Keeping “George” on Task and on Track

As you have read, the government/ industry General Aviation Joint Steer­ing Committee (GAJSC) established a working group to review controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) events, figure out why pilots keep driving perfectly good airplanes into the dirt, and suggest safety enhancements to prevent such accidents. 

The group’s findings included many things you might expect, in the variety of conditions discussed in this issue’s feature articles. There were accidents arising from (sigh) continued VFR flight into instrument meteorolog­ical conditions (IMC), and from procedural mistakes in IFR flight (e.g., flight below minimum en route altitude, descent below MDA). There were incidents traced to unrealistic aircraft performance expectations (e.g., high density altitude, tailwinds on approach). There were wire strikes, and not just those involving rotorcraft or agricultural application operations. More than half of the wire strike CFIT events occurred in other kinds of flying — and they usually occurred in the neighborhood at or below 200 feet above ground level (AGL). 

Staying in Pilot Mode

The GAJSC working group also found cases in which reliance on automation was a precursor to CFIT events. As we have previously explored in this magazine, technological advances offer an unprecedented level of situational awareness that can reduce CFIT accidents. Even if your aircraft panel still sports the classic “six pack” of round dials (also known to some as “steam gauges”), chances are good that you have some kind of portable gadget that can offer an impressive array of information about terrain and human-constructed obstacles. Many — including the kind I use myself — even offer verbal warnings about everything from entering the runway to airborne traffic and terrain. All you have to do is to pay enough attention to read (or hear) and heed your elec­tronic helpers. 

Too often, though, we humans let ourselves slide from the proper mode of alert Pilot-in-Command to the perilous demeanor of relaxed Pas­senger-in-Comfort. It is truly ironic that the advent of at-a-glance posi­tion awareness capability has sharply diminished the “where-am-I-now” dis­cipline that was the hallmark of being in the loop. When you don’t have to put any mental effort into ascertaining positional awareness, it’s easy to stop paying attention, until (as the saying goes) the ground rises to smite you. 

Who’s Minding the Store?

Loss of situational awareness can be especially prevalent when you have an autopilot (aka “George”) along to help. George can do a lot, and most autopi­lots manage basic flight functions bet­ter than most pilots do. For instance, most GA autopilots will easily hold heading and altitude. Many will also follow a desired navigation track. But since artificial intelligence hasn’t advanced enough to give autopilots the ability to think, these features have led to surprises when the pilot steps out of the loop. In terms of the CFIT topic explored in this issue, it’s important for pilots to understand that many GA autopilots lack the ability to integrate aircraft position and terrain information. That means that it’s on the pilot to think that through and manage the automation so as to maintain adequate terrain and obstruction clearance. Avoiding this potential technology pitfall means finding ways to keep yourself con­tinuously in the loop, and constantly aware of automation modes in use. Here are a few ways to accomplish this important goal: 

• Use callouts to maintain positional awareness of position, course, and altitude. 
• Verbally announce changes to heading, altitude, and frequency. 
• Record changes in writing. The act of speaking and writing bolsters awareness. 
• Verbally announce any change to navigation source and autopilot modes. 
• Read each item on the autopilot status display aloud every time there is a change, stating which modes are armed and which modes are engaged. 

Flying is all about being in the sky and looking at the ground. Let’s all do our part to stay in that mode and keep our electronic helpers in a mode to do their part as well. (FAA Safety Briefing – NovDec 2020)