Aero-Tips!

A good pilot is always learning -- how many times have you heard this old standard throughout your flying career? There is no truer statement in all of flying (well, with the possible exception of "there are no old, bold pilots.") It's part of what makes aviation so exciting for all of us... just when you think you've seen it all, along comes a scenario you've never imagined.

Aero-News has called upon the expertise of Thomas P. Turner, master CFI and all-around-good-guy, to bring our readers -- and us -- daily tips to improve our skills as aviators, and as representatives of the flying community. Some of them, you may have heard before... but for each of us, there will also be something we might never have considered before, or something that didn't "stick" the way it should have the first time we memorized it for the practical test.

It is our unabashed goal that "Aero-Tips" will help our readers become better, safer pilots -- as well as introducing our ground-bound readers to the concepts and principles that keep those strange aluminum-and-composite contraptions in the air... and allow them to soar magnificently through it.

Look for our daily Aero-Tips segments, coming each day to you through the Aero-News Network. Suggestions for future Aero-Tips are always welcome, as are additions or discussion of each day's tips. Remember... when it comes to being better pilots, we're all in this together.

Aero-Tips 06.04.06

It's amazing anybody goes without seat belts, but the question of when they are required on airplanes comes up often enough that it's time for a review of the regulation. FAR 91.107 tells us "the word". Here's what it has to say, with emphasis and commentary added:

91.107  Use of safety belts, shoulder harnesses, and child restraint systems.

(a) Unless otherwise authorized by the Administrator --

Comment: If you for some reason convince the FAA to provide you a waiver to 91.107, this rule does not apply.

(1) No pilot may take off …(except a free balloon that incorporates a basket or gondola, or an airship type certificated before November 2, 1987) unless the pilot in command... ensures that each person on board is briefed on how to fasten and unfasten safety belt[s] and, if installed, shoulder harness.

Comment: To paraphrase a common Southwest Airlines quip, if passengers have not been in a car in the last 40 years and can't figure it out themselves, you need to tell them how to use the seat belts.

(2) No pilot may cause to be moved on the surface, take off, or land... unless the pilot in command... ensures that each person on board has been notified to fasten his or her safety belt and, if installed, his or her shoulder harness.

Comment: Not only do you have to tell them how to fasten belts and shoulder harnesses, but you have to tell them to fasten them before you can move the airplane. If shoulder harnesses are installed, they are required to be used.

(3) ...each person on board... [an]... aircraft... must occupy an approved seat or berth with a safety belt and, if installed, shoulder harness, properly secured about him or her during movement on the surface, takeoff, and landing.

Comment: In addition to telling them how and when to use seat belts and shoulder harnesses, the pilot-in-command must ensure they do so for taxi, takeoff and landing. Passengers are not required to wear seat belts or shoulder harnesses during climb, cruise or descent...although wearing them at all times is a stellar idea.

(4) ...a person may be held by an adult who is occupying an approved seat or berth, provided that the person being held has not reached his or her second birthday and does not occupy or use any restraining device. [A child may] occupy an approved child restraint system... provided that the child is accompanied by a parent, guardian, or attendant designated by the child's parent or guardian to attend to the safety of the child during the flight.

There are a few other details in 91.107, but understand this: aircraft accident investigators have told me repeatedly that seat belts and especially shoulder harnesses save lives if an airplane makes a hard or off-airport landing... and conversely, that lack of shoulder harness use (especially by front-seat occupants) very often turns a "minor injury" mishap into a fatal wreck.

Aero-tip of the day: Understand the required use of seat belts and shoulder harnesses -- and follow the "best practice" of wearing them during all phases of flight..

FMI: Aero-Tips