Adapting Airline Procedures to General Aviation

Background

The past thirty years has seen an extraordinary improvement in airline safety. This did not happen by accident and it did not happen because airline pilots suddenly got smarter. It happened because of culture change in the industry.

Prior to this culture change, every captain had his (and not many her at this time) own opinions on how to fly the airplane and how to handle problems that might arise. The first officer was there because the FAA said he had to be. Most captains were not open to suggestions and even less open to criticism. If a problem arose, the captain took over complete control of the airplane and improvised.

The airline accident rate showed definite need for improvement and NASA got involved. The whole concept of Cockpit Resource Management (CRM) came about. As CRM has evolved, its name has changed to Crew Resource Management and it now includes detailed, written procedures for nearly any event that might come about. The whole CRM concept has been adopted by virtually every airline in the world and has been enormously successful in reducing the airline accident rate.

These airline procedures are divided into three parts called "normal", "abnormal", and "emergency". Normal operations are just that, routine procedures to be followed such as flap settings, when to use external lighting, etc. Emergency procedures are obvious and include such things as fire or engine failure. Abnormal procedures may be foreign to the general aviation pilot. They include things like minor electrical problems or failure of a component for which there is a backup component.

General aviation pilots can benefit from adapting this concept of "abnormal procedures" to their airplanes. Many accidents have been caused by minor problems that have been allowed to escalate, often because the pilot devoted too much attention to solving the problem and not attention to flying the airplane. Still other accidents have been caused by the pilot making false assumptions about the nature of a problem or about its consequences.

Learning through Example

We will begin by analyzing three accidents, each of which could have been easily avoided. Then, we will see some practical ways in which general aviation pilots might be able to adapt the concept of "abnormal procedures" from the airlines and use them to increase safety.

Accident Analysis: Example #1

The following example illustrates how a local pleasure flight on a nearly perfect day for flying can end in an accident when the pilot is faced with a very minor problem. In this case, the problem was a malfunctioning fuel gage. On Sept. 3, 2004, at about 3 PM local time, a Citabria Explorer was on a local pleasure flight in the vicinity of Hilton, NY. The weather consisted of clear skies, unlimited visibility, and light winds from the east. The Citabria pilot was very familiar with the local area. He had a friend along for the ride on a beautiful flying day. He had topped off the fuel in the airplane prior to departing. He had been airborne less than one hour. Citabria Explorer (not the actual accident airplane) He suddenly noticed that the left fuel gage indicated that the tank was empty. The right fuel gage indicated that the right tank was nearly full. The Citabria is equipped with two fuel tanks, one in each wing. Each tank has its own fuel gage located in the wing root. The fuel selector is a simple two position valve making it possible to select either OFF or ON. When selected ON, fuel will flow from both tanks, or either tank if only one has fuel. Citabira fuel gage The pilot knew that he was in the vicinity of a private airport so he decided to make a precautionaly landing. He apparently misjudged his descent and got into a position where his only choice was to land downwind. This shouldn't have been a problem since the wind was only about 7 kts. and the runway length was about 2200 feet. Simulated pilot's view from MS Flight Simulator® While on final, he realized that he was too high and that he would probably not be able to stop the airplane in the distance remaining. He was concerned that there were power lines along the road that ran just past the end of the runway and that he might run out of fuel if he attempted a go-around. Simulated pilot's view from MS Flight Simulator® He touched down more than half way down the runway. The airplane ran off the runway and struck a shallow ditch. The ditch prevented the airplane from continuing onto a busy state highway. The two occupants received minor injuries and were treated and released from the hospital. The airplane received considerable damage. The airplane had more than two hours of fuel remaining. The problem was a faulty fuel indication. It is usually prudent to make a precautionary landing when not comfortable about anything relating to the flight. However, this pilot apparently over reacted to a very minor problem and turned an "abnormal" situation into a full emergency which resulted in a substantially damaged airplane. Accident Analysis: Example #2     The following example illustrates how a relatively common mechanical problem led to an accident resulting in substantial damage to an airplane. In June of 2002, a pilot was flying a Cessna 182 with retractable landing gear when the alternator failed.       The pilot was on a VFR cross-country flight when he decided to divert due to deteriorating weather. As he completed a 180 degree turn, he noticed that the panel mounted radio displays had gone blank. Cessna R182 (Not the actual accident airplane) A check of the ammeter indicated a strong discharge. He unsuccessfully attempted to recycle the the system one time, then elected to turn off the alternator. He thought that perhaps he noticed a faint odor of electrical smoke, so he also turned off the master switch. The landing gear system in the retractable gear version of the Cessna 182 consists of an electrically driven hydraulic pump. In other words, an electric motor turns a hydraulic pump which in turn retracts and extends the landing gear. There is also a hand pump that can be used to operate the landing gear in the event the electro-hydraulic system is not available. When the pilot began his approach to the airport, he moved the landing gear lever to the "DOWN" position. While on final approach, he noticed that he did not have a green light to indicate that the gear was down and locked. Then, he remembered that he had turned off the master switch and assumed that was the reason for the lack of a green indicator light. Of course, with no electrical power, the electrically activated hydraulic pump did not operate and the landing gear was not extended. A gear-up landing followed. Had this pilot used an "Abnormal Procedures" checklist this might have been prevented. Click here to take a free short course on developing your own "Abnormal Procedures"

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