Just last week the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) held a press conference where they released their top ten "Most Wanted" safety related issues in the transportation world. Many old list items still remain from years past, like the need to eliminate distractions. This particular hot topic led to many attempted changes in the Federal Air Regulations, most notably the current Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) to ban personal electronics on the flight deck, the final ruling of which should be decided on some time this month.
The much more important topic, in my opinion, is the shift in focus on General Aviation (GA). For the past couple of years, the list item was broadly labeled as "Improve General Aviation Safety." This year, the NTSB has decided to focus attention on the identification and communication of hazardous weather conditions. It is their belief that many GA pilots are flying into dangerous weather conditions with aircraft that are unequipped to handle them, or conducting flights in these conditions without even knowing they are there. They are certainly correct in this assumption. At work, I see pilots landing below IFR minimums, attempting to take off during a snow storm or flying in low level wind shear conditions. Just the other week, I saw someone with a Bonanza take off into icing conditions without a second thought.
Although it was necessary to shift their focus away from something so broad, I believe the focus should have been placed more on complacency than weather. Our weather reporting system is still very strong, and with good judgement and proper flight planning, pilots can learn to know when to make the dreaded 'no go' call. By focusing on training and reducing pilot complacency, we can show some of the more careless pilots that the catastrophic can happen to them.
There are many pilots who do proper planning and still, by the luck of the draw, find themselves in dangerous weather conditions. Perhaps this is the focus that the NTSB was trying to bring to light. With this shift in focus perhaps we will have more weather stations throughout the United States. I personally was very intrigued when I toured the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Station in Pontiac last October. Perhaps this change in the NTSB's Most Wanted list will bring many job opportunities for potential meteorologists.
In conclusion, the shift in focus should have been put on complacency and training as opposed to weather reporting. This is, however, only my opinion.
As always, Fly Safe.
Monday, January 27, 2014
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Aircrafts Landing at the Wrong Airports
Due to the Southwest 737 that went to the wrong airport a week ago, the current hot topic on everyone's mind is: "How does a pilot actually make that mistake?" Despite what many people may think, it is actually quite easy to do and happens much more often in the General Aviation world. Many issues like complacency, lack of situational awareness, even questionable procedures, and even airports that may look similar can cause many instances like this to happen.
A similar instance in which a Douglas DC-8 landed in Iosco county airport happened because of the exact same reason as the 737 flight. The crew saw the runway going in the same direction as Oscoda's airport and also had the snow plows off to the side of the runway that they were looking for. To read more about this instance click here.
The Big problem with the DC-8 landing here, was that the runway was only 4,800 feet while the airport they were intending to land at had 11,800 feet to land and take off from. Luckily this happened in winter, so to get that 70 ton DC-8 out of that tiny airport, they just waited for a nice cold, high pressure day.
The biggest and probably most identifiable reason for this, in my opinion is complacency. Every jet that wants to fly above 18,000 feet must be on an IFR flight plan, and further more, a commercial flight like the southwest 737 must also fly an approach. If these southwest pilots were flying the non-precision approach correctly, they would have seen how far off course they were. If they programed in the wrong approach and pulled out the wrong plates, they should have verified to which airport the approach would have taken them to.
From a management perspective, the pilots should have been suspended. Not only is it extremely unsafe and a clear complacency issue, but it is also a matter of public image. As aviation professionals, we will always be in the spotlight, and if Southwest wants to maintain their image as a safe airline, it will want to show the public that they believe it was the pilots fault. Even if it wasn't, the airline will probably want a scapegoat.
In conclusion, things like this will continue to happen and will continue to make pilots look stupid if they act careless. As pilots, we should be taught to never let our guard down, especially on final approach. Thanks for reading, and as always, fly safe.
A similar instance in which a Douglas DC-8 landed in Iosco county airport happened because of the exact same reason as the 737 flight. The crew saw the runway going in the same direction as Oscoda's airport and also had the snow plows off to the side of the runway that they were looking for. To read more about this instance click here.
The Big problem with the DC-8 landing here, was that the runway was only 4,800 feet while the airport they were intending to land at had 11,800 feet to land and take off from. Luckily this happened in winter, so to get that 70 ton DC-8 out of that tiny airport, they just waited for a nice cold, high pressure day.
The biggest and probably most identifiable reason for this, in my opinion is complacency. Every jet that wants to fly above 18,000 feet must be on an IFR flight plan, and further more, a commercial flight like the southwest 737 must also fly an approach. If these southwest pilots were flying the non-precision approach correctly, they would have seen how far off course they were. If they programed in the wrong approach and pulled out the wrong plates, they should have verified to which airport the approach would have taken them to.
From a management perspective, the pilots should have been suspended. Not only is it extremely unsafe and a clear complacency issue, but it is also a matter of public image. As aviation professionals, we will always be in the spotlight, and if Southwest wants to maintain their image as a safe airline, it will want to show the public that they believe it was the pilots fault. Even if it wasn't, the airline will probably want a scapegoat.
In conclusion, things like this will continue to happen and will continue to make pilots look stupid if they act careless. As pilots, we should be taught to never let our guard down, especially on final approach. Thanks for reading, and as always, fly safe.
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Personal Introduction
Hello everybody
My name is George Lippert and welcome to my blog. This blog will be primarily for Professor Walls senior seminar class: AVT 422, but may also be used for any current events, experiences I have had while at work or during training, or anything that may be related to aviation that I feel will belong on this blog.
I started flight training at Eastern Michigan University in November of 2011, because I finally decided that I wanted to be a pilot. I was 22 years old and had spent the past few years working full time as a pool mechanic at a local fitness center. I had absolutely no experience in the aviation industry and didn't know what to expect. I didn't even know that most airplanes held fuel in their wings.
Fast forward two years and I am now a instrument rated private pilot working on my commercial. I also managed to find a job in the industry as a Line Service Technician at Willow Run Airport. Now, I feel like I know a lot about the industry. I can say without a doubt that I learned more by working in the field than any class could have taught me. I have developed contacts in both the cargo world and corporate world of aviation and would strongly recommend to anyone reading that wants to get in the industry, to go pump gas into an airplane and see what kind of doors it opens up for you.
This is the company I work at: http://avflight.com/YIP-EAST/index.aspx
Thanks for reading, and Fly Safe
My name is George Lippert and welcome to my blog. This blog will be primarily for Professor Walls senior seminar class: AVT 422, but may also be used for any current events, experiences I have had while at work or during training, or anything that may be related to aviation that I feel will belong on this blog.
I started flight training at Eastern Michigan University in November of 2011, because I finally decided that I wanted to be a pilot. I was 22 years old and had spent the past few years working full time as a pool mechanic at a local fitness center. I had absolutely no experience in the aviation industry and didn't know what to expect. I didn't even know that most airplanes held fuel in their wings.
Fast forward two years and I am now a instrument rated private pilot working on my commercial. I also managed to find a job in the industry as a Line Service Technician at Willow Run Airport. Now, I feel like I know a lot about the industry. I can say without a doubt that I learned more by working in the field than any class could have taught me. I have developed contacts in both the cargo world and corporate world of aviation and would strongly recommend to anyone reading that wants to get in the industry, to go pump gas into an airplane and see what kind of doors it opens up for you.
This is the company I work at: http://avflight.com/YIP-EAST/index.aspx
Thanks for reading, and Fly Safe
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