EMERGENCY DECISION MAKING

Mike Shama

AIM

The aim of this briefing is to provide some useful tips to handling emergencies as well as to outline the dangers of not employing good EDM

CONTENTS

• RCDI• Decision to Land• Diagnose. Double Check. Do.

Losing a Critical System

• Sitting at 1000ft in OGE Hover while cameraman is filming street riots

• You feel a large jolt through the controls from the hydraulic system, attitude changes and you start to quickly descend.

• What actions do you take? What does the POH say? What should you do first?

• The following tips will help improve your decision making process

RCDI

• Firstly: DO NOT RUSH• A rushed poor decision can make your situation far worse

• The following acronym will help order your actions:• R – Recognise• C – Control• D – Diagnose• I – Initiate

Recognise

• What has happened?• Do I know? Maybe? Don't guess or make quick

assumptions• Are there Passengers or other Crew?

• Warn them verbally with the symptoms, not diagnosis• "Control Malfunction", "Torque Split"

• Contain the situation• Move the controls to keep the heli out of danger• Achieve a safe flight configuration

• Best IAS for SE flight?• Speed for best endurance?• Below max for hydraulic out IAS?

Control

Diagnose

• Now the heli is under control let's understand what is going wrong

• Use Flight Reference Cards (FRCs) - Emergencies Section, if there is time and they are available for that aircraft

• If they are not available, examine the situation and figure out what went wrong, which systems have failed, and why

• Use your crew resources and inform pax

Initiate

• What now? What are we going to do?• Look for somewhere to land or divert to

• Radio call: Does it need to be a distress call?• Pan or Mayday?

• Have I remembered my instructor's advice?• AVIATE• NAVIGATE• COMMUNICATE

Decision to Land

• What do the various terms generally mean?• Land Immediately

• Continued flight may be more hazardous than ditching or landing in terrain normally considered unsuitable

• Land As Soon As Possible• Land at the nearest site at which a safe landing can be

made• Land As Soon As Practical

• Extended flight not recommended. Landing site and flight duration are at the discretion of aircraft commander

Remember

• If you are moving critical controls in an emergency you need to make sure you operate the correct ones.

• Numerous examples of good engines being shutdown, or working system shut-off

• Whether single pilot or multi-crew:• D – DIAGNOSE• D – DOUBLE CHECK • D – DO

• Stop, think, check, and make sure

SUMMARY• Don't Rush: Think RCDI• Recognise the symptoms and Warn the crew/pax• Control and contain the aircraft: Get into a safe

flight configuration if possible• Diagnose. Use FRCs• Aviate, Navigate, Communicate• DDD: Identify and confirm all critical controls and

switches before taking action• Initiate: Tell somebody. Land safely

QUESTIONS

EMERGENCY DECISION MAKING

Mike Shama