Flight Deck Management

Introduction

Flight deck management pertains to the efficient organization and operation of controls, instruments, and systems of an aircraft. The necessary skills include the ability to prioritize tasks, manage automation, and work efficiently in a crew setting or as a single pilot.

This lesson offers insights into the best practices and procedures pilots should employ. To develop proper habit patterns, learners should practice these skills from the first training flight.

Objectives

After this lesson, the learner will be able to:

Arrange and secure essential materials and equipment for flight.
Brief passengers on emergency procedures and the use of safety belts.
Prioritize tasks in such a way as to minimize distractions from flying the aircraft.

Teaching Strategy

Teach learners to prepare for high workload periods during times of low workload.
Develop the learner’s checklist discipline by introducing realistic distractions in the middle of a checklist.
Point out fixation and inattention when it occurs.
Point out nonessential activities when they occur in critical phases of flight.
Teach the sterile cockpit concept and model such behavior during flight instruction.

Lesson Briefing

Aircraft Specific Training

Automation management (if applicable):
- How to turn on the autopilot and the various methods for disconnecting it
- Ways to confirm the currently active and armed modes of the autopilot and flight director
- How to control the airplane’s heading and altitude with the autopilot
- How to program the navigation equipment
How to conduct a passenger briefing with appropriate aircraft information to include:
- How to use the safety belts and shoulder harnesses
- Door and window operation
- Emergency exit location and operation
- Emergency procedures
- Location and use of the available emergency equipment

Risk Management

Improper use of systems or equipment, to include automation and portable electronic devices
Flying with unresolved discrepancies or inoperative equipment
Passenger distractions

Scenario

While on an approach to land at the local airport, you attempt to lower the landing gear, but nothing happens. You elect to go-around and try to solve the problem at a safe altitude. Similar scenarios have resulted in tragic accidents due to the flight crew’s failure to manage the situation properly.

How will you manage the available automation and resources while resolving the gear malfunction?

Case Studies

A Lockheed Tristar descends into the Florida Everglades due to the flight crew’s preoccupation with a faulty landing gear warning light:

Aircraft: Eastern Air Lines Flight 401
Location: Miami, FL
Date: December 29, 1972
FAA Video: https://youtu.be/ICqPGkto3Yo

A DC-8 runs out of fuel due to the captain’s preoccupation with a landing gear malfunction and his disregard of other crew members statements:

Aircraft: United Airlines Flight 173
Location: Portland, OR
Date: December 28, 1978
News Report: https://youtu.be/vgSSKKe5lw8

A Boeing 757 turns into a mountain after the PIC enters an incorrect waypoint name into the flight management system:

Aircraft: American Airlines Flight 965
Location: Cali, Colombia
Date: December 20, 1995
Link: FAA Synopsis

Resources

Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (FAA-H-8083-25):
- Chapter 2, Aeronautical Decision-Making
AC 91.21-1: Use of Portable Electronic Devices Aboard Aircraft
NTSB Video: Pilot Procedural Compliance

Schedule

Lesson Briefing (0:15)
Demonstrations and Practice (0:20)
Lesson Debriefing (0:10)

Equipment

Whiteboard, markers, and erasers
Airplane checklists
Headsets and flight gear

Lesson Debriefing

This lesson concludes with a collaborative assessment and review of the main points and risk management items.

Additionally, the instructor ensures:

All of the learner’s questions are resolved.
The learner is made aware of his or her performance and progress.

Completion Standards

This lesson is complete when the lesson objectives are met and the learner’s knowledge, risk management, and skills are determined to be adequate for the stage of training. Ultimately, the learner must meet or exceed the Airman Certification Standards.

Lesson Content

Passenger Safety Briefing

References: 14 CFR 91.21, 14 CFR 91.107, 14 CFR 91.319, 14 CFR 91.327, 14 CFR 91.519

The PIC is required to:

Brief passengers on how to fasten and unfasten their safety belts.
Notify passengers to fasten their safety belts before taxi, takeoff, and landing.
For experimental and light-sport aircraft, notify each passenger of the aircraft’s special nature.
For large and turbine-powered airplanes, comply with 14 CFR 91.519 (passenger briefing).

Elements of a passenger “SAFETY” briefing:

Seatbelts: How to fasten and unfasten; Required during taxi, takeoff, and landing
Air: How to operate the environmental controls; The location of vents and airsickness bags; Smoking is prohibited
Fire Extinguisher: Its location, how to unlatch it from its mount, and how to use it
Exits, Emergencies, and Equipment: The location and operation of doors and emergency exits; Emergency procedures; The location and use of emergency and survival equipment
Traffic and Talking: The importance of visual scanning; Sterile cockpit requirements
Your Questions?: Allow passengers to ask questions

Other items to consider:

If under IFR, the allowed use of portable electronic devices
If flying over water, ditching procedures
PIC authority

Flight Deck Organization

A place for everything and everything in its place.
Benjamin Franklin

Before starting the engine, items should be arranged to be secure and accessible. Essential equipment should be within easy reach.

These seemingly small actions can reduce workload and enhance safety. Since everyone has a different way of organizing themselves, the optimal arrangement comes through experimentation.

Best Practices for Flight Deck Organization

Do not block the flight controls with mounted accessories, cords, or lap organizers (kneeboards).
Do not place headsets or other items on the dash to prevent scratching the windscreen.
Do not mount electronics or other devices to the windshield or windows. The pilot must be able to see in all directions.
Use a flight bag to secure loose items that won’t be needed in flight.

Single-Pilot Resource Management

Single-pilot resource management (SRM) is the art and science of managing all the resources (both onboard the aircraft and from outside sources) available to a single pilot (before and during flight) to ensure the successful outcome of the flight.

SRM includes the concepts of:

Aeronautical decision-making (ADM)
Controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) awareness
Situational awareness
Flight deck management

SRM training can help a pilot accurately assess and manage risk and make timely decisions.

Use of Resources

Pilots must be aware of the resources found both inside and outside the flight deck to make informed decisions.

Internal resources are found in the airplane. They include the avionics, autopilot, checklists, the AFM/POH, and passengers.

External resources available during flight include ATC and flight service stations (FSS). ATC can help decrease pilot workload by providing traffic advisories, radar vectors, and assistance in emergency situations. An FSS can provide updates on weather and airport conditions.

Automation Management

Effective automation management allows the pilot to assess, detect, and correct errors; thus, it helps prevent accidents.

Active Automation Management

Automation should be managed actively rather than passively (“set and forget”). Active automation management enhances situational awareness and helps to identify automation failures.

To actively manage the automation, pilots must:

Cross-reference the data provided by various systems.
Monitor the flight progress (e.g., waypoints and fuel burn).
Know how the technology normally performs and its failure modes.
Be ready to take action if the system does not perform as expected.

Autopilot Management

Managing the autopilot means knowing which modes are engaged and which are armed to engage.

Autopilot management errors can be reduced by:

Verifying each button press is recognized by the system.
Making callouts after every mode change and when arming the system.

Caution: Anytime the autopilot is disconnected, the pilot should have a firm grip on the controls to counter any unexpected trim forces.

Automation Management Errors

Humans are not well suited for being automated system monitors. Extended periods of performing trivial tasks often lead to daydreaming or complacency.

Monitoring errors can be reduced by:

Guarding against fixation.
Making consistent verifications and callouts.
Scanning the instruments in the same way as when hand flying.

Task Management

Effective task management ensures that essential operations are accomplished without overloading the pilot.

Like any other skill, pilots must learn to:

Plan, prioritize, and sequence tasks.
Perform several tasks at once (multitask).
Deal with distractions and interruptions.
Overcome problems with fixation and inattention.

Margin of Safety

Accidents often occur when flying task requirements exceed the pilot’s capabilities. The difference between these two factors is called the margin of safety.

The highest task requirements typically occur during the approach and landing phase. At the same time, the pilot’s capabilities may deteriorate due to fatigue or distractions.

Best Practices for Task Management

Use automation judiciously.
Prioritize the tasks of aviating, navigating, and communicating.
Anticipate the workload associated with the next phase of flight.
Be wary of inoperative equipment. An inoperative autopilot or navigation instrument can vastly increase workload.

Positive Transfer of Controls

A recommended three-step process of exchange includes:

A verbal handoff from the pilot flying (e.g., “You have the flight controls.”).
A verbal acceptance by the pilot taking over (e.g., “I have the flight controls.”).
A verbal and visual confirmation that the exchange has taken place by the pilot relinquishing control (e.g., “You have the flight controls.”).

This procedure should be briefed before flight and include a method to relinquish and take control of the aircraft when normal communications are not possible (e.g., intercom failure).

Sterile Cockpit Rule

Reference: 14 CFR 121.542

Commonly known as the sterile cockpit rule, air carrier pilots must refrain from nonessential activities during critical phases of flight.

Critical phases of flight are all ground operations involving taxi, takeoff, and landing, and all other flight operations below 10,000′ except cruise flight. Nonessential activities include such activities as eating or chatting.

The equivalent sterile cockpit altitude for light aircraft can be defined as 2,500′ AGL or at any altitude within 10 minutes of landing.

Checklist Usage

Reference: SAFO 17006

Checklist act a systematic guide, ensuring that all procedures are carried out in the correct sequence and nothing is omitted. Furthermore, they standardize flight operations, thereby minimizing the chances of human error.

The proper use of a checklist is dependent on the task being conducted. The situation may be such that using the checklist would be either unsafe or impractical, especially in a single-pilot operation. In this case, reviewing the checklist after the elements have been accomplished would be appropriate.

General Procedures for Checklists

Beginning and Ending a Checklist: To complete a checklist, state the name of the checklist, do the checklist, and when finished, state the name of the checklist again along with the statement “checklist complete.”

Interrupted Checklists: If the checklist is only delayed for a brief period, and the pilot is sure of where he or she was interrupted, the item may be completed and the checklist continued. Otherwise, restarting the checklist from the beginning is recommended.

Touch Verification: Pilots sometimes erroneously respond to a checklist item, believing it was accomplished when it was not. Looking at and then touching each gauge, switch, or control helps improve accuracy.

Single-Pilot Operations: During noncritical phases of flight, the pilot should use the challenge-and-response method. The flow (do-verify) method can be used when the workload is higher.

Two-Pilot Operations: The challenge-and-response method is best for a crew environment. The PF should initiate each checklist by calling for it by name. The PNF should perform the checklist while the PF continues to fly. Critical items, such as the flap position, should always be verbalized. The PNF should state when the checklist is complete.

Dhansham - Pilot's Notebook

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Sunday, January 7, 2024