3 ASPECTS OF FLIGHT
SAFETY
1. Pilot
A pilot must make
decisions about competence, current health, mental and emotional state, level
of fatigue, etc. If a pilot is called early in the morning to make a long
flight after only a few hours of sleep it would be prudent to consider if the
flight could be accomplished safely.
A pilot with only
4 hours of sleep the night before was asked to fly to a meeting in a city
750 miles away. The reported weather was marginal and not expected to improve.
He assessed that it would not be wise to make the flight. His boss was
initially unhappy, but later agreed that the risks involved were unacceptable.
2. Airplane
A pilot will
frequently base decisions on his/her evaluation of the airplane, such as
performance, equipment, or airworthiness.
During his
pre-flight check, a pilot noticed a small amount of oil dripping from
underneath the cowling. The quantity seemed insignificant, but the pilot
decided to delay take-off for a mechanic to check the source. The pilot’s good
judgment was confirmed when the mechanic found that one of the oil cooler hose
fittings was loose.
3. Environment
This covers many
elements not pilot or airplane related, including weather, air traffic control,
navaids, terrain, temporary conditions around take-off and landing areas,
and surrounding obstacles.
A pilot was landing a
small airplane just after a heavy jet had departed a parallel runway. He
assumed that wake turbulence would not be a problem because of runway
separation. Due to prevailing winds and the wake turbulence from the jet
drifting across to the landing runway, the airplane made a heavy landing. The
pilot had made an error when assessing the flight environment.
In practice
The interaction
between pilot, airplane and environment is influenced by the purpose of each
flight operation. The pilot must decide on the desirability of undertaking or
continuing a flight as planned, by questioning why the flight is being made,
how critical it is to maintain the schedule, and if the trip is worth the
risks?
1. On a ferry flight
to deliver an airplane in marginal weather conditions, the pilot calculated the
groundspeed and determined that he would arrive at the destination with only 10
minutes of fuel remaining. He was determined to keep on schedule by trying to
“stretch” the fuel supply, instead of landing to refuel.
After landing with low
fuel state, the pilot realised that this could have easily resulted in an
emergency landing if weather conditions had deteriorated further.
2. A private pilot with around 350
hours was ferrying an airplane cross-country. Due to time constraints, the
pilot skipped both dinner the night before and breakfast on the morning of
the flight, planning to have lunch around noon at
a fuel stop. A descent was begun from 9,500 feet about 20 miles out, due to
haze and unfamiliarity with the area. At pattern altitude, the pilot could
not find the airport and after flying around the town at the four compass
points he decided to check the Flight Guide, which was on the rear seat
and not easily reachable. Power had not been increased since the descent
to pattern altitude, and the pilot had been holding back pressure on the yoke.
Whilst trying to retrieve the Flight Guide, a loud “bang” was heard.
Looking up, the pilot discovered that he was only about 200 feet above ground
level. Increasing power, he climbed and located the airport. After landing, it
was discovered a fibreglass antenna had been hit, which damaged the leading
edge of the left wing.
It can be understood
how a series of judgement errors contributed to the outcome of this flight:
- The pilot was aware that fatigue and
hunger could affect his ability to fly safely, but let the desire to stay
on schedule override the concern for a safe flight.
- The rush to get airborne led him to
skip or postpone some aspects of pre-flight planning.
- Research before take-off would have
given a clear mental picture of the airport in relation
to the town. Studying charts and checking NOTAMs
is part of careful pre-flight planning, and would have alerted the
pilot to obstructions near the airport.
- Good cockpit organization would have
had the Flight Guide near at hand.
- Flying around the airport area at
traffic pattern altitude in hazy conditions has the potential for a
mid-air collision.
- The pilot’s first duty is to fly the
airplane, which would include adjusting the power, setting the trim, and
keeping track of altitude.
This pilot was extremely fortunate - the outcome
could have been fatal.
