Decision making
Páginas: 14 (3454 palabras)
Publicado: 8 de junio de 2010
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Operations & Proficiency No. 11
Do The Right Thing:
Decision Making for Pilots
Aeronautical Decision Making. If you’ve been around aviation very long, you’ve almost certainly heard the term. Perhaps you’ve wondered what it actually meant. Or perhaps you’ve looked at the literature on the subject and struggled to make sense ofall the information. If so, you’re not alone. For pilots accustomed to concrete answers, the concept of Aeronautical Decision Making seems a bit too academic—too “fuzzy.” The goal of decision making is really very simple: doing the right thing, at the right time. In this Safety Advisor, we’ll look at some practical ways to achieve that goal.
Why Decision Making?
The goal of decision makingis really very simple: doing the right thing, at the right time.
Why should you care about decision making? The numbers speak for themselves. Poor decision making is the root cause of many—if not most—aviation accidents. Year after year, the NTSB attributes approximately 75 percent of all aircraft accidents to pilot error, with a very large number the direct result of poor decisions. GeneralAviation Accidents 2003
MAJOR CAUSE Pilot Mechanical/ Maintenance Other/Unknown TOTAL All Accidents 1147 (75.8%) 225 (14.9%) 141 (9.3%) 1513 Fatal Accidents 236 (75.9%) 23 (7.4%) 52 (16.7%) 311
You don’t have to be a high-time pilot to make consistently good decisions about flying. New private pilots already know most of the things that are likely to get them into serious trouble: weather,maneuvering flight, strong winds, etc. A major portion of primary flight training is devoted to teaching the dangers inherent in these things. But the key to applying that training—and the thing that seems to cause pilots the
A O PA A i r S a f e t y F o u n d a t i o n
most difficulty—is recognizing potential hazards and taking timely action to avoid them. Broadly speaking, accidents that stemfrom bad decisions are usually set in motion by one of two motivating factors: utility or fun. Utility: Trying to squeeze too much utility out of the airplane. VFR into IMC; flight into icing conditions; overloading; trying to stretch range; etc. The desire to get the most out of the airplane leads to a situation that exceeds either its design limitations or the pilot’s skill level.
cuttinginto their fuel reserve while they still had a chance to divert. For our purposes, decision making is as much about avoiding the tough calls as it is about learning how to make them.
Go/No-Go?
It may seem obvious, but some of the best aeronautical decisions are made on the ground. A prudent preflight choice can eliminate the need to make a much more difficult in-flight decision. Such choicesare easy to make when conditions are obviously poor, or obviously good. In the real world, though, the situation is often less clear-cut. When conditions are marginal, the go/no-go decision has a curious way of becoming a perfect storm of complicating factors—time, money, emotions, personal commitments, professional obligations, etc. These are powerful motivators, and even the most safety-consciousof pilots can find it extremely difficult to “just say no” to a flight, particularly when getting there is important and conditions don’t clearly argue for staying on the ground. The best way to avoid temptation is to prepare a contingency plan. General aviation aircraft can be superb traveling
Know and respect your limits, and those of your aircraft. Do you really need all that luggage?Fun: Trying to have too much fun in the airplane. This shows up in accident reports as buzzing, low-level flight, improper aerobatics, etc.
Don’t let the desire to have fun overwhelm your better judgment.
Most of the time, the really tough decisions don’t just “sneak up” on pilots. In fuel exhaustion accidents, for example, virtually all the pilots knew that that they were
Prepare a...
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Operations & Proficiency No. 11
Do The Right Thing:
Decision Making for Pilots
Aeronautical Decision Making. If you’ve been around aviation very long, you’ve almost certainly heard the term. Perhaps you’ve wondered what it actually meant. Or perhaps you’ve looked at the literature on the subject and struggled to make sense ofall the information. If so, you’re not alone. For pilots accustomed to concrete answers, the concept of Aeronautical Decision Making seems a bit too academic—too “fuzzy.” The goal of decision making is really very simple: doing the right thing, at the right time. In this Safety Advisor, we’ll look at some practical ways to achieve that goal.
Why Decision Making?
The goal of decision makingis really very simple: doing the right thing, at the right time.
Why should you care about decision making? The numbers speak for themselves. Poor decision making is the root cause of many—if not most—aviation accidents. Year after year, the NTSB attributes approximately 75 percent of all aircraft accidents to pilot error, with a very large number the direct result of poor decisions. GeneralAviation Accidents 2003
MAJOR CAUSE Pilot Mechanical/ Maintenance Other/Unknown TOTAL All Accidents 1147 (75.8%) 225 (14.9%) 141 (9.3%) 1513 Fatal Accidents 236 (75.9%) 23 (7.4%) 52 (16.7%) 311
You don’t have to be a high-time pilot to make consistently good decisions about flying. New private pilots already know most of the things that are likely to get them into serious trouble: weather,maneuvering flight, strong winds, etc. A major portion of primary flight training is devoted to teaching the dangers inherent in these things. But the key to applying that training—and the thing that seems to cause pilots the
A O PA A i r S a f e t y F o u n d a t i o n
most difficulty—is recognizing potential hazards and taking timely action to avoid them. Broadly speaking, accidents that stemfrom bad decisions are usually set in motion by one of two motivating factors: utility or fun. Utility: Trying to squeeze too much utility out of the airplane. VFR into IMC; flight into icing conditions; overloading; trying to stretch range; etc. The desire to get the most out of the airplane leads to a situation that exceeds either its design limitations or the pilot’s skill level.
cuttinginto their fuel reserve while they still had a chance to divert. For our purposes, decision making is as much about avoiding the tough calls as it is about learning how to make them.
Go/No-Go?
It may seem obvious, but some of the best aeronautical decisions are made on the ground. A prudent preflight choice can eliminate the need to make a much more difficult in-flight decision. Such choicesare easy to make when conditions are obviously poor, or obviously good. In the real world, though, the situation is often less clear-cut. When conditions are marginal, the go/no-go decision has a curious way of becoming a perfect storm of complicating factors—time, money, emotions, personal commitments, professional obligations, etc. These are powerful motivators, and even the most safety-consciousof pilots can find it extremely difficult to “just say no” to a flight, particularly when getting there is important and conditions don’t clearly argue for staying on the ground. The best way to avoid temptation is to prepare a contingency plan. General aviation aircraft can be superb traveling
Know and respect your limits, and those of your aircraft. Do you really need all that luggage?Fun: Trying to have too much fun in the airplane. This shows up in accident reports as buzzing, low-level flight, improper aerobatics, etc.
Don’t let the desire to have fun overwhelm your better judgment.
Most of the time, the really tough decisions don’t just “sneak up” on pilots. In fuel exhaustion accidents, for example, virtually all the pilots knew that that they were
Prepare a...
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