Rule, Request for Comments and Emergency ADs) adheres to the following procedure: once an unsafe condition is identified, a proposed solution is published as an NPRM, which then solicits public comment on the proposed action. After the comment period concludes, the final rule is generated while considering all substantive comments received, with the rule perhaps being changed as warranted by those comments. The preamble to the final rule AD provides response to the substantive comments or states that there were no comments received. In cases where the critical nature of an unsafe condition warrants the immediate adoption of a rule without prior notice and/or the solicitation of comments (typically in less than 60 days), a finding of impracticability becomes justified for the terminating action which allows it to be issued as an immediately adopted rule which is then published in the Federal Register with a request for comments. The Final Rule AD may be changed later if substantive comments are received. When an Emergency AD is issued, it requires immediate action by the owner or operator since its intent is to rapidly correct an urgent safety of flight situation. An AD is considered to be no longer in effect when it has been superseded by a new AD which states that the previous AD is no longer in effect and that there are no compliance requirements for an AD that has been superseded.

Different approaches or Alternative Methods of Compliance (AMOC) that are not specified in an original airworthiness directive can, with FAA approval, be used to correct an unsafe condition on an aircraft or aircraft product. Although the proposed alternative may not have been known at the time the AD was originally issued, it could be acceptable to accomplish the intent of the original AD. A compliance time that differs from the requirements of the original AD can also be approved if the revised time period provides an acceptable level of safety that equals or exceeds the requirements posted in the original AD. Provisions for an AMOC are desirable from the owner’s or operator’s point of view because it can eliminate the necessity of constant AD revisions when acceptable methods are developed for AD compliance. If an AD does not contain any provision(s) for approving an AMOC, the AD must undergo revisions before compliance can be accomplished by any method other than what is stated in the original AD. Each AD states which office within the FAA Aircraft Certification Service that is responsible for that particular AD. An AMOC can be approved by the manager of the office that is responsible for that specific AD including different compliance times for the requirements of a specific AD. One FAA Aircraft Certification Office will have responsibility for AMOC approvals for products manufactured within the United States while a product manufactured outside of the United States will be under the jurisdiction of a Standards Staff branch office of one of the four FAA Aircraft Certification Directorates.

Get Started With Your Flight Training Today

You can get started today by filling out our online application. If you would like more information, you can call us at (844) 435-9338, or click here to start a live chat with us.

Additional Aircraft Safety Articles:

What Are the Aircraft Annual Inspection Requirements?

The Reasons Behind Male and Female Pilot Error

Positive Exchange of Flight Controls and Language

Do You Know How to Give PIREPs?

John Peltier

When was the last time you checked your VOR receiver? As an IFR pilot, how often are you required to do this test? What about as a VFR pilot? Are you required to check your VOR receiver?

The answer for VFR pilots is, well, no you’re not required to check your VOR receiver. That doesn’t mean that it’s not a good idea.

And for IFR pilots, how often do the Federal Aviation Regulations say you must check your receiver when using it for instrument flying?

According to FAR 91.171, you may not conduct an IFR flight using VORs for navigation unless your VOR system has been checked within the preceding 30 days and found to be in limits. The check must also be logged in the aircraft records.

Fortunately, these are checks that pilots can accomplish on their own, and in many different ways.

The FAA allows pilots a handful of different methods for checking VOR receivers. There’s an easy acronym to remember about these tests, including tolerances – do you know it?

The acronym most taught to IFR students is VODGA. This stands for VOT, Ownship, Dual, Ground, Air. Let’s take a closer look at the steps to check your VOR receiver using this acronym.

VOT

The VOR Test Facility (VOT) is the most accurate and is the preference to check your VOR receiver. Not all airports have a VOT. You can discover which airports do have a test facility in Section 4 of the FAA Chart Supplement (formerly known as the Airport Facility Directory [AFD]). The supplement indicates which airports have the test equipment, which frequency to use, and any other notes specific to that location.

Steps to using the VOT:

1. Ensure you are situated on the airport in an appropriate area – the parking apron, taxiway, or end of runway. The Supplement will make note of which areas on the airport will not work.
2. Tune to the appropriate frequency annotated in the Supplement.
3. Turn up the volume to identify the station, which is indicated by a series of dots or one continuous tone.
4. Twist the OBS to center the needle. The TO/FROM flag should indicate TO with 180 degrees (+/- 4) selected. Remember: Cessna 182. One-eighty two, or 180-TO. It should show FROM with 360 selected.
5. The tolerance must be within four degrees, i.e. the needle must be centered when the OBS is from 176 to 184 degrees or 356 to 004 degrees.

In the absence of a VOT, you may use other checkpoints designated in the Supplement. These are the ownship tests, and they may be conducted in the air or on the ground.

Ownship

Checking your VOR receiver may be done at either a designated location on certain airfields or over specific geographic locations while airborne. These locations, frequencies, and notations may also be found in Section 4 of the FAA Chart Supplement. The Supplement will provide the name of the VOR and/or airport facility, the frequency, and whether or not it is a ground or airborne checkpoint. If it’s an airborne checkpoint, minimum altitudes will also normally be listed. If it’s a ground checkpoint, the location on the airfield to perform the test will be listed.

Ground checks are preferred over air checks because it’s easier to position your aircraft to a more precise location on the ground.

Steps to doing an ownship location VOR receiver check:

1. Tune to the appropriate frequency annotated in the supplement.
2. Identify the station by turning up the volume and ensure the Morse code or voice identifier is correct.
3. Twist the OBS knob to the azimuth listed in the Supplement.
4. Position your aircraft at the appropriate location annotated in the Supplement, either on the ground or over a geographic location in the air, ensuring you’re at an appropriate altitude if airborne.
5. If the needle is not centered, twist the OBS until it centers up.
6. The tolerance must be within four degrees for ground checkpoints or six degrees for air checkpoints. So if an airborne checkpoint azimuth is listed as being 177 degrees, the OBS must be centered in a range from 171 to 183 degrees.

You may also make your own airborne check by looking at the charts and picking a significant geographic landmark under a VOR airway. Fly over the landmark and note the azimuth that your aircraft VOR receiver indicates. It should be within 6 degrees of the annotated airway azimuth.

The FAA allows for one more method of checking a VOR receiver, and you may do this if you have two separate receivers in your aircraft (they can share an antenna).

Dual Receiver Check

A dual receiver check is valid if you have two separate receiver units in your aircraft. They can have a common antenna but the actual receivers must be separate. These checks can be done on the ground or airborne.

Steps to conducting a dual receiver VOR check:

1. Tune both receivers to a nearby VOR station.
2. Identify the station in both receivers by turning up the volume and verifying the Morse code or voice identifier.
3. Compare the OBS settings for both receivers with the needle centered. They must be within four degrees of each other.

Ground / Air

The final pieces of the VODGA acronym, GA, is to remind you that there are different tolerances for ground checks and air checks. It should make sense that ground checks are more accurate, and thus have a lower tolerance for error. All tolerances are 4 degrees, including a dual check in the air. The only exception is the ownship airborne check, which has a tolerance of 6 degrees.

Logging the VOR Receiver Check

This may be the most neglected part of the VOR checks, and if the check is not logged you are in violation of the FARs. Doing the actual checks is important! But so is logging them.

Logging the check is easy. It doesn’t even have to be in official aircraft maintenance logs, it just needs to be with the aircraft and available for inspection. A simple spreadsheet will suffice.

The log must contain the date, location, bearing error, and signature of the pilot conducting the check.

Summing Up the VOR Receiver Check

If you’re an IFR pilot using VORs for navigation, you must check your VOR receiver within 30 days preceding an IFR flight, and log the check.

You may check two receivers against each other if your aircraft has two separate units. This will be the easiest if you have two units. Tolerance is 4 degrees.

You can also check your receiver while on the ground at certain airports using a dedicated VOR test facility or a designated VOR ground checkpoint, both found in the FAA Chart Supplement. Tolerance is 4 degrees.

In the absence of any other way to check your VOR, you may conduct a check airborne. The tolerance is 6 degrees.

The checks must be logged with the date, location, bearing error, and signature.

These regulations are found in FAR 91.171. More information can be found in AIM 1-1-4. But most importantly, don’t forget to keep current with these checks, and log them.

Get Started With Your Flight Training Today

You can get started today by filling out our online application. If you would like more information, you can call us at (844) 435-9338, or click here to start a live chat with us.

^{Featured Image: Ryan Blanding}

A Summary of Qualifications, Ethics, and Responsibility

Amber R. Berlin

I catch the look exchanged between the pilot and his cargo as they board their commercial flight to Los Angeles. Can we trust you? This unspoken request hangs in the air, each gaze finally broken by the crowd pressing forward to find their seats. A few of the passengers here are flying for the first time. All of them trust the pilot and flight crew with their lives. What is it that makes the crew able to accept the responsibility for so many? Do they hold certain personality traits that make them better suited for this type of work, or have they simply adapted to the high demands of the job, and high expectations of the public? These are the questions we will answer as I take you on a journey with an in­ depth look at today’s aviation professionals, their responsibilities, and the characteristics that enable them to carry our most precious cargo, the passengers.

The aviation industry is responsible for thousands of lives every day. Each aviation accident has the potential to cost millions of dollars in equipment, and even more tragically, extinguish precious life. In a field where trust is hard earned, and accidents happen, they must hold themselves to a higher standard of accountability.

The ability to think clearly in times of crisis, when most people freeze, is what defines us as aviation professionals. Many people can do their job well every day, but when disaster strikes they stand frozen, unable to react. “Fear is the most powerful emotion,” said University of California Los Angeles psychology professor Michael Fanselow. (Associated Press 2007). Professionals have the ability to separate their personal feelings from the task at hand, and since their thought process isn‘t hampered by emotion, they retain the ability to make sound decisions.

The public also holds aviation professionals to a certain standard of excellence. They are expected to know their job, and know it well. Thousands of hours are spent learning in classrooms, on­ the­ job, and later in the field, and training on updated techniques or upgraded equipment is never ending. Every airline passenger expects certain needs to be met, with safety, timeliness, and comfort ranking high on the list of importance. If you let them down, they go straight to customer service, or the news, with their complaints. American Airlines Executive Vice President of Marketing Dan Garton said, “There are huge costs when you have inconvenienced your customers.” (Associated Press 2009). Staying current in techniques, technology, and industry news is vital to being able to assist the customer and your crew to the maximum extent.

As aviation professionals, we must have the ability to follow the rules, pay close attention to detail, and get the job done as scheduled. Following the rules means being aware of the rules in the first place, so staying abreast of changing procedures and regulations is vital to success. Because of the steady evolution of the aviation industry, professionals must continue to expand their knowledge, with a willingness to learn new techniques being essential. It is important to follow the rules, even when no one is looking. This “ethical behavior is learned behavior, and managers can build organizational processes and strategies that contribute to this learning effort.” (Menzel 2006).

Individuals in the aviation industry have certain personality traits that enable them to hold positions that require a high level of accountability. According to the Keirsey Temperament Test, most of these individuals have a guardian­ type personality, with a strong desire to protect others. This desire is what drives them to step into aviation instead of some other field. It is spurred by the desire to gain knowledge, and the motivation to step into a position of command.

The Keirsey website further explains a guardian’s motivation in their 1 1⁄2 page description:
“They have such a clear vision of the way that things should be, that they naturally step into leadership roles…they are extremely talented at devising systems and plans for action, and at being able to see what steps need to be taken to complete a specific task.” (DeBruhl, 2002, p.67).

Guardians have a deep set vein of integrity and they hold their crew’s honesty, as well as their own, in high regard. They also tend to hold themselves to higher than average standards, and consistently strive for excellence in their work. This description of a Guardian is accurate according to a survey of aviation professionals and college students taken earlier this year, making them a perfect match for the high standards of aviation.

As a former air traffic controller, holding oneself to a higher standard was a way of life. With hundreds of lives depending on you each second and only moments to make each decision, professionalism was a requirement of the job. It was this high standard that kept us safe, and training was focused on the perfect execution of each task. There was no room to be sloppy as the traffic picked up and when you’re too busy to think, you fall back on the training you worked so hard to master.

One evening I was working approach at Sheppard Air Force Base, TX. I had only been certified to work alone for a few months. Storms had hit northern Texas hard that day and the visibility was poor. A flight of T­38’s joined my pattern and requested a flight split. I separated and identified each aircraft, and my gut instinct was to vector them with additional spacing. Instead of the required 3 miles, I was giving them nearly 7. My supervisor came to stand behind my chair and started criticizing my way of working traffic, saying it was a waste of resources to make them use so much fuel in a wide pattern. I maintained my professional attitude and continued to work the pattern, although the criticism wasn’t easy to listen to. I felt a sinking sensation in my stomach…Was I wrong? The thought echoed in my head as I pushed everything out and focused on the task at hand. After several minutes the aircraft landed and the supervisor walked away, obviously displeased. Within the hour, one of the pilots called the RAPCON and asked to thank me for providing the extra separation on final with such poor visibility. I was relieved to hear that my decision was the right one for the situation. But more than that, I’m glad
I didn’t let the criticism compromise safety or cause me to respond to the supervisor in a negative way.

Each individual in the industry has the ability to prevent an accident from happening, and it is each individual’s responsibility for costly mistakes. They are constantly striving for the unattainable goal of perfection, and consistently falling short. However, this quest is not without rewards. Saving just one life is reward enough, and whether you’re the maintenance man who turned the last screw, or the pilot in command during flight, each of the aviation professionals involved in this process ensures the safety of the skies.

Get Started With Your Flight Training Today

You can get started today by filling out our online application. If you would like more information, you can call us at (844) 435-9338, or click here to start a live chat with us.

References:

Associated Press, (2007). Frozen with fear? Science tells why. Retrieved from
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21547710/from/ET/

Associated Press, (2009). As fares and fees rise, passengers want service. Retrieved from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26791797/

DeBruhl, A.D., (2006). The ultimate truth: An objective commentary on just about everything. Boston: 1st World Publishing.

Menzel, D.C., (2006). Ethics management for public administrators: Building organizations of integrity. New York: M.E. Sharpe, Inc.

^{Featured Image: Jetstar Airways}

Dr. Mary Ann O’Grady

The aircraft annual inspection that is required by the Federal Aviation Administration is a straightforward process that is not difficult to conduct. However, difficulties can arise when the mechanic that is hired to perform the aircraft annual inspection is neither familiar with the process nor capable of keeping track of the time and materials. So, it is the responsibility of the aircraft owner to research the experience of the mechanic with his or her particular airplane, since the annual inspection is certainly not the time for on-the-job-training on the part of the mechanic.

In addition to determining the mechanic’s proficiency with performing annual inspections, it is also the aircraft owner’s responsibility to locate a qualified shop that is equipped with all the special tools and equipment to conduct the annual inspection properly. For example, are the tools well organized, and are stickers readily apparent to validate that the shop’s equipment has been calibrated and will test according to current tech data? The employees working in a qualified shop have been trained much more than just the bare minimum to attain an A&P license, although lesser-experienced mechanics may be working under the guidance of a senior mechanic with advanced training and many years of experience. Well-qualified shops should demonstrate a high degree of organization with the use of a tracking system that not only tracks the job and what parts were required, but also which mechanic(s) worked on the job and for how long. This can be accomplished with a scanner to ensure that the customer is only charged for the work that was done and the actual time and materials that it took to do it. The treatment of the aircraft, including its parts, is also an important consideration with regard to where it / they will be stored before and after the aircraft annual inspection, as well as where it will be parked if it is awaiting new parts.

The inspection guidelines dictate that the aircraft owner should have a record or inventory that identifies just what was given to the shop, and copies made of the most important documentation, such as previous log entries for past years detailing major repairs, tach and total time as well as AD note compliance, modifications and alterations, and 337 forms. Disorganized record-keeping can result in significant delays and greater financial expense since the shop is required to list in the aircraft records any maintenance, all repairs, inspections, and the results and AD notes that were complied with. The shop can only return the aircraft and associated prop, engine, etc. to service if there are no outstanding AD notes due at the time they completed the inspection.

The pre-inspection phase of the aircraft annual inspection determines that the aircraft meets the type certificate design or original configuration and that it is in safe operating condition, which is governed by various approved data including aircraft maintenance manuals, AC-43 13-1b, AD notes, and service bulletins. However, the FARs specify exactly what must be done during the annual inspection via a checklist, and the items that are to be inspected are listed under FAR Part 43, Appendix D.

The preparation for inspection and the inspection itself is divided into separate parts since repairs are accomplished only after the inspection has been completed, all the AD notes have been researched and a determination made regarding what applies and ultimately what needs to be done. To avoid conflict between the aircraft owner and the shop conducting the inspection, the inspection should be treated as a separate entity without including servicing, lubrication, repairs or AD note compliance. The cost of the inspection including labor and materials should be clearly communicated to the aircraft owner so that he or she is aware that any repairs, AD note compliance, parts, alterations, fluids and hardware are additional charges.

Once the inspection has been completed, a list should be constructed identifying each deficiency that was found and whether the repair should be classified as “required” or “just a good idea.” It is important that the inspection be completed prior to discussing repairs, and a determination made that pertains to the airworthiness of the aircraft – did it pass inspection or not? If it did not pass, a discrepancy list must be provided to the owner, and the inspection categorized as “un-airworthy” in the aircraft records. If the owner disagrees with that inspection designation or wants another shop to conduct the repairs, he or she may choose another facility depending upon the required repairs. Once the required repairs are completed, the aircraft does not require re-inspection, and the annual inspection date remains in effect requiring another inspection 12 calendar months after the previous inspection.

Pre-Inspection Details

Usually, the first step in a pre-inspection is the walk-around, which is similar to the pre-flight, to identify any previous damage as well as to note of the general condition of the aircraft, such as strut inflation, flap, rudder and aileron position and condition as related to the cockpit indication. The fluids (oil and fuel) are also examined for leakage or puddling, and the engine is checked for oil level, missing parts, baffles, cowling damage, missing fasteners, etc. The aircraft is then operated with a taxi check to determine the proper function of the instruments including gyros, compass, autopilot, radios, brakes, etc., and a written record is constructed. At the time of the run-up, the readings of all instruments before, during and after the run-up are recorded including a static power check using a calibrated RPM instrument which is mandatory as part of the aircraft annual inspection. This detailed record should be kept with the aircraft inspection data for future comparison.

During the actual inspection phase, the inspection panels are removed by anyone including the airplane owner, and the inspection should begin with an oil drain, a portion of which should be collected for analysis, removing the suction screen (if removable), the oil filter and/or the pressure screen to properly check for contamination. While the engine is warm, the spark plugs, either upper or lower, are removed and a compression check computed, after which the results are written on paper rather than on the cylinder. If one or more cylinders indicate low compression or a significant amount of metal particles in the oil, sump screen or filter media there is no point in conducting an in-depth inspection of the engine. If the engine compression is fine, and there is a negligible amount of metal apparent, the inspection continues at which point the inspection panels, seats, carpeting, battery, etc. are removed. Mechanics should report their observations of stripped screws, broken wires, etc. as well as to hang a bright colored streamer from each area that needs attention prior to reassembly. Mechanics should remove the wheels and service the wheel bearings; mufflers are also removed and checked for leakage with a test unit, and any discrepancies are noted in writing.

When the airplane is ready for the actual inspection, the shop inspector is contacted so that he or she can review the AD notes and log books for compliance as well as to review the recent mechanic’s notes recorded in the current pre-inspection phase. The shop inspector then records all of his or her findings, and when this inspection has concluded, he or she will inform the mechanic, what, if any, part of the aircraft can be reassembled. Any areas that require repair will be left open or accessible, and a complete list will be compiled with a written estimate for the necessary repairs as well as for the repairs that can be deferred.

The aircraft owner is contacted and notified prior to any repairs being made, but it is important that all necessary repairs be disclosed by the mechanic whether or not that shop is capable of making the major repairs. Owners are often distressed when an inspection reveals unanticipated or more extensive damage than initially thought to exist, but it is not the inspector’s fault that further damage was identified suggesting a “don’t-shoot-the-messenger” scenario. When the aircraft annual inspection is signed off, it is stipulating that the entire airplane has been found to be airworthy and safe to fly, so there is no such thing as “good enough” to return to service if the inspector is willing to affix his or her signature to the inspection report.

Repairs are another phase that follows the completed aircraft annual inspection, but they are becoming more difficult as parts continue to increase in price and decrease in availability. Competent shops are always searching for ways in which repairs can be made more economically by checking for all options that may be available to complete the job correctly the first time, thereby guaranteeing the airworthiness of the airplane.

Get Started With Your Flight Training Today

You can get started today by filling out our online application. If you would like more information, you can call us at (844) 435-9338, or click here to start a live chat with us.

Additional Flight Safety Articles:

Know the Signs and Symptoms of Hypoxia and Avoid Becoming a Victim

Positive Exchange of Flight Controls and Language

Halley’s Comet and the Go No-Go Decision

Despite the different reasons for male and female pilot error, cockpit resource management can make single-pilot flying almost as safe as in a two-pilot environment.

Vern Weiss

In the 1970s there was a rash of airline accidents. This was particularly startling because the accidents did not involve inexperienced flight crews but, instead, professional and highly trained flight crews! It was revealed in subsequent accident investigations that the accidents were preventable and largely due to human errors and frailties as well as crew members not utilizing all the resources available to them, including each other.

What I am about to tell you may find disfavor with some and if this is so, it is not my intention to cause controversy, but instead discuss these findings and how they relate to safer flying. In 2001, Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health released a report of the findings from research done on behalf of the National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stating:

“Male pilots crash due to inattention. Female pilots crash due to aircraft mishandling.”¹

Johns Hopkins professor Susan Baker pointed out that air crashes by males are most often due to flawed decision-making and inattention. Flying aircraft with known mechanical problems, running out of fuel and landing gear up, the study reported, are typically male problems. Whereas women tend to be more cautious, follow the rules but exhibit more errors such as incorrect rudder use, poor control response and recovery from stalls.

So regardless of who you are there’s work to be done by everyone. Each of us may have weaknesses and though the weaknesses are in different areas we should put our emphasis on mitigating them so we can limit or avoid pilot error.

Crew Resource Management was originally centered around airline operations with 2 or 3 pilot crews (flight engineers on aircraft such as the Boeing 727 and McDonnell Douglas DC-10 were considered the third pilot). However, when cockpits become downsized to a flight staff of only one pilot, things change dramatically. 71-80% of all general aviation accidents are due to pilot error and a single pilot operation statistically is 1.6 times as probable of having an accident.²

Isn’t CRM What We Were Supposed To Be Doing All Along?

When I first heard about the concept of CRM, I didn’t quite understand it because I thought that its methodologies were what pilots did naturally. But apparently they weren’t. I thought the elements of single pilot CRM were pretty much covered by FAR 91.103 (Preflight action – “Pilots are required to familiarize themselves with all available information concerning the flight prior to every flight”) and 91.7 (Aircraft airworthiness – “The pilot in command is responsible for determining that the airplane is airworthy prior to every flight.”). However, NTSB accident reports indicate otherwise. Have pilots just become too lazy to do due-diligence properly when guiding a lethal craft at high rates of speed on invisible roadways without shoulders on which to pull off when things get hectic? Or does the seriousness of what we’re doing when flying get lost in distractions and minutia?

The choices and solutions to the challenges, decisions and tasks of flying seldom are limited to a single one. Single pilot CRM begins with recognizing your own limitations and acknowledging your own experience level, personal minimums and physical and mental health. Are you really cranked-up after a big fight with your boss? Don’t go flying. Think you’re coming down with the flu? Don’t go flying.

Limitations are not absolute. Some days your personal limitations may be different than others. Let’s say you’ve been renting a Cessna 182 a lot but today you arrived at the airport and the only 182 available is one with advanced avionics with which you’re not familiar. Good single pilot CRM might dictate that you should not attempt flying that airplane in deteriorating weather even though you’d be quite comfortable in one of the other airplanes with more familiar avionics. Some of the sloppiest flying I have observed by otherwise skilled pilots was when they were flying sick (and also when they are sick of flying). So single pilot CRM begins with you. Once you determine that you are fit for flight you can begin a running assessment of all the resources available inside and outside of the aircraft before and during the flight.

The FAA developed a simple memory gouge to help single pilots evaluate every component of the pilot’s job. They call it the “5 P Approach” and this mnemonic represents (in order) PLAN, PLANE, PILOT, PASSENGERS and PROGRAMMING.

For each “P” you collect all pertinent information available, analyze it and then make decisions. Most importantly, always be willing to change your plan should conditions indicate the need for a change. Head-strong pilots have got themselves into trouble by making a plan and sticking to it even when alternatives would have been more prudent.

Start by getting a good weather briefing and study your route, carefully working out the fuel requirements based on both. This includes potential deviations you see which might need to be made for weather. Use all the resources that may help. Pilots who have just landed are excellent resources to fill you in on weather conditions. If the FBO has a flight planning room, print out all the weather information you think might be useful so you can take it with you. What good does a METAR report do when it’s an hour or two old? I’ll tell you. You can spot trends in weather and determine if it is deteriorating, improving or staying the same.

Next analyze your plane. Assess its airframe, engine, systems and avionics. If you’re knowledge is a little weak about one of the systems like its avionics, bone up before the flight. Pilots who must use an instruction manual during flight are adding to their workload. It’s helpful to stop by for a brief visit with the mechanic who may have worked on the aircraft you’re flying to ask about recent squawks or maintenance that’s been done. Even if something was recently repaired it might justify extra vigilance as you fly.

The planning portion for a cross-country flight is as important as the planning portion to determine aircraft performance and limitations. If you’re going to have a big fat guy sitting in the back seat, taxiing out to the runway is not the time to be wondering what elevator setting you should set or worse…when rocketing down the runway and wondering why the airplane rotated so soon and controls feel so spongy. Go back to basics and do a careful weight and balance computation. FAR Part 121 and 135 commercial operators do it for every leg they fly.

You may have heard it said that flying is hours of boredom accentuated by moments of “sheer terror,” but it need not be so. If a pilot is paying attention…monitoring…cross-checking…watching the systems, you lessen the chances of pilot error and other surprises befalling your flight. There are usually warnings when things are about to go wrong. The dimming of lights, roughness of the engine, oil pressure fluctuations, they all portend possible problems in the making. Remember, as a single pilot, you are also in the flight engineer’s seat, and can often get a heads-up on potential system problems just by watching, listening, smelling, feeling and comparing.

The third of the “5-Ps” is “pilot.” Are you physically, mentally and emotionally fit to fly? Before you even think about flying you should take a personal inventory. This inventory includes illness. Are you sick or showing symptoms of illness? Are you taking any prescription or over-the-counter drugs? Are there aspects of your life causing stress (job, financial, marital, etc)? How ’bout alcohol? You been tippin’ any? Remember the regs say 8 hours “bottle to throttle” but only then if your blood-alcohol content is less than 0.04%. Are you fatigued? When you’re tired your reflexes, coordination and thinking are dulled. Are you emotionally wrapped-up tight? Sad? Angry? Ecstatic?³ The guy in charge at the FAA (Federal Acronym Administration) stitched together Illness-Medication-Stress-Alcohol-Fatigue-Emotion and came up with IM-SAFE. Get it?

The number four “P” is passengers. Passengers can come in handy especially when there is go- fer jobs to do like, “hand me that pastrami on rye” or on the ground, “go back in the FBO and ask that receptionist’s phone number for me.” However they also can create distractions, especially when they’re a frightened scare-d-cat white-knucklers, airsick or just a blustering blow-hard that will
not shut up. Although you’re busy as a single pilot, you should provide whatever assistance is within your power to do so to alleviate passenger apprehensions. When busy you might just have to “tune them out” so that you can focus on your job as pilot. Commercial operators procedurally adhere to the cockpit rule of no talking except that which is required for conducting checklists or other duties below 10,000 feet. Although your flying may rarely take you above 10,000 feet it isn’t a bad practice to tell passengers there are certain periods that are “sterile” and no talking is allowed such as when it gets busy on the radio as you approach an airport. You can signify this to them by furrowing your forehead and hissing s-h-h-h-h-h loudly. If your passenger is also a pilot, it is important to establish who is flying the plane and who is not. Sometimes rated pilots will move in on a flying pilot’s turf and this can cause confusion and lead to big problems. Make sure the passengers who are pilots recognize they are to behave as passengers.

The final “P” stands for programming. Flying has been inundated with lots of automation and electronic gadgetry. While this gee-whiz technology can reduce the pilot’s workload it can also lure the pilot into pilot error and potentially catastrophic scenarios. An obvious bad one is ignoring control of the aircraft while making programming inputs. It is essential that pilots become functionally familiar with their navigation systems, tablets, flight management systems et cetera so that they’re not “trying to figure it out” during high workload times. Routes should be preprogrammed prior to take-off and then only minor adjustments will need to be made to accommodate any ATC changes. Double-check your work, too. You may plug-in a navigation fix incorrectly by “fat- fingering” the dinky little buttons or touch screen. Once you’re done go back over it to make sure you’re not headed for Norfolk, Virginia (ORF) instead of Chicago O’Hare (ORD).

Unforeseen things still happen while flying, and no matter how much planning and prep you’ve done, doggone it…the demons sometimes still can reach out and grab your plane. When those demons have got you in their clutches keep these rules in mind:

1. FLY THE AIRPLANE. Period. Don’t allow ANYTHING to take you away from doing that.

2. FLY THE AIRPLANE!

3. ISOLATE the problem. Consider probable causes and possible causes.

4. Use the appropriate CHECKLIST for your problem. It will likely lead you to resolution of the problem and probably suggest the best or the only alternative.

5. Calculate how much TIME and FUEL you have to remain aloft and work on the problem.

6. Evaluate all ALTERNATIVES and assign pros and cons to each.

7. You always have 3 choices: LAND NOW, LAND SOON or CONTINUE.

8. Utilize all RESOURCES both on the ground and in the air including ATC and other aircraft to relay your radio message if you’re too low in altitude. Don’t be afraid to confess your predicament.

9.Remember the most important FAR of all is 14 CFR § 91.3(b) “In an in-flight emergency
requiring immediate action, the pilot in command may deviate from any rule of this part to the extent required to meet that emergency.”

10. FLY THE AIRPLANE!

Single pilot flying is busy flying but when you do your best to thoroughly prepare for a flight it greatly lessens chaos and the chance for pilot error. The philosophy of CRM is a good one. And although it is a fairly new term in aviation, it is really a very old concept that good pilots have been practicing for many years.

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John Peltier

Pilot reports (PIREPs) are an integral part of the aviation meteorological network. They’re used to assess the accuracy of weather reported by automated stations and instrumentation. Other pilots use them to make important decisions on the ground and in the air. FSS uses them to brief pilots. ATC uses PIREPs to sequence traffic around unfavorable weather. And they’re also the only way of knowing what’s going on in areas that have gaps in automated coverage.

ATC is actually required to solicit reports from pilots in the following conditions:

• When requested by another pilot
• When the ceiling is at or less than 5,000’
• When visibility is at or less than 5 miles
• Thunderstorms are present
• Moderate or greater turbulence is present
• Light or greater icing present
• Wind shear present
• Volcanic ash present

Unfortunately, not many pilots participate voluntarily. Hardly any pilots give routine reports to ATC when they’re flying. They either don’t think of reporting one, it’s too much work, or they don’t know what to say. And when ATC does solicit a PIREP, pilots don’t know what to do. Nonsense!

The Format for Giving PIREPs

Maybe it’s the written form of PIREPs that intimidates pilots. We all remember seeing the PIREP format on our test: KCMH UA /OV APE 230010/TM 1516/FL085/TP BE20/SK BKN065/WX FV03SM HZ FU/TA 20/TB LGT.

How am I going to do this while I’m flying?!?!

Plain English is your answer!

PIREPs only need to contain the following five elements: Location, altitude, time, type of aircraft, and an observation.

Remember the following acronym or write it down on your kneeboard:

LATTO

• Location
• Altitude
• Time
• Type of Aircraft
• Observation

Where were you when you saw this weather, what time was it, and what’d you see. It’s that easy!

Location

You can report location any number of ways. Bearing & distance from a navigational aid is the easiest for you to give and the easiest for ATC to copy down, so if you’re dialed into a navaid you should use this. Otherwise something as simple as “five miles south of Folsom Lake” works just as well. GPS coordinates should only be given as a last resort because of the radio time required and greater possibility of transcription errors.

Altitude, Time, Type of Aircraft

Altitude is just what it sounds like – your altitude.

Time should be the time of your observation, not the time of your report. If you experienced some light icing but couldn’t get anyone on the radio for thirty minutes, you should give the time of your encounter. You can even just say “thirty minutes ago” and the person on the other end will do the math.

Type of aircraft is another item you can report without requiring much thought.

Observation

You don’t need to report all elements of the written PIREP (wind, sky condition, visibility, precipitation, turbulence, etc). You really only need to report what you think is significant.

Was there something that affected your routing or made you uncomfortable? Was there an element of the forecast that is completely off from reality? Then that’s all you really need to report. And you can use plain English for this.

You should also make a report when you go missed approach due to weather or if you encounter wind shear on takeoff or landing.

The different degrees of icing and turbulence are some things you should know how to report.

Icing should also be reported with your indicated airspeed and outside air temperature if you can remember to do so. If you don’t, that’s okay, ATC may ask for that information. Degrees of icing:

• Trace. You just start to notice the formation of ice on the airframe. This is “trace”.
• Light. Ice is accumulating at a rate that might become hazardous in an hour. Intermittent use of deice equipment removes it. This is “light”.
• Moderate. Ice has formed and accumulating, and is now presenting a hazard to flight. Continual use of deice equipment necessary. This is “moderate”.
• Severe. Immediate diversion is necessary because deice equipment can’t keep up. This is “severe”.

Turbulence is reported with both an intensity and duration. Intensity is reported as follows:

• Light. You experience slight & erratic changes in altitude or attitude, or some bumpiness but without noticeable changes in altitude or attitude. This is “light”.
• Moderate. You’re experiencing larger changes in altitude and/or attitude, but you remain in control of the aircraft. You see your indicated airspeed changing. Or maybe you’re getting quickly bounced around but altitude and attitude seems to be holding. This is “moderate”.
• Severe. You experience large and abrupt changes in altitude and attitude with large changes in airspeed. You may momentarily lose control. This is “severe”.
• Extreme. The aircraft is impossible to control and structural damage may occur. This is “extreme”.

The duration of turbulence is reported as follows:

• Occasional: happening less than 1/3 of the time.
• Intermittent: happens from 1/3 to 2/3 of the time.
• Continuous: happening greater than 2/3 of the time.

PIREP Scenarios

Now for some scenarios so you can try out your skill with PIREPs.

Scenario 1

You’re approaching Reno International at 6,500’ and your GPS says you’re 4 miles to the south, flying your Cessna 182, callsign Cessna 1234. You can barely make out the outline of the airfield through the haze. What would that sound like?

“Reno tower, Cessna 1234 with a PIREP”

“Cessna 1234, Reno tower, go ahead”

“Cessna 1234, four miles south of the airport, six thousand five hundred feet, Cessna 182, currently reporting only four miles visibility in haze”

When you’re reporting current conditions, it’s fine to say “currently reporting” instead of the actual time.

Scenario 2

You’re tuned in to the Fayetteville VOR/DME and showing you’re on the FAY 230 radial at 9 miles. You’re in a Piper PA-34 Seneca, callsign Seneca 78, at 8,500’. You’re getting bumped pretty good and your airspeed is changing plus or minus 8 knots from your cruise speed, but you remain in control at all times. This is happening half the time. Fifteen minutes later you get a hold of Raleigh FSS, now on the FAY 230 radial at 35 miles, still experiencing the turbulence. What’s your call?

“Raleigh Radio, Seneca 78 with a PIREP”

“Seneca 78, Raleigh Radio, go ahead with your PIREP”

“Seneca 78, from the Foxtrot Alpha Yankee two-three-zero at nine miles to the two-three-zero at thirty-five miles, eight thousand five hundred feet, fifteen minutes ago to present, Piper PA34, intermittent moderate turbulence.”

If your observation covers a geographic area, try to bound it like in the example.

Scenario 3

The forecasted weather in the vicinity of Auburn Municipal was for scattered clouds at 9,000 feet, over ten miles of visibility, and winds out of the southwest at 10 knots. You’re transiting the area overhead in a Robinson R22, callsign Helicopter 30Y, and are forced to stay at 4,500’ MSL due to a broken ceiling at 5,000’. Visibility is ten miles and winds are out of the southwest at 5-10 knots. You’re seven miles to the east and in contact with Rancho Murieta FSS. What would you report?

“Rancho Murieta radio, Helicopter 30Y with a PIREP”
“Helicopter 30Y, Rancho Murieta radio, go ahead”

“Helicopter 30Y, seven miles east of Auburn Muni, four thousand five hundred feet, Robinson R22, reporting a broken ceiling at five thousand feet”

Because visibility and winds are more or less observed to be as forecast, you only need to report the drastic difference in the cloud layer.

Who to Report PIREPs To

You can make your reports to whichever ATC facility you’re currently talking to. They’ll disseminate the information appropriately.

There are also a number of EFAS stations around the country (En Route Flight Advisory Service), callsign “Flight Watch”. They serve as a central collection point for PIREPs and you can report directly to them if radio coverage allows it.

If you can’t make a PIREP by radio, you can make an electronic submission on landing. The FAA has simplified this process in order to encourage more participation.

Practice, Practice, Practice!

Next time you’re out flying, go ahead and make some voluntary reports when radio traffic allows it – it’ll be good practice for when it really counts!

In the meantime, you can find out more information in the Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM) Chapter 7 Sections 1-16 to 1-28 (reporting weather).

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Shawn Arena

Throughout my years in aviation, I’ve encountered a variety of situations in which by making the right decision, I avoided potential and real danger. And in the name of flight safety, I’d like to share another one of those stores here. This is a story that involves a chain of events that literally caused the hair on my arms tingle with trepidation, for I was witnessing in real life what Human Factors experts have called the “Swiss Cheese Effect.”

Dr. James Reason’s “Swiss Cheese” Model

For those readers who may not be familiar with Dr. James Reason’s “Swiss Cheese Model”, here is a brief primer. Dr. James T. Reason, from the University of Manchester, is considered the preeminent pioneer in the study of risk management and safety culture. In the mid-1990’s Dr. Reason published a document highlighting what he referred to as the “Swiss Cheese Model.” See the following graphic:

As one can see, there are several segments that represent layers or ‘links in a chain” of events that if aligned just right, can cause an incident or accident (i.e. the “Swiss Cheese Effect”). If however, the sequence of events is recognized, it re-aligns or breaks the chain and an accident is avoided. This is the background of this flight experience.

The Chain of Events in Real Life

In early 2002, I was managing a general aviation airport, owned by the City of Phoenix, AZ, named Phoenix-Goodyear Airport (GYR). During that time, local airport managers held a quarterly airport manager’s meeting at a selected Arizona airport to share day-to-day airport administration and issues of the time, so as to learn from each other. On the day of the meeting, I decided to rent a Cessna 172 from Glendale Municipal Airport (GEU), about 15 minutes driving time from my airport in Goodyear. Mark, Glendale’s airport manager at the time, agreed to come along rather than make the 122 mile, 2 hour drive to Show Low Regional Airport (SOW) where the meeting was being held. By flying, we could make the meeting at SOW, in northeast AZ, in less than an hour.

This is when the ‘chain of events’ and potential flight safety risks began. Event #1: The aircraft I had reserved was inadvertently rented out to someone else, so I had to take another that I had not flown before. “No big deal,” I thought to myself, I’d flown several 172’s from this flight school before with no problem. As I was conducting the interior preflight inspection, I noted that the engine would not start after a few efforts. “Oh, well,” I thought. Maybe it was just cold and hadn’t flown in a while.

Event #2: After I finally got the engine running to my satisfaction, I noted that the Number 1 COMM radio reception was very intermittent, but I continued to the run-up area to conduct the pre-takeoff checklist. As I started to listen to the Automatic Terminal Information System (ATIS) broadcast at GEU (i.e. a pre-recorded message telling pilots cloud heights, visibility, active runway and time), I recalled the weather report for SOW (Event #3) was a 30 knot crosswind upon landing, with gusts up to 45 knots. And this was at a 2200 foot runway located in mountainous terrain. Immediately after hearing the local ATIS, the radio knob literally broke off and fell to the floor.

Fortunately for me, it only took these three events to stop the chain. I radioed GEU ground control for taxi back to the ramp. I felt that not only had the “Swiss cheese holes” begin to align, but a slight but very apparent case of “get-there-itis” also began to creep in. Mark was, to say the least, very unhappy that we had to scrub the flight. I apologized but told him: “ I don’t care, I’d rather be in a position on the ground wishing we were airborne, versus being airborne and wishing we were on the ground.”

Yes, at first I was bummed too, BUT a strong dose of reality came across me saying enough is enough. I called Dennis, the Airport Manager at SOW, apologized for not making the meeting and we would catch up at the next meeting.

Flight Safety Lessons Learned

By no means am I postulating that no one would have continued a similar flight, but what I want to convey to my fellow airmen is that I reached my personal limits and was not willing to risk further events. As the saying goes: “Learn to fly another day.” The gravity of the chain of events really sunk in when I called Dennis the next day, and learned the winds actually increased about the time we would have arrived. Thank goodness I had chosen to remain on terra firma. Here is hoping others will pay similar attention to flight safety and avoid the “Swiss Cheese” from aligning for them!

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^{Featured Image by Marshall Segal}