Aviation Safety and the decision making process

What Could Down an Albatross? A CRM approach to accident prevention and risk management                   Being my favorite bird although I’ve never seen one in person, is a subject of admiration for its un-matched qualities and skills as individuals and as members of their communities.   For this beautiful seabirds the art of flying which we cherish and enjoy so much comes in the beginning from an urge to try out their wings and not from inherited knowledge considering that in the beginning they really look clueless to their true calling.   Never the less If you see an adult individual fly, it is apparent that during an Albatross’s life there hasn’t been and will never be one that makes a mistake in the sky, true masters of their craft admiring one up there will make you think:                                     “If only” Crew Resource Management is a well-studied subject and every year we are buffed up and refreshed on the skills required to manage a flight.   It has co

The Invisible Threat Flying helicopters has to be one of the most rewarding flying experiences a person can have.   One instructor used to say to me “Helicopter flying is the most fun you can have with your pants on” and for many aviators helicopter flying is the branch of the industry they decided to be in. Helicopters are very particular about many things and one of them is aerodynamics.   Even though the blades are airfoils and     develop lift the same way as airplane airfoils, once the rotor is at flight speed; depending on the model the tip of the rotor could be traveling at near 500 MPH.   This brings to your hands a very agile aircraft, this agility combined with a capable crew brings to the table an impressive array of different operations a helicopter can accomplish. But all of this agility and capability comes with a price; the price to pay for this agility is that many of the things that affect a helicopter are counterintuitive to the crew.   Helicopter pilots

20 Seconds “In a decision making process, usually 20 seconds end up being not enough time for an aviator or a crew”             D ecision making in an ever changing environment is at least a difficult task for anyone, decision making in an aircraft cockpit gives a whole set of variables that sometimes end up being too overwhelming to digest for any pilot or crew. Decision making processes have been well studied, developed and implemented in every corner of the world and have been among us from the beginning of time.   Today you can easily punch the phrase in a search engine and anyone could get hundreds of different answers and techniques even styles for one to implement and customize each need.             Some things have to be said about us before we revise this topic by itself. One is the feeling of above average performance we all feel we have at any point. And the other is the dynamic environment playing a critical role as part of the equation.             Dunning-K