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Smoke in the Cockpit
By Eric McCarthy
It was a hot, humid August day in the year 2000. My wife, youngest son, and I decided to take a quick flight over Massachusetts’ North Shore. I had done this flight many times: we’d depart Lawrence Municipal Airport (KLWM) to the east, climbing to 2,500-3,000 feet, following the Merrimack River as it winds its way 15 miles or so to the Atlantic, passing the quaint town of Newburyport before reaching the mouth of the river. There, I would usually proceed out to sea a couple of miles before executing a 270-degree, descending left turn to align the aircraft with the coastline at an altitude of 1,000 to 1,500 feet.
We’d fly southbound along the beaches of Plum Island, past the majestic Crane Estate and its magnificent grounds, then Crane’s Beach before turning east to round Cape Ann, the nub of land that projects into the Atlantic north of Boston. We’d pass the aptly named and picturesque town of Rockport, and Thacher Island, a small island just off the coast and home to the twin, 124-foot tall, lighthouses known as Ann’s Eyes, built in 1861.
Then southwest past Good Harbor Beach and Bass Rocks, turning north around Eastern Point, over Gloucester Harbor and past Hammond Castle, up the Annisquam River, past Wingaersheek Beach, then we’d retrace our steps up the coast for the return to the airport. My wife, boys, and I had spent many a summer day at the various beaches and towns we’d be flying over; this flight would provide a fresh perspective on these familiar sites. It’s a pleasant, scenic flight and only takes about 45 minutes to fly.
At least, that was the plan…
Safe Landings: Re-Sourcing Crew Management
The application of team management concepts in the flight deck environment was initially known as cockpit resource management. As techniques and training evolved to include Flight Attendants, maintenance personnel, and others, the new phrase “Crew Resource Management” (CRM) was adopted. CRM, simply put, is “the ability for the crew…to manage all available resources effectively to ensure that the outcome of the flight is successful.”1 Those resources are numerous. Their management involves employing and honing those processes that consistently produce the best possible decisions. Advisory Circular 120-51E, Crew Resource Management Training, suggests that CRM training focus on “situation awareness, communication skills, teamwork, task allocation, and decision making within a comprehensive framework of standard operating procedures (SOP).”2
Aircrews frequently experience circumstances that require expert CRM skills to manage situations and ensure their successful outcomes. Effective CRM has proved to be a valuable tool to mitigate risk and should be practiced on every flight. This month CALLBACK shares ASRS reported incidents that exemplify both effective CRM and CRM that appears to be absent or ineffective.
Who Has the Aircraft?
Callback: What’s All The Flap About?
This month, CALLBACK again offers the reader a chance to “interact” with the information given in a selection of ASRS reports. In “The First Half of the Story,” you will find report excerpts describing an event up to a point where a decision must be made or some direction must be given. You may then exercise your own judgment to make a decision or determine a possible course of action that would best resolve the situation.
The selected ASRS reports may not give all the information you want, and you may not be experienced in the type of aircraft involved, but each incident should give you a chance to refine your aviation decision-making skills. In “The Rest of the Story…” you will find the actions that were taken by reporters in response to each situation. Bear in mind that their decisions may not necessarily represent the best course of action. Our intent is to stimulate thought, training, and discussion related to the type of incidents that were reported.
The First Half of the Story
What’s All the Flap? B737 First Officer’s Report
• As the Pilot Flying while maneuvering in the busy terminal area, I didn’t notice that the flap indicator did not match the [flap] handle (2 indicated, 30 selected) until the Captain identified it with the…Before Landing Checklist. We checked the Leading Edge Device [LED] indicator on the overhead panel; the LED’s [indicated] FULL EXTEND. We discussed how the aircraft felt as it was being hand flown. The feel was normal.… The airspeed indicator was normal. The aircraft flew normally in all aspects except for the flap indication. All this occurred approaching the final approach fix..
Homebuilders Workshop: The Real Problem with Aviation Safety Rests with Entire Industry
Baker Testifies on GA Airports, Safety, Pilot Community
No Second Chances: AFE Airmen Ensure Pilot Safety
By Senior Airman Michael Cossaboom
20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
Airman 1st Class Kyle Denzine, a 20th Operations Support Squadron aircrew flight equipment specialist, checks the seal of his gas mask. (US Air Force Photo)Pilots rush into the locker room, preparing for another day of flying. Laughing and joking, they throw on their gear and grab their helmets. To them, it is just another day, but the Airmen that serviced their equipment look on slightly anxiously as they see the pilots walk out the door to their aircraft.
Confident yet tense, thoughts of the pilot’s safety linger in their heads as they continue to work. All they can do now is wait.
Aircrew flight equipment Airmen assigned to the 20th Operations Support Squadron are responsible for the maintenance, inspections, and servicing of all equipment that aircrew personnel require while performing their duties.
Safe Landings: February 2015
Safe Landings: December 2014
What's Up
OK, Here we go again …
And
I Told You So
By Larry Shapiro
I know by now you are probably tired of hearing my song and dance routine about using “common sense.” May I respectfully request that you try and get over it! You see my fellow aviators, it continues to work and save a few lives along the way. Admittedly I am not a CFI, I don’t play one on television and never aspired to be one, but I will admit that I love teaching and sharing the tit-bits I’ve picked up along the way to old age, not zero time students but those of you who have been sitting on your ticket long enough to be a member of AARP.
I truly love the title of “Mentor” or King of Common Sense. I’ve begged, borrowed and threatened so many of you to give me the benefit of the doubt and join my Church of Common Sense. Day after day I cover my head, or eyes so I won’t see the silly things one sees when you spend more than half your life on an airport. Your troops do some really dumb things that you would never do in the other parts of your life, the part that pays for your flying expenses, sunglasses and silly shirts.
AOPA Voices Strong Support for Legislation Requiring FAA to Revise Third Class Medical Requirements
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) expressed enthusiastic support for a bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives Dec. 11 that would give the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) 180 days to redefine its Third Class Medical requirements and allow greater access for pilots to fly.
The General Aviation Pilot Protection Act, proposed by Representatives Todd Rokita (R-IN) and Sam Graves (R-MO), and co-sponsored by Rep. Bill Flores (R-TX), Rep. Richard Hanna (R-NY), Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN) and Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-KS), would expand on a petition submitted to the FAA by AOPA and the Experimental Aircraft Association nearly 20 months ago. The FAA has failed to act on that joint petition, which drew more than 16,000 comments from pilots and interested parties.
What's Up - January 2014
Ditch The Anger
By Larry Shapiro
A Wing and A Prayer, PS.
Previously I wrote: This month (December, 2013) I will once again apply for my ticket and feel confident that with the help of my doctors, and all the records I have kept organized, I will prevail as I know the FAA is there to help and I’m sure they will. If you have questions, you know where I am.
And now the PS: Because of the holidays I delayed filing my application for only one week but it caused the following problem. In the few days I delayed putting in my papers the FAA added one sentence to their requirements for a locally issued medical for dudes like me with Prostate Cancer… please take this seriously … they added the words” if the cancer has not left the prostate, then you may issue locally, however, if it has left the prostate then we (FAA Oak City) must issue.
SAFE Asks FAA to Collect Recurrent Training Data
Flying With Faber - August 2013
I’m a Nerdy Pilot and Proud of It!
By Stuart J. Faber
We’ve all heard about the tragic accident involving Asiana Flight 214. Many of my non-pilot friends and acquaintances have asked my opinion on the cause of the crash. In response, I have gathered my thoughts about the crash into this article. Here are a few caveats. First, I am neither a flight instructor nor an accident reconstruction expert. Second, I don’t know the definitive cause of the Asiana accident – that’s up to NTSB to determine. No inference should be made that my remarks constitute an opinion as to the cause of the crash. My comments herein are designed to promote safe piloting and hopefully to enlighten the public. Third, portions of the article may seem quite elementary and pedantic to the experienced pilot. The reason is that I wrote this article as a “public relations” piece for the general public. As a fierce supporter of general aviation, I feel that all pilots have an obligation to educate the public about the worthiness and importance of general aviation and to dispel many of the misconceptions held by the non-pilot public. For that reason, I have digressed from submitting a destination article for this month with the hope that this article contributes to those objectives.
Safe Landings - July 2013
Safety Committee’s Report Focuses on Loss-of-Control Accidents
By Dan Namowitz for AOPA
A work group of the General Aviation Joint Steering Committee, an FAA/industry panel dedicated to reducing fatal general aviation accidents, has completed its report on loss-of-control accidents in the approach and landing phase of flight, including recommendations for safety improvements.
AOPA’s Air Safety Institute co-chairs the joint steering committee, and AOPA participated in the working group. A second work group – focused on en route and departure loss-of-control accidents – is chaired by AOPA and the FAA.
The work group focused on loss-of-control accidents because an FAA overview of fatal general aviation accidents from 2001 to 2010 concluded that 40.2 percent of fatal accidents during that period had loss of control as a cause.
ELT Ban Threatens ‘Substantial Costs, Fleeting Benefits’ FCC Should Defer to FAA on Aviation Matters
By Dan Namowitz (AOPA)
The Federal Communications Commission should “immediately abandon” its bid to prohibit the certification, manufacture, importation, sale, or use of 121.5-MHz ELTs, AOPA said in a regulatory filing.
From its technological shortcomings to its costs – estimated by the FAA as $500 million – the proposal initiated by the FCC in January should be dropped, and the FCC should defer to the FAA on this and any future regulatory actions where aviation is concerned, AOPA said in extensive formal comments submitted April 1.
Safe Landings - May 2013
Gear Up Landings – Getting a Handle on the Problem
Over the past five years, ASRS has received an average of 60 gear up landing reports per year. Gear up landings rarely meet the damage or injury requirements for a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report or investigation and they are seldom reflected in general aviation safety statistics. Nevertheless, no pilot wants to experience a gear up landing. There is always the potential for a serious outcome and the repair costs associated with any gear up landing can be substantial. To avoid the risks and costs associated with gear up landings, pilots can get a handle on the lessons offered in these ASRS reports.
Scrape and Go Landing
A malfunctioning gauge, failure to use a checklist and the absence of a gear warning horn were all factors in this blade-bending low approach.
Safe Landings - February 2013
Safe Landings - November 2012
Editorial: “I’m Listening”
By Ed Downs
So there I was, listening to learned PhD’s talk about the psychology of flight in a room full of aviation training experts who were all attending an FAA program entitled, “21st Century Airman Certification.” Surrounded, as we were, by the vast facilities of the FAA Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center (a small city of buildings located next to Oklahoma City’s Will Rogers World Airport), this writer should have been deeply involved in the discussion at hand. But all of this psycho-talk had my mind wandering to the TV sitcom, Frasier, that ran from 1993 to 2004, based upon the life and times of a very funny psychologist and an array of equally funny supporting characters. The Kelsey Grammer character of Frasier Crane hosted a “phone in” radio program that was always answered with the line, “I’m listening.” To be sure, the large staff of FAA personnel from the FAA AFS 600 Regulatory Support Division was “listening.”
But, let’s start at the beginning. Early in September, the FAA Safety Team sent out an e-mail invitation to aviation professionals that announced an “AFS 600 Open House” being held at the Monroney Center by folks at the Airman Certification: Standards, Training & Testing Division of the FAA. This is the division within the FAA that deals with pilot flight standards, Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE) management, the Practical Test Standards (PTS) and the Knowledge Test, typically called the “written exam.” In other words, anyone obtaining a pilot certificate of any kind goes through this organization.