Contents:
Emergency Preparation; ...Flight
Insurance Areas; ...Safe Flight Factors;
…VFR into IFR...Statute
of Repose; …Learning to Recognize;
...See and Be Seen; ...Use
the system ; ...Ways to Prevent Mid-air
accidents; ...Flyer's Survival Kit;
...The little things; ...What
Do I Do if; ...Getting Found;
...Situations; ...Distraction;
...Open door ; …Distractions;
...Watching for Traffic; …Co-Pilots; …CRM(Cockpit
Resource Management); …Common
Unexpecteds; …What Is Abnormal?;
…Abnormal Emergencies; …Safety Kit; …
Emergency
Preparation
Never lift off a runway nor fly a mile without a pretty good
idea of where you expect to land. Know which way to expect
to turn, how far to the two nearest airports and the next best
landing option. It is of primary importance that the people
survive; reuse of the airplane is secondary.
Number one priority is to fly the airplane, all the checklists
and emergency procedures in the world will not outweigh how
well you control the airspeed and ground contact attitude. As
slow as possible is the best way to hit anything along with a
flying angle of attack. An accident that occurs in poor visibility
is nearly always fatal because you lack the ability to control
both the airspeed and flight attitude. Don't fly into areas of
possible thunderstorms or icing. Your survival will be more a
matter of luck than skill.
Flying at night reduces your accident survival options. Flying
at night is an option if there is sufficient moonlight to allow
seeing and avoiding clouds. I have considered the desirability
of having a night vision monocular for flying at night. With
improved night vision your ability to see a preferred landing
site would be greatly improved. For one who plans to do
considerable night flying it seems an economic option.
Every act of flying has an inherent risk factor that requires
you have a back door plan available. Failure to make immediate
use of a safety option is a not uncommon cause of complete failure
of the option. Risk increases exponentially as the
adverse factors enter the flight. The danger of each link in the
chain leading to an accident is such that each link exponentially
increases the probability of the accident. Risk factors do not
just add; they multiply. The factors can be pilot judgment
mistakes, changes in atmospheric conditions or aircraft malfunctions.
Separately or together they require the pilot to come
up with an option that will prevent this uncontrolled growth.
Any option that reduces risk has a primary ingredient of complete
awareness of where you are and where you should go for the greatest
reduction of risk. Your ability to have anticipated where you
plan to go is to be preferred to making the decision after the
fact. The more nearly normal you can keep your emergency procedures
the better. Every so often your landings should be done as power-off.
If you make, keep, and amend a fuel consumption log for an aircraft
as you normally fly it, you should never run out of fuel. Check
fuel and oil at every opportunity. Walk around the aircraft before
you get in. An inadequate preflight is high on the list of accident
causes. Most problems leading to accident begin as small annoyances.
An annoyance can, if ignored, grow quite rapidly and unexpectedly.
Safety relies on the pilot, more so than in any other kind of
transportation. Keep your head about you. Know you airplane thoroughly
and all of its systems. Know the limits of your performance and
of the airplane.
Time
There are many different kinds of time in aviation. The pilot
must know these times, how much to trust the time judgments of
others, how to determine total real time, remaining useful time,
remaining legal time and how to obtain more time.
Extra time can be made available if you know what to do when to do it and then do it. The problems of flying can be directly attributable to misuse of time. If we take enough time to identify and make available our options and resources, and then manage them wisely, we can expect safer and more enjoyable flying experiences. You can't do this if you don't know where you are or what to say. If you don't know where you are...say so.
Fuel
We begin with the aircraft manual. The manual gives various engine
operation fuel times. The time will vary greatly with load, power,
leaning, and throttle use. The book time figures are not for you
or the aircraft as it exists today. They are at best approximations
to which you must add an insurance factor. Still you must know
them as a place to begin. During very cold weather alcohol can
be added to fuel to combine with any water that may be in the
tank. Sump draining should be carried to extremes under cold conditions.
Battery
A battery has a time factor rating known as amp-hours when new.
With this as a datum from which we must make assumptions as to
how much time we have for various aircraft functions. If the battery
charging system fails, we can only rely on our knowledge of amp-hour
time consumption available. From this knowledge we can figure
the approximate useful time of the transponder, radio receiver,
transmitter, lights, flaps and gear. Minimum electrical would
be using just the transponder. A competent mechanic should be
able to give you the information you want for a specific aircraft.
Altitude
Altitude is time in the bank. Altitude gives you time to select
options, to turn, descend and plan. Altitude can give you more
fuel time. Altitude gives you more distance for the fuel time
especially if winds can be used. At low altitudes there is less
available time and fewer options. Altitude improves communications
and usually visibility.
Ground
Always take the ground time to develop the "what if"
choices you may need to make. The weather, preflight, charts,
POH limits any your own condition should be checked during ground
time prior to every flight. Making the go/no-go decision is as
important as flying decisions get. It takes superior knowledge
on the part of a pilot to say no to a flight or any part of a
flight. Recognizing that experience may make a flight possible
for you will make your refusal to fly all the more important.
Waiting a while on the ground before going is always an option as may leaving early. Fuel is time. Being surprised by the weather is going to be hard to explain. Never fly into a situation that does not have a back door escape route.
Only yesterday, 10-2-98 I flew with a pilot into the Sierras to retrieve an automobile. The weather was forecast to be good. On reaching Sacrmento, A solid cloud embankment extended to each side as far as we could see. Bases were at 7000' and tops about 9000'. This was completely unexpected. I had the pilot contact Rancho FSS for a weather up-date. They had no information on this solid overcast cloud cover. The Truckee AWOS gave Scattered clouds at 9000'. If not for that real time report we would have turned back. With that forecast we flew on and found that the Truckee Basin and entire eastern side of the Sierras was clear. The flight and return was completed in good flying conditions.
Safe
Flight Factors
Competency to handle emergencies requires that the flight
instructor control the practice conditions to reduce the risk.
A competency program should exceed the FAR requirements that are
expected to prepare pilots for reasonable expectations
Weather
Notams, PIREPS, temperatures, winds, spread, problems
Route
Terrain, obstacles, landing sites, navaids, airspace considerations
Aircraft
Condition, fuel, performance,
Pilot
Personal minimums, condition
If you do not practice skills, they will deteriorate.
VFR
into IFR
Legal holds no guarantee of safety and less than safe can
be legal. Less than safe would be what we call marginal VFR. Recognizably
less than safe conditions can become safer if the pilot has the
terrain and obstacle knowledge, procedure
familiarity situational awareness, and flying skills to proceed
safely.
In any flying situation the skilled pilot has anticipated the
variations of circumstance the may shut the door to preferred
options. The pilot always keeps an escape option open but this
does not come with the same guarantee offered by getting
on the ground.
Statute
of Repose
The 18-year period begins all over again every time a new
part is added to an airplane but only for that part. If a part
fails that is over 18 years in use there is no damage liability.
Liability
In flying you are subject to two different liabilities--civil
and regulatory. Civil usually means you have wronged another person
and can expect to pay damages. Break an FAR and you can expect
an FAA enforcement action. The facts of a given situation determine
the potential liability and accountability.
Holding
There are rules about what angles radials are used to intercept
at intersections.. When procedures are designed, the protected
airspace takes into account things like fix uncertainty due to
poor navaid geometry.
Learning
to Recognize
Two sets of eyes have not proven to be better than one set
as recorded by accident data. One fourth of mid air accidents
have occurred with an active instructor in the cockpit. The instructor
is then PIC and the responsible party. Result is the student relies
on the lookout scan of the instructor. A student who has spent
considerable time on a simulator is not likely to have a proficient
exterior scan.
It has been suggested that instructors ask students what they saw during a maneuver as a means of bringing to their attention the need to look for aircraft as well as the horizon. I have written elsewhere about the levels of recognition that goes through the stages of looking, seeing, and finally to recognition.
The instructor who becomes engrossed in the student performance
as shown on the instrument panel is leaving himself vulnerable
to a mid-air. For this reason, I do not do such maneuvering unless
under the additional eyes of radar or in an area very unlikely
to have aircraft. One of my favorite playgrounds is within 3000
feet of the surface and only 500 feet below a Class Bravo shelf.
Another time in marginal VFR conditions I chose to do maneuvers
in the top 500 feet of a Class Delta airspace with the approval
of the tower. By monitoring the tower frequency I could be made
aware of any intruding traffic.
I never let a student make a turn without verbalizing and visually
clearing the airspace being entered. A big part of seeing aircraft
is knowing 'where' to look. 'Airways' are not just limited to
those on charts. The little things that I use to avoid aircraft
are deeply ingrained in my instruction. Just today I had two students
depart the airport by climbing in the pattern. Low visibility
made this a desirable way to get into the better VFR above 3000'.
From the student's viewpoint there is not enough available
attention devoted to flying to spend much looking for airplanes.
Yet looking for and finding airplanes is a skill that can be taught
and developed. A student can be taught that the most likely mid-air
has several focal areas. Uncontrolled airports, final approach,
unorthodox departures, VORs, specific numbers below 3000 AGL,
reliance on radar, relative speeds and a mix of aircraft types.
See and avoid; see and be seen; look and look out; whatever will
never take the place of reality and probability. Staying away
from other planes has a great deal to do with where you decide
to put yourself.
See and Be Seen
The basic FAR for traffic avoidance requires the pilot to
be responsible for looking outside the aircraft to see other aircraft.
You can look without seeing; see without recognition; recognize
without reacting, and react inappropriately by instinct.
The physiology of the eye is such that it is able to focus at
a distance only for a short period over a 15-degree arc of the
horizon. If something is not brought into focus the eye will adjust
to about a 20-food focal distance. Motion and attitude are best
noted by peripheral vision. Peripheral vision will not accurately
detect apparent motion the more distant it is from the fovea or
focal center. At 25-degrees, 97% of motion is detectable while
at 70-degrees it falls to 67%. The more motion involved the better
something can be seen. If it moves you are more likely to see
it. You are even more likely to see it if you can bring your visual
focus to within 25 degrees of the motion. This means you must
keep your eyes and head moving.
It is difficult to see an airplane ahead of you that is moving
in the same direction. You can see things that move but the relative
motion of an aircraft going ahead of you is hard to detect and
will be even more difficult to see if it is below, as well. In
a trainer this is not so much a problem as the fact that you may
be the aircraft ahead and below. Be aware that following aircraft
may not see you. Move your aircraft wings and change directions
to help an aircraft behind you, find you.
Our brain senses the relative eye movement of each eye. As the
eye focuses it provides the brain the data needed to provide depth
or distance. A person with one eye can use relative sizes and
familiarity to determine both depth and distance.
--We know that 'smaller means farther away when looking at objects
of known relative size.
--Where one object blocks or obscures another we know this shows
relative closeness.
--Parallel lines converge with distance. A runway on final forms
a parallelogram that is narrower at far end.
-- As we fly to a runway or anything else there is a 'sweet' spot
that does not move. Things inside the spot move toward us things
beyond the spot move away. It is this relative motion that we
learn to use in making our landing decisions. The approach is
planned so the 'sweet' is the planned flare point over the runway.
--Your ability to discern distance is affected by how clear the
view. Clear weather makes things closer and more colorful. Haze
obscures the outlines and things appear farther away.
--We have learned to judge distance by observation of common objects
such as people and automobiles. This same skill will cause a problem
when judging distance of clouds. Clouds have no relative size
or other characteristic that would allow judging distance.
--We can visually interpret shadows and lighted areas as relatively
high or low.
The advantage of having two eyes for distance perception is limited
to about twenty feet. At wingtip distances visual depth perception
is not as reliable as the yellow line of a parking ramp. Even
during landing we use visual cues all beyond the twenty foot range.
One eye is just as good as two. Peripheral vision as the ground
flows to each side of us is used to estimate height above the
ground. A person with one eye loses 60% of this peripheral vision.
All pilots should develop a 'swivel head' to extend their peripheral
vision. Smokers even more so. Smokers have more car accidents,
too.
Moving the head sideways is not enough. Relative motion between
two approaching aircraft can be zero if altitude and angle are
constant. Only moving the head forward and back will create the
required relative motion for visual detection. This is sometimes
called the 'Instructor rock". Use the horizon to determine
relative altitudes of pilots and obstacles to your altitude.
When copying the ATIS or referring to a sectional, you should
hold it up in the cockpit so that you give your peripheral vision
a chance to detect motion. Looking down will move the center of
gravity of the aircraft forward and initiate a descent as well
as limiting your exterior lookout. You should divide the windshield
into 15-degree arcs for aircraft detection. Since you cannot see
when the eyes are moving, concentrate on distant points when possible
and deliberately select 15-degree visual areas when you move your
eyes. When you make clearing turns, always look at least 30-degrees
to the rear of your aircraft. Slower aircraft are most likely
to be impacted at a 30 degree angle from the rear at a slightly
above or below impact angle. A minimum of 4 to 1 time ratio must
be maintained between outside the cockpit and inside the cockpit
visual attention.
Use the
system
Getting traffic advisories from ATC does not relieve the pilot
from his see and avoid responsibilities. FAR 91.113 (b) requires
vigilance to see and avoid regardless of flight conditions. Once
you have indicated to ATC that you have visual contact, the responsibility
for see and avoid is entirely yours. On occasion, it may be better
NOT to 'see' an aircraft so that ATC will plan accordingly. Advise
ATC immediately if you should lose visual reference with an aircraft,
the airport, or your location.
Plan your flight references and altitudes to avoid those common
'freeways' used by most pilots. Train yourself to minimize your
exposure to other aircraft. Always respond to ATC traffic advisories
in such a way that your altitude and route is known. Request the
same information of the other aircraft. Always check the possible
route of conflicting traffic.
Being on radar can lead to complacency. Radar has the capability
of being selective as to which aircraft are shown. As a pilot
you are not privy to knowing what selectivity is used. You must
keep an active watch because other VFR aircraft squawking 1200
may not show on the radar screen. Nearly half of all midairs occur
below 500' near uncontrolled airports most likely while in the
pattern. Flying within 3000' of the terrain is the region of highest
probability for a midair accident. The fatality rate of midairs
is quite high but half of those so involved do survive.
Ways
to prevent a midair accidents:
--Knowing where to fly is as important as knowing where to look.
--Scan in 15deg; segments and slightly above and below the horizon.
--Make clearing turns before maneuvers and when climbing.
--Get radar advisories but don't trust them totally.
--Use strobes, lights and transponder on Mode C.
--Fly uncontrolled patterns as AIM recommends.
--Be accurate with your position reporting.
--Don't trust the reporting of others.
--Use the radio as advised in the AIM.
--Watch for shadows on the ground.
--Use your passengers as lookouts.
--Clean the windshield.
Flyer's
Survival Kit
This is a partial list of flight considerations. Each item
in its abbreviated form is open to argument, exception, and expansion.
The reader is urged to expand in writing the pros and cons of
every item.
--Avoid VOR's.
--Checklists are for using.
--Keep the eyes outside the cockpit.
--Know when and how to ask for help.
--Eat well before any extended flight.
--When a landing is in doubt, go around.
--If something feels wrong, it probably is.
--Ask questions when at unfamiliar airports.
--Get recurrent training on a regular basis.
--Don't whistle in the cockpit, danger ahead.
--Make a periodic scan of engine instruments.
--Get as much instrument training as you can.
--Plan as though the unexpected were expected.
--A good pilot requires his best as a standard.
--The 'hurrieder' you get, the more you forget.
--Don't fly if you can't pass a flight physical.
--Living dangerously includes overshooting final.
--Never leave a radar frequency without advising.
--Avoid direct over mountain or over water flights.
--Longevity cannot continue on average performance.
..Take an airport-vicinity or otherwise safer route.
..Any time you are late, you will fly into headwinds.
..Food affects both your flying ability and judgment.
..The P-factor caused by coffee also causes headwinds.
..Set personal/aircraft minimums and don't break them.
..Flight in marginal VFR is dangerous-collect options.
..Know the limits of your aircraft as well as your own.
..For the normal, plan; for the contingencies, prepare.
..If you are not ahead of the plane, you are behind it.
..Engine instrument scan is on the checkpoint checklist.
..Practice emergencies at altitude or with an instructor.
..A good pilot is a good pilot regardless of the airplane.
..Monitor local ATIS and ATC for local traffic conditions.
..Always fly by the rules regardless of the type of flight.
..Look for signs that will give wind direction and velocity.
..Collect options like $100 chips, one chip is never enough.
..Remember, fuel may not be available late in the afternoon.
..Set up a simulated 'what if' of some kind on every flight.
..Assume nothing; verify and crosscheck critical information.
..Communication and assertiveness lets everyone into the game.
--If you don't enjoy crosswind landings, get some instruction.
--Select altitudes that are high enough to avoid local planes.
--Know the direction to fly to the best emergency landing sites.
--Plan fuel/kidney stops with plenty of time allotted for delay.
--The more uncomfortable you are the higher your alertness level.
--Your life expectancy can be extended by how well you preflight.
--Carry enough fuel and reserves to cover unexpected requirements.
--Know the common departure and arrival routes in your flight
areas.
--Know the manual gliding distance/speed for your aircraft per
1000'.
--Pilots, who survive to be old, have common sense as a common
thread.
--Do everything on the ground that can and should be done on the
ground.
--Every young pilot's primary ambition should be to become an
old pilot.
--Within 3000' AGL fly at altitudes other than 1500. 2000, 2500,
& 3000.
--Use your transponder/encoder and advise local ATC of your flight
plans.
--With your instructor, practice an engine failure and a 240°
turn.
--Practice at altitudes and places unlikely to encounter other
aircraft.
--Except where required by FAR, it is best to avoid enroute airways.
--At uncontrolled airport expect IFR arrivals to make unusual
approaches.
--Pilots on a collision course will pull back and turn. Push forward.
--Know the areas that require knowledge, avoidance, and vigilance.
--Always monitor frequencies and know where to get those you don't
know.
--Mark airways on your routes because of the wake turbulence danger.
---Emergency First Aid kit
--Halogen fire extinguisher
-- When you smell burning, shut down the electrical system.
The little things
Safety in flying is made up of many aspects large and small.
It is the small aspects that reoccur most often and have the greatest
probability of not being in a pilot's repertoire. What follows
is a collection of small things that I do and teach because I
have found them of safety value. Where a reason or justification
may be required I will explain.
One little
Except for the fortunate few, the cost of flying is a major deterrent.
If money becomes part of the problem the potential pilot has compounded
his learning difficulty. Even the most economical of flying clubs
will take money like a sausage grinder. If you are not resigned
to this expense and flow, wait. Have the funds set aside and readily
available. After money, the student pilot must have time. You
will learn faster and safer if you fly frequently. Daily is best
only if you have sufficient time to keep the bookwork caught up.
Minimum flights can vary from two to three according to the phase.
Any less frequently will limit the efficiency of the process.
Two little..
Get on the government mailing list. Their advisory circulars are
mostly free as is the NASA 'callback'. Addresses on the internet.
FAAviation News at $16 is a good buy as is Flight Training (6
months free to students), Get all the back issues you can. Many
government texts related to flying can be obtained at the public
library. (See: Sources)
Begin your flight training in the Fall. Weather problems will
help you develop awareness of the local conditions that both affect
your ability to fly well and determine whether you should fly
at all. By beginning now you will develop the experience and judgment
to make safe decisions. By the time such weather next comes around
you will have had an extended period of good weather to improve
your flight proficiency.
Three little...
Use a full size cassette tape recorder with a patch cord into
the intercom to record all your ground instruction, radio procedure
practice, ATC radio communications, and the flight instruction
as it occurs in the cockpit. Such a system eliminates engine noise.
As a student you will be surprised at how much communication occurs
without your being aware of what is said and especially its significance.
It is equally important that a pilot know where other aircraft
is in relationship to his aircraft as it is to know where he is.
Four little....
You will improve your awareness by plotting your flight on to
an airport and then locating the position and arrival direction
of incoming aircraft. Departing aircraft can be plotted as well.
This three dimensional chess game is played by ATC and pilots
must learn to play the game as well. The sooner you start using
the radio, the better.
Five little.....
On arrival at the airport I feel the wind, look at the flags and
windsock. I want to develop my skill in judging winds where the
ATIS or AWOS provides a reference check. I may need that skill
where no references are available. By waiting to copy the ATIS/AWOS
until the engine is started you will learn to copy it under adverse
conditions such as will be required on your return. Nothing focuses
the attention as well as something costing you money.
Six little......
On preflight besides the things usually on the aircraft checklist
I always roll the tires because the cord may be showing on the
bottom. One cord layer missing uses up a lot of safety. Additionally,
you have learned that a tire of improper inflation is deemed unairworthy
by the FAA. A tire gauge is part of your flight kit. If in the
starting process a student fails to check the belt attachments
of the instructor, at some point during the takeoff the door seems
to open.
Seven little.......
Taxiing on the line gives me the greatest margin of clearance.
I am considerate of other pilots by taking the smallest space
in the runup areas that I can. During taxi and run-up I have my
mixture leaned since it is a little known manufacturers recommendation.
After runup, I position my aircraft to see both the approach and
base legs prior to taking the runway.
Eight little........
I climb at trimmed Vy and at 300' AGL I check for runway alignment
by letting go of the yoke and turning my head. Above 300' I do
shallow banked 30 degree turns or Dutch rolls both to help seeing
and being seen. Above the pattern altitude I enter a cruise climb
when I plan to climb above 3000' AGL for improved cooling and
visibility. Any lower flights are always flown to one side or
the other of even 500s and 1000s which makes it possible to see
and avoid. Once you start doing this you will soon realize the
advantages along the busy flyways. Make a practice of flying to
the right side of roads and valleys. Avoid VORs and other navigational
aids, especially those that are part of IFR approaches. The lower
the visibility the more important this last becomes.
Nine little.........
The making of turns is one of the first four basics a pilot learns.
Small safety factors that exist in this basic should be as much
a feature of the performance as the turn itself. When making a
series of turns, make the first turn to the left. Why? Because
any passing traffic from your vulnerable rear is supposed to be
passing on your right. Make a practice of saying, "clear
right/left; turn right/left" when you first learn and continue
the practice for you flying life. Those with you have a right
to know your safety practices are in place.
Ten little..........
When you depart home field VFR you never have absolute assurance
that you will be able to return VFR. Make a practice of seeking
out the minimum safe altitudes that can be flown from any direction.
You must know where the power lines are, where the roads lead,
where the antenna are, and all the major identifiable points within
15 miles of home field. And when you can't sneak in SVFR, know
where the large airport with radar assistance lies as well as
the best small airport may be.
Eleven little...........
When you have a problem, call for the first help you can. Declaring
an emergency too early is less likely to get you into FAA type
trouble than doing it too late. Given enough time ATC can find
you, guide you, and in some instances land you. Your responsibility
is to provide the required time.
Becoming a professional airline pilot could be equated with becoming
a professional baseball player. Of the tens of thousands who have
the 'want' only a lucky few are at the right place, at the right
time, and knowing the right people. Every person with professional
flight ambitions should plan their lives around a college major
and an alternative career. If flying happens, you were among the
fortunate. Personally, my childhood revolved around airplanes
but I only became a pilot after 'wasting' my years as a teacher.
I was able to incorporate my teaching skills into flight instruction
at age 42. My oldest student was 81.
What
Do I Do if...
You are unable to get all or any part of the ATIS.
During the two to five minutes of making a new ATIS the old ATIS
will not be transmitted. Occasionally, essential parts of the
ATIS may be accidentally left off. Like instructors, the FAA never
makes mistakes, they just try to see if you are paying attention.
Give a normal callup with identification, position, altitude and
add the following..."unable ATIS". If you are unable
to copy some part such as the wind, say, " Say wind and altimeter".
You are #3 to land.
Go immediately to slow flight. In C-150 apply C.H. power to 1500;
trim down three, power to 2000; fly 60 kts. For better visibility
add 10 degrees (4 count) flaps and trim up one and fly 60 kts.
All of this is a good thing to do any time you get behind the
situation. It gives you more time to consider the options.
You are told to do something you don't understand.
Ask ATC to say words twice. ATC is trained to give help to pilots.
Don't hesitate to indicate that you need help or advice.
You are unfamiliar.
You are told to make an airport entry that you do not understand
or do not know how to make. Advise ATC that you are UNfamiliar.
Request to overfly the airport so as to become oriented. Request
an arrival that you do understand.
You are lost or where you are going is misplaced.
Climb as high as VFR conditions permit. Go to 121.5 or another
ATC frequency such as 122.0 or 122.2. Identify your aircraft..
twice. State your last known position ..twice. Requesting assistance
.. twice
You don't know where to go on an airport.
State that you are UNfamiliar. Identify your aircraft and position
as best you can. Request progressive taxi assistance to where
you want to go.
You don't know a specific frequency.
Call any ATC facility, tower, radar, or FSS. Unfortunately this
will let them know that you have flown without "all available
information". You could indicate that your frequency information
has fallen behind the seat or some such.
Anything unusual occurs with your aircraft.
Get on the ground as safely as you can. Do not try to get to your
home field unless it is the closest. Get expert help in dealing
with the problem. Make phone calls to make alternative plans.
Call your instructor.
You come upon clouds that give you a choice of going over
or under.
Turn back. Land. Get on the phone to your instructor. Do not get
caught on top of clouds. Don't let clouds force you so low that
good radio contact with an ATC facility is not possible.
You are not aligned with the runway.
You could fly at an angle until on the projected runway centerline.
It is better experience and practice to use a side slip until
the aircraft is on the centerline. Regardless of the wind, keep
the nose parallel with the runway with the rudder. Keep the aircraft
aligned with the center of the runway with an opposite wing low
slip. Any time this cross control is required a forward yoke pressure
will be required to maintain airspeed. Read about crosswind landings.
You are high on final.
Confirm you have maximum flaps for wind conditions. Reduce power
in increments to off. Slow aircraft to short approach speed for
weight. If you can't get on the ground in the first third of the
runway go-around.
If you are low on final.
Apply full power to intercept normal glide slope. When nose visually
touches the runway at normal approach speed, reduce the power
and resume normal approach.
If you seem to close to another aircraft in the pattern.
Go to slowflight. Widen out your pattern. Advise ATC and request
360. At uncontrolled airport do any of the above. Get on radio
and Advise other aircraft of what you are doing and why.
Another aircraft is on the runway.
Go-around to the right side of the runway unless instructed otherwise.
Use the radio.
Your are nearing a strange airport for landing. Select a known
point in the vicinity of the airport. Get the ATIS or
listen on the frequency for a few minutes. Make your arrival call-up.
If having difficult orienting your arrival to the runway. Use
the radio to state your intention to overfly above pattern altitude
prior to landing.
A towel suddenly covers the entire instrument panel.
You must be able to listen and feel the airplane so well that
reference to the instruments is just a check, not a necessity.
The final examination is when landings can be accomplished without
the airspeed indicator. (For this I use a large Post-it stuck
on sideways so that the speed can be safety checked from the right
seat but cannot be seen from the left seat.)
Getting
Found
Several situations can exist if you are lost, misplaced, or
trying to locate an airport. Most of us have not been lost since
childhood if ever. It is a mentally incapacitating phenomenon.
Confusion, self-delusion, anxiety, and ?, combine to make a rational
human into non-functioning jello. Do not wait for one difficulty-being
lost to combine with another. One difficulty by itself is solvable
but in combination difficulties cause accidents. Willingness to
communicate on the radio is your best assurance of being helped.
Do not totally rely upon prominent checkpoints such as mountains
and lakes. Weather conditions can cause them to disappear. The
easy flight in severe VFR can be very difficult in 10-mile visibility.
At night, clouds or fog layers can distort familiar light patterns
so that even an experienced pilot will become disoriented. It
is not unusual to have a confused pilot communicating with one
airport while landing at another
Situations
SITUATION: Day, unlimited visibility, no terrain problem,
non-emergency
Climb to at least 3000 AGL
--Increases visual range of checkpoints
--Prevents inadvertent entry into Airport Traffic Area
--Increases radio/radar reception
Self-orientation
--Set heading indicator to compass
--Circle over known point-or
--Fly toward known checkpoint/cardinal heading
--Orient sectional to direction of flight
--Locate desired direction of flight-turn and fly
--Fold or draw line on sectional
--Locate best VOR(S) and select radial for intercept
--VOR tune-ident-OBS set-present radial-desired radial
ATC assistance
--Communicate to nearest tower-FSS-Approach-RCO-unicom
--State situation and requested assistance
--Write down all transponder setting and frequencies
--Repeat back all instructions for confirmation
--Keep ATC advised of flight conditions, known points
-- problems, heading and altitude
SITUATION: Day, low ceiling, limited
visibility, possible terrain problem, non-emergency.
Maintain aircraft control and eyes out of cockpit
--A A A Set Airspeed, Altitude, Attitude trim for glide
--Keep flying until it stops.
Self-orientation
--Knowing where you are is half the solution
--Maintain VFR
--Know 700/1200' transition requirements
--Fly away from rising terrain
--Fly to daylight/sunshine
--Fly heading to intercept road/river
--Locate/follow right side of roads
--Orient sectional to flight direction
--Avoid flying off edge of sectional
--Mark/circle possible obstructions within 20 miles
--Don't leave a known position without setting HI
--Be aware that preconceptions of direction can be wrong.
--Use your HI (set with compass)and sectional
ATC assistance
--Climb if conditions permit. This will improve radio range.
--Communicate if possible/turn up squelch on radio
--Confess Last known position-flight conditions-fuel situation-pilot
capability
--Comply -write/repeat back instructions
When all fails LAND
--Pick best safe area and get on ground
--Get down before darkness, fuel, weather are problem
--Situation may require ground activation of ELT
Distraction
Regardless of the question related to distraction the first
answer will always be the same, "Fly the plane!!" Fly
the plane first, second, and always. You are flying in a world
of distractions. Distractions are the gremlins inherent to your
type of flying and your particular aircraft. 'Distractive' gremlins
try to keep you from putting first thins first. They make you
focus on a problem instead of thinking through the big picture.
The most insidious distraction is one that is perceived as critical,
requiring immediate attention because of incorrect assumptions
or knowledge deficiencies. Distraction will short out the thinking
that should precede doing the right thing.
Every pilot is subject to distraction in the cockpit. Knowing
where and when these distractions are likely to occur is as important
as anything you will ever learn in flying. About half of all accidents
in general aviation occur due to pilot distraction. A distraction
is any activity or situation that takes the pilot away from his
first priority of flying the airplane. An operational distraction
is one that diverts attention from flight awareness. Although
it may seem as though you are doing several things at once, in
reality we can only concentrate on one item at a time.
Workload distractions are those normally related to the flight
task but not directly to flight control and safety. Any workload
that reduces the 4 to 1 outside visual scan time is a distraction.
Any deficiency in cockpit organization that reduces the 4 to 1
outside visual scan time is a distraction. A checklist can't fly
the airplane, but it can distract the pilot from doing so. Don't
become so fixated on a distraction that you fly into the ground.
An given maneuver is made up of many elements. Flight attention
must be divided among these elements as they work in conjunction.
A student may isolate and then fixate on some one element to the
neglect of others. Your vision will 'tunnel' and limit your awareness
of the total maneuver. Mastery of a maneuver occurs when your
thought process and techniques work with all the elements of a
given maneuver.
Distractions which are allowed to break into the thought/performance
process are not a problem to the properly trimmed aircraft. Keep
count of your trim and the flaps used so that you can make any
corrections required for takeoff
Open door
Doors of aircraft open because they have not been closed or locked
properly. An open door will not affect the 'flyability' of the
aircraft other than by distracting the pilot and making noise.
In retractable aircraft the most frequent result is the distracting
influence of the open door causing the pilot to forget to lower
the landing gear.
Cargo doors are the ones most frequency opening. POHs do not cover
the effect of an open door. The poor locking door mechanisms of
aircraft often is due to the sweetheart relationship between the
FAA and the aircraft manufacturers.
Best pilot procedure is to confirm door security on the ground.
If a door should open in the air, the best procedure is to land
to close it.
There is no G.A. airplane that cannot be flow with its doors open.
The same doors can be safely closed by reducing the pressure differential
between the cabin interior and the outside of the door. However,
it is more difficult to do with low-wing aircraft because the
airflow over the wing adjacent to the door exerts considerable
pressure holding the door open against the slipstream.
There are several closing options. The least difficult is to land and close the door. It is only slightly more difficult to open a window on the opposite side of the cockpit from the door and then push the door open just before quickly closing it. In Piper aircraft it is usually necessary to slow the aircraft down to slow-flight and slip into the open door while it is being closed. This is a two-man operation.
Distractions
Faced with an operational distraction, you have four ways to deal
with it...
1. Ignore it (door opening,
2. Delay it (communications,
3. Delegate it (locate a chart,
4. Handle it (drop in rpm,
The pilot is most likely to distracted by:
# 1 Distraction - Looking for the airport
# 2 Distraction - Communications
# 3 Distraction - Weather problems
# 4 Distraction - Charts
# 5 Distraction - traffic
# 6 Distraction - malfunction
# 7 Distraction - Checklist
A study of this list would show that pre-flight planning would
eliminate the worst offenders. The pilot should pre-plan every
airport arrival so as to minimize difficulty in locating. This
often requires a phone call or discussion with a pilot who has
"been there". Pre-determine checkpoints and visual markers
that serve as location aids. Poor weather or visibility can and
will destroy the best pre-planning. Pre-plan a weather alternative
with those at your destination.
--Organize your cockpit as an essential to low stress flying.
You can never have too many flashlights or writing tools.
Have things stowed so they can be found without distraction. Use
your checklists in sequence from preflight to shutdown. Remember,
the pilot is management, everything and everyone/thing else is
resource.
--Pre-plan your radio procedures. Select a call-up point well
away from the airport. Monitor the radio well before that.
Use radar assistance if available. Let everyone know that you
are a stranger to the area. The more experienced you are
the more willing you are to seek assistance. You are not supposed
to know everything-ask.
--Study your route and charts so that you will know where to look
for what. Never, never, look down into the cockpit to
study a chart. Hold it up, pre-folded, to the cockpit panel. You
can look at it and still keep a eye outside for traffic,
obstacles and flight attitude. Keep your charts folded open for
use and in sequence as required. Use your ears. Have a
local road map ready. A local map is more likely to give the airport
location relative to the city and identifiable points.
--Locating aircraft is a skill that can be developed. Aircraft
are more easily seen when the sky is not bright blue or hazy.
Aircraft coming directly away or toward you give a small visual
print. If using radar be ready to request a vector for
avoidance. Or just say, "Negative traffic--will accept vector.
If pilots making radio contact with ATC include their
altitudes it will provide another measure of avoidance. An ATC
warning of traffic tends to focus attention and compound
the distraction involved. Again, it may be easier to request an
avoidance vector if you can't find the traffic.
--A malfunction may cause a distraction by the suddenness with
which it occurs, the noise it makes, the vibration, smell
or visual effects. Your flight training should have prepared your
course of action. If not, you should make your own
malfunction "what if" list of "what to do".
It will be too late if and when it actually occurs. Regardless,
the primary is to
fly the airplane. Next comes the checklist. Nuisance malfunctions
such as a window or door popping open seem to
cause more distraction and accident producing because of the inability
of the pilot to determine the extent of hazard
involved. Nuisance distractions should be part of the flight instruction.
--The checklist can be a source of distraction. It shouldn't be.
The checklist should segmented and be operationally
specific and limited to a small number of organized items. The
checklist should be available and in such a format that it
can be used (held up) while maintaining your aircraft control.
When to use the checklist is just as important as the list
itself. Cockpit organization will prevent a major source of distraction.
--The most distraction-causing thing that normally occurs is ATC
pointing out traffic. This is especially true in single pilot
operations. Pilot overload occurs when he is performing routine
but essential tasks that merge into a multiplicity of activity.
This is usually due to coincidence, urgency or poor planing but
it does and will occur. You should move as many items as
possible to non-critical periods of the flight. Get as much into
the before-taxi and before-takeoff lists as you can. By
themselves, any one of the distractions may not cause an accident.
In combination and in deteriorating weather distractions
can/will cause accidents. Planning, organization and good judgment
in making go/no-go decisions won't eliminate individual distractions
but they can reduce their negative effects.
Watching
for Traffic
The beginning student must be guided into looking outside the
aircraft. The visual focus of a student is most likely to be
'tunnel vision'. This focus whether inside or outside of the cockpit
is apt to trigger airsickness or at best a sense of
queasiness. Much of learning to relax and enjoy flying rests on
the development of peripheral vision and the anticipation
of what will appear in that vision.
The human ability to focus eyes in one direction at one place
is limited. Left to its own devices the eyes will default to
only four feet. Binocular vision ends at just past twenty feet.
The eyes can't even see while moving. Our peripheral
vision detects motion best. Contrasting object and background
is perceived most readily
Learning to scan depends on learning to move your eyes. When
you scan, don't use your eye movement. Turn your
entire head, how long you pause is a function of age. You must
look at something in the far distance and wait for it to
focus, only then can you make an immediate head change into another
scan area. You only have a very few seconds
before your eye defaults to four feet unless you can focus on
something.
One pattern is to begin straight ahead and work to one side
of the windshield in ten-degree segments. From the center
quickly to one side of the windshield, then slowly scan in segments
back to the center. Check the instruments. Straight
ahead again and quickly back to the other side followed by a slow
scan back to the center and down to the instruments.
You are scanning for traffic and instrument indications.
You are using the peripheral vision for flying. You can see
the full horizon peripherally in relationship to the nose. You
can see things coming into view as you turn. You will set the
aircraft attitude according to your vision of the horizon.
Once you have peripherally found 'level' relative up and down
pitch will follow easily.
You want to implant the feel and sounds of various horizon/nose
situations so that they can be easily recreated by visual
reference alone. Instruments are there just to confirm you operation.
Use aircraft noise and sound as additional aids.
Practice setting engine rpm by sound and feel.
Again, in a turn, use the relative position of the nose to
the horizon to verify the angle and quality of the turn. Peripheral
vision can be used to control the aircraft. Perform the four basics
with the entire cockpit panel covered with a towel. I
am using this plan to teach a student who suffers severely from
airsickness.
The eye's time to focus increases with age. It probably changes
by one second for every ten years of age. The focal point
is of very limited value when seeking a stationary target. Remember,
the plane that hits you will be stationary on the horizon.
The recommended scan is difficult to maintain for more than several
minutes without a break. Fact is that most midairs
occur between airplanes when one overtakes from the rear. Any
expectation of avoiding a mid-air may well depend on
your aircraft speed. Faster is better for seeing and avoiding.
Any reliance on ATC is apt to be misplaced.
You can improve your ability to see by looking as far as you can
see before beginning your scan. When ATC is giving
help be sure you get the azimuth and direction of motion, since
that will be of more help than distance.
The Co-pilot
The co-pilot has a dual purpose, to stay ahead of the pilot
and to stay ahead of the aircraft. The less conversation involved
the better. Much of being able to do this is a matter of attitude
toward helpfulness. The co-pilot will receive little if any
credit for the success of a particular flight but must be ready
to accept that the success of the flight was fully supported
by the expertise, vigilance and preparedness of his activities.
The co-pilot is filled with anticipation. He is ready to confirm
every action of the pilot as he meets the flight requirements.
He anticipates pilot requests for navigational, radio, AF/D, and
airport information. the co-pilot is the primary look-out
for aircraft. Co-pilot anticipation is carried from the immediate
all the way to the ultimate shutdown.
CRM
(Cockpit resource management)
The greatest challenge now facing today's cockpit crew is and
always will be the completely unexpected event that is beyond
anything devised by the simulator. There is nothing that is more
likely to focus the efforts and attention to the detriments of
the normal routine. When such conditions exist, the entire operation
becomes vulnerable due to inattention, interruptions, distractions
or preoccupation with the unexpected.
Humans have only limited ability to do two things at once. We have two thought systems, one is the slower conscious control and the other is a habitual system such as we have when we drive the same route every day. We use our conscious system when the task is …
1. Unique
2. Seen as difficult or dangerous
3. Seen to require over riding habits.
4. A choice between things to do
Talking requires conscious processing to hear, interpret, and react to what others say and do. Flying, by an experienced pilot, is nearly automatic. There is always a risk of making a mistake if a conscious activity is interrupted. Practiced dual activities in flying if practiced enough can be successfully accomplished. Unique tasks such, as programming a GPS cannot be done along with another task.
Common
unexpecteds are:
Communication in the cockpit or with ATC
Problems arose when crew failed to defer conversations. Communication
is always better than failure to communicate or challenge.
Head-down cockpit applications
Preoccupation with duties precluded monitoring pilot flying. Head-down
duties focused attention. Pilot flying seldom makes flying or
taxiing errors.
Looking for traffic
Seeking pointed traffic by ATC or TCAS. This takes eyes off aircraft
performance instruments and requires considerable mental efforts.
The results of these efforts may linger for a while.
An abnormal occurrence
Requires delegation of tasks. Who flies; who works. Greatest hazard
is to remove time from normal procedures such as resetting altimeter
to ATIS. Mental flexibility is reduced with tunnel focus of attention.
Six Strategies
1. No conversation at critical flight junctures
2. Avoid head-down except at specific points.
3. Shared attention during critical taxi junctures.
4. Split attention between multiple tasks including inside/outside
cockpit.
5. Red flag interruptions
a. Identify occurrence
b. What and where was I before interruption
c. Get back where you were.
What
Is Abnormal?
Any occurance that is not a usual occurance could be considered
an abnormal event. The unusual focuses attention, increases adrenaline
output and causes pilot to take unwarented actions that cause
compounding problems. Studies of event mmanagement have tried
to get pilots to ignore and then organize what they do according
to its importance.
Just last week I/we had an alternator failure that caused our
intercom and radios to go South.
Not many years ago being NORDO was an every other day event. This
pilot (retread) had never had a radio failure and became quite
excited, worried and tense. My telling him to take it easy, calm
down and that it was not a problem had no effect on his efforts
to make a useless radio work. He could not disengage himself from
the failure to communicate. We can't land.
We can't get a clearance to land. He could not prioritize the
sequence of things we should do.
He would not even turn toward the airport.for a start.
I reached over and turned off the master. Then he accepted the
fact that the radio(s) would not work. I turned on the battery
side of the master and set the transponder to 7600. We turned
toward the airport as I reviewed exactly what we would do.
By getting him focused on what we would do rather than on what
had happened we began to make progress. In this case the retread's
problem was not so much an airplane problem as it was an ATC 'systems'
problem. He heard me use the term NORDO but had no idea what it
meant. In event-management terms we had a 'dark' cockpit with
no warning or flashing lights.
A simulator is much easier to use in producing 'events' than is
an airplane. Perhaps specific lessons in abnormal 'events' should
be a part of the instructional program.
Abnormal
Emergencies
It is nearly impossible to simulate an inflight emergency,
as it would actually occur. The use of a simulator
can fail instrumentation and engines but the reality is missing.
A systems failure requires that the pilot fully understand the
immediate effects, the related effects and any effects that can
lead to an emergency. Things are not always what they appear to
be. The pilot had best read up on the following systems.
--Electrical failure
--Hydraulic failure
--Control failure
--Engine failure
MORE
Safety
Kit
…Flashlights
…Leatherman
…Super 300mph gray tape
…Second set of keys
…sun visors
…Ear plugs
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