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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 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.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.

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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

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Airmanship DefinedAirmanship 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)

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Consequences of Poor Airmanship

Accidents and incidentsPoor airmanship is a causal factor in almost all of the 70 percent of accidents that are attributed to human factors

Operational weaknesses and inefficienciesPoor airmanship is responsible for operational weaknesses and inefficiencies that lead to increased safety risk, poor performance and wasted money

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SelfSelf AircraftAircraft RiskRisk

TeamTeam EnvironmentEnvironment MissionMission

Proficiency

Discipline

Skills

KnowledgeKnowledgeSituational AwarenessSituational Awareness

JudgmentJudgment

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.

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

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.

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

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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

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SkillsSkills 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

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Hierarchy of Skills

UnskilledUnskilled

Basic training provides only those skills necessary to be safe

PrecisionPrecision

Precise technical and non-technical skills result from personal endeavor

EfficientEfficient

An aircraft commander controls the aircraft and leads a team

SafeSafe

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

EffectiveEffective

Broader, non-technical skills and experience give efficient operation

“The most skillful pilot had the most experience."

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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:

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 mayhave to learn new skills or relearn old skills in the context of the newaircraft.

Proficiency

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KnowledgePilots must possess comprehensive knowledge about the aircraft, natureof the flight, possible abnormal and emergency conditions, their ownqualities and the qualities of their team members. Pilots must have aconfident 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 AwarenessSituational awareness is knowing where you are, what is going on, whereyou are going and what is likely to come next. It develops when you have amental 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

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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 unknownelement and usually a time constraint and stress.

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Good airmanship based on sound judgment involves thefollowing 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.

Airmanship Priorities

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Be alert and ready for the unexpected

Gather information before deciding

Challenge and validate information

Consult

Evaluate consequences

Ensure mutual backup and cross-check

Check results of actions

Be prepared to reject any constraint that would decrease situation control

Airmanship Tips 1

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Airmanship Tips 2

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

Consider trajectory as priority no.1 at all times

Adhere to published procedures, when available

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

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

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 trainingand refined through practice and experience.

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References — Links “Redefining Airmanship,” Tony Kern, 1996, ISBN 0070342849

‘Flight Safety’ magazine, Australia CASAhttp://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