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Aero-Tips 11.17.06
Technologically Advanced Aircraft (TAA) may tempt even some very
experienced pilots to abdicate their authority as
pilot-in-command.
Pilot 1
Last winter I attended a day-long
FAA training session on the FAA/Industry Training Standards
(FITS). The FITS philosophy acknowledges that there is
a lot more to aviation safety than the stick-and-rudder skills
emphasized by the Practical Test Standards. The training I attended
consisted of a series of presentations on how to develop
FITS-compliant lesson plans.
During a break I went forward to speak with the chief of
training for a successful TAA manufacturer. In discussing his
presentation he mentioned in passing that he had spent "most" of
his time en route to Wichita, solo in the TAA, working on his
laptop computer putting together the Powerpoint presentation he had
just delivered. He hinted strongly that his airplane's autopilot
system made "catching up on your work" in-flight a benefit of
flying a TAA.
Pilot 2
More recently I spoke with the principal of an aircraft
modification firm that does a lot of work with TAA. In flying the
TAA up to Wichita, he said, he marveled at how well the autopilot
was working, and how well the airplane climbed. He admitted to
"getting involved" in some non-flight-related paperwork as the
airplane climbed VFR, looking up as the airplane was climbing
through 17,800 feet, still without an IFR clearance (required in
Class A airspace that begins at 18,000 feet). He "scrambled" to
turn off the autopilot and recover before busting the Class A
airspace. He did not consider this to have been a potential
problem.
Abdication of authority
Both of these pilots fell into the trap of expecting the
autopilot system to perform exactly as the pilot expected. Both
pilots abdicated control of the airplane totally to the autopilot,
falling out of even the system monitoring mode that is at the heart
of FITS. Trouble is an autopilot is a very good, but very dumb
copilot-it does exactly what you tell it to do. Years of Aviation Safety Reporting System
(ASRS) reports tell us one of the most commonly
reported in-flight incidents is an altitude or attitude deviation
resulting from a pilot improperly programming an autopilot and
failing to monitor its work. Further, although broken autopilots
themselves are rarely implicated in accident reports, situations
that can cause erratic autopilot functioning or total failure often
are-gyro failures, electrical problems, and trim system
failures.
Aero-tip of the day: Use autopilots as a workload-reduction
tool, but monitor their function closely. Do not abdicate your
authority as pilot-in-command to an unintelligent and unpredictable
machine.