Airmanship

This presentation provides an overview of Airmanship in aviation. It is intended to enhance the reader's understanding, but it shall not supersede the applicable regulations or airline's operational documentation. Should there be any discrepancy between this presentation and an airline’s AFM /(M)MEL/FCOM/QRH/FCTM, the latter shall prevail at all times.

1

Introduction

This visual guide defines airmanship and illustrates its importance to safe flight operations. Its objective is to reinforce the importance of airmanship as the basis of safe flight operations. The material may be used for self-study or as part of a formal training presentation. The speaker’s notes provide additional information.

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Contents

• • • • Airmanship Defined The “Building” of Airmanship Violations Summary 2.PQ_05VIS

Airmanship Defined

Airmanship is the consistent use of good judgment and well-developed skills to accomplish flight objectives.

 The consistency required of good airmanship is: – Founded on a cornerstone of uncompromising flight discipline – Developed through systematic skill acquisition and proficiency  A high state of situational awareness completes the airmanship picture and is obtained through knowledge of one’s self, aircraft, environment, team and risk.

(Kern, 1996) 2.PQ_05VIS

Consequences of Poor Airmanship



Accidents and incidents

Poor airmanship is a causal factor in almost all of the 70 percent of accidents that are attributed to human factors 

Operational weaknesses and inefficiencies

Poor airmanship is responsible for operational weaknesses and inefficiencies that lead to increased safety risk, poor performance and wasted money 2.PQ_05VIS

The “Building” of Airmanship

 Judgment — All of the elements of airmanship support good judgment and decision making, just as all of the structural elements of a building support its roof.

Judgment Situational Awareness Knowledge

 Knowledge enables situational awareness , but, like judgment, it is also a trait that must be developed.

Self Aircraft Risk Team Environment

 In-depth knowledge of many subjects will support the thinking processes of Airmanship.

 Airmanship is founded on skills and proficiency ; it includes both technical and non technical subjects.

Proficiency Skills Discipline

 Discipline is the bedrock of airmanship; it is the ability and willpower to fly safely.

Mission

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Discipline Discipline is:

 Behavior in accord with rules of conduct    Behavior and order maintained by training and control An individual’s personal commitment to comply with rules and procedures The willpower and ability to operate safely

The exercise of discipline requires:

    Not accepting that rules must be broken to accomplish a job effectively Rejecting opportunities for shortcuts or doing things better Resisting temptation to break rules to impress others Control of personal attitudes and biases 2.PQ_05VIS

Skills

Skills are abilities that are learned, usually through training, to achieve a desired outcome. Two basic classifications of skills are:



Perceptual-motor skills,

which involve an interaction between a perception and a voluntary movement. Perceptual-motor skills are: • • Taught during initial and recurrent training Required to fly aircraft in normal and emergency situations 

Cognitive skills,

which involve mental processes such as comprehension, judgment, memory and reasoning. Cognitive skills are: • • • • More complex than perceptual-motor skills Related to learning and recall Involved in gaining and maintaining situational awareness and in decision making Used when speaking, listening and understanding 2.PQ_05VIS

Hierarchy of Skills

Precision

Precise technical and non-technical skills result from personal endeavor

Efficient

An aircraft commander controls the aircraft and leads a team

Effective

Broader, non-technical skills and experience give efficient operation

Safe

Continuing training, experience and improving airmanship will enable you to operate effectively as a crewmember

Unskilled

Basic training provides only those skills necessary to be safe

“The most skillful pilot had the most experience."

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Proficiency

Proficiency refers to competence in a specific area. Generally speaking, research has shown that it takes practice four hours a day for 10 years for a person to become an “expert” in a particular domain. With this in mind, it is essential that pilots do the following to become proficient at flying:

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Practice flying at every opportunity



Practice a variety of flying scenarios (e.g., nonprecision approaches, hand flying, etc.)



Create meaningful situations that will expand your experience base (e.g., fly new routes, learn a new aircraft, obtain an additional rating)



Practice often and practice consistently, so that skills become automatic It is important to note that if a pilot transitions to a new aircraft, he/she may have to learn new skills or relearn old skills in the context of the new aircraft.

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Knowledge

Pilots must possess comprehensive knowledge about the aircraft, nature of the flight, possible abnormal and emergency conditions, their own qualities and the qualities of their team members. Pilots must have a confident understanding of:



Aircraft

•

Procedures, techniques, limitations



Self

• •

Physical fitness and flying proficiency Sources of human error, methods of error detection, techniques for reducing the effects of errors

  

Team

•

Capabilities and limitations of crew, ground staff, engineering and ATC

•

Common understanding of aircraft characteristics and operating procedures Environment

•

Weather and terrain

•

Organizational, political, regulatory and commercial environments Risks

•

Identification and assessment

•

Organizational standards designed to reduce risks



Mission Statement

•

Corporate culture, philosophy and safety policies

•

Organization’s safety management system

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Situational Awareness

Situational awareness is knowing where you are, what is going on, where you are going and what is likely to come next. It develops when you have a mental picture based on accurate data. Situational awareness is a closed-loop process in which a pilot continuously seeks more or better information to gain and maintain it.

 Three processes in gaining and maintaining situational awareness: • Gather information through basic senses (vision, hearing, balance, smell, touch) • Integrate and interpret (i.e., comprehend) sensory information • Use information to project plans and actions into future  Pitfalls in the development of situational awareness: • The senses can be fooled in some situations (e.g., illusions) • • • • • • Complete and reliable information may not be accessible, especially in situations you have not encountered before Information systems are not always reliable Incorrect expectations Distractions Extremely high (emergency) or extremely low workload (boredom) Overconfidence and familiarity with a situation that lead to failure to accomplish and repeat the three processes 2.PQ_05VIS

Judgment

Judgment is the process that leads to a decision. Judgment is supported by all the other elements of airmanship. Similar to judgment, aeronautical decision making (ADM) is a systematic approach to the mental processes used by pilots to consistently determine the best course of action in response to a given set of circumstances.



Good pilot judgment and ADM require the ability and motivation to:

• Discover and establish the relevance of all available information relating to problems of flight • Diagnose problems • Specify alternative courses of action • Assess the risk associated with each alternative • Choose and execute a suitable course of action within the available time frame. (Jensen, 1995)

Judgment always involves a problem or choice, an unknown element and usually a time constraint and stress.

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Airmanship Priorities

Good airmanship based on sound judgment involves the following order of priorities:

    

Fly the aircraft

— Check attitude, speed, altitude, instruments and automation

Navigate

— Know where the aircraft is and where it is going

Communicate

— Discuss and review the issues, share tasks, back up each other

Manage

— Take follow-up action and use appropriate levels of automation

Monitor

— Check to see what has changed and take control when unexpected events occur

These are the “Golden Rules” of flying.

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Airmanship Tips 1



Be alert and ready for the unexpected

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Gather information before deciding

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Challenge and validate information

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Consult

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Evaluate consequences

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Ensure mutual backup and cross-check

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Check results of actions

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Be prepared to reject any constraint that would decrease situation control

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Airmanship Tips 2

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Be alert and prepared for typical flight-phase-related emergencies

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Consider trajectory as priority no.1 at all times

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Adhere to published procedures, when available

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Never leave a situation unresolved (ambiguity, doubt, disagreement, alert or cockpit effect)

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Prioritize tasks as a function of prevailing condition



Keep all options open and be ready to change initial plans

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Airmanship Tips 3



Stay ahead of the aircraft at all times

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Share experience and lessons learned and — last but not least —



Be aware, to be mentally prepared.

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Summary

 

Airmanship is:

Founded on discipline (self, team, corporate) Continuously striving for self-improvement and optimal personal performance    

Airmanship requires:

A wide range of perceptual-motor skills A wide range of cognitive skills A wide range of knowledge (self, aircraft, environment, risk) Appropriate attitudes

Airmanship can be developed through training and refined through practice and experience.

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References — Links

 “Redefining Airmanship,” Tony Kern, 1996, ISBN 0070342849  ‘Flight Safety’ magazine, Australia CASA http://www.casa.gov.au/avreg/fsa/index.htm

 ‘Airmanship, Measuring up’, ‘Vector’ magazine, CAA New Zealand, http://www.caa.govt.nz/Safety Information, Publications, ‘Vector’  ‘Airmanship and Flight Discipline,’ Tony Hayes, Brisbane Valley Leisure Aviation Centre http://www.auf.asn.au/students/Airmanship.html

 Jensen, R.S. (1995) “Pilot Judgement and Crew Resource Management.” Avebury Aviation 2.PQ_05VIS