Comment-AMCC-III.General-Training

File:<http://www.secureav.com/Comment-AMCC-III.General-Training.pdf>.
LastUpdated:October20,2005
T
HE
A
VIATORS
M
ODEL
C
ODEOF
C
ONDUCT
(AMCC)isavailableat<http://www.secureav.com>.

AbouttheCommentary
:
TheCommentaryaddressesselectedissueswithintheA
VIATORS
M
ODEL
C
ODE
OF
C
ONDUCT
(AMCC)toelaborateontheirmeaning,provideinterpretiveguidance,andsuggestwaysof
adoptingtheAMCC.Itisintendedprimarilyforimplementers,policyadministrators,aviationassociation
management,andpilotswhowishtoexploretheAMCCingreaterdepth.Pleasesendyouredits,errata,
andcommentsto<
PEB@secureav.com
>.TermsofUseareavailableat<
http://secureav.com/terms.pdf
>.

C
OMMENTARYTO
AMCCIII.General
T
RAININGAND
P
ROFICIENCY
Pilottrainingandpilotproficiencylieattheheartofaviationsafety,simplybecausemost
accidentsinvolvepiloterror.
1
Effectivetrainingrequiresasophisticatedunderstandingofthe
natureofpiloterrorandtheefficacyofvarioustrainingmethods.
2
Asaresult,GAflighttraining
3andflighttestingareinconstantflux,andthesubjectofconsiderablerethinking.
Trainingisthesystematicmodificationofbehaviorthroughinstruction,practice,measurement,
andfeedback.Itspurposeistoteachthetraineetoperformtasksnotpreviouslypossibleortoa
4levelofskillorproficiencypreviouslyunattainable.Thecompellingneedforflighttraining
wasartfullyurgedlongagobyWolfgangLangewiesche:
[F]lying
is
difficulttolearnletnobodytellyouotherwise.Theaccidentrecordprovesit,
andsodoesthenumberofmenbarredfromflighttrainingoreliminatedfromtrainingfor
lackofaptitude.Whatmakesflyingsodifficultisthatthefliersinstinctsthatis,hismost
deeplyestablishedhabitsofmindandbodywilltempthimtodoexactlythewrongthing.
...Inlearningtheartofpiloting,muchcarefullylearnedbehavior,manyfirmlyheldideas
mustbeforgottenandclearedoutoftheway,mustactuallybereversed!
5
Aftermasteringbasicstickandrudderskills,themodernGApilotoftenyearnstolearnnew,
morecomplexskill-setsnecessaryforflyingtechnicallyadvancedaircraftinachallengingATC
environment.Humanfactorsresearchinaviationindicatesthattheincreasedimportanceof
[learning]properaeronauticaldecision-making(ADM)andriskassessmenthasneverbeen
greater.
6
AMCCIIIurgespilotstoembracesuchchallengesas(a)achievingandmaintaining
proficiency,(b)participatinginflightsafetyeducation,(c)respondingtoemergencies,and(d)
accuratelyloggingtheircurrency.
**

1
NTSB,
AnnualReviewofAircraftAccidentData,U.S.GeneralAviation,CalendarYear2000,
NTSB/ARG-04/01(Jun17,2004),
availableat
<
http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/2004/ARG0401.pdf
>
(accidentbroadcause/factor89%-personnel);AOPAAirSafetyFoundation,
AccidentTrendsandFactors
for2003,
2004N
ALL
R
EPORT
,
availableat
<
http://www.aopa.org/asf/publications/03nall.pdf
>(pilot
relatedcausesofaccidents75.8%).
2
Theextentofaccidentscausedbypiloterror,themeaningoferror,andapproachestoreduceerrorare
miredincontroversy.Considerthefollowingviews:

Theindustrypersistsinattemptingtoeliminateerrorandadvocatespreventionstrategies
aimedaterroravoidanceratherthanerrormanagement....[C]onsiderhumanerroras
thestartingpoint....Errorshouldbeconsideredlikeafever:anindicationofillness
ratherthanitscause.Itisamarkerannouncingproblemsinthearchitectureofthe
aviationsystem.Theobviousplacetostartlookingisattheinterfacesbetweenhuman
andsystem,includingthevarioushuman-organizationinterfacesrelevanttotheevent
underscrutiny,todeterminewhethertheinterfacesarecontext-friendly.Capt.DanielE.
Maurino,ICAO,
AviationHumanFactorsandtheSafetyInvestigationProcess,

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File:<http://www.secureav.com/Comment-AMCC-III.General-Training.pdf>.
LastUpdated:October20,2005
T
HE
A
VIATORS
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ODEL
C
ODEOF
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ONDUCT
(AMCC)isavailableat<http://www.secureav.com>.

ConferenceoftheIntlSocietyofAirSafetyInvestigtaors,Anchorage,Alaska(Oct.15,
1997),pp.2,6.

Ifflightinstructorsareresponsibleforpilotsabilitytomaketherightdecisions,thento
blamepiloterrorforanincidentwouldbeunfairtoapilotwithoutrecognizingthechain
oferrorsthatlikelyinculpatesthatpilotsinstructor,andinturn,thedemographicsthat
causedtheinstructortohavelittleexperience.InterviewwithFrankHofmann,Secy,
CanadianOwnersandPilotsAssn(COPA),inSãoPaulo,Braz.(Oct.4,2002).

Regulatoryrequirementsforinstructorsarelow,
GuidelinesforBusinessAviationPilot
Training,
NBAA,§3.3,(Sept.1,2002),p.10,
availableat
<http://www.nbaa.org>(implicatingflightinstructorqualityconcerns).
3
Forexample,thisrethinkingincludestheevolutionofFAAPracticalTestStandardstoincludescenario-
basedtrainingandriskmanagement.
See,e.g.
,FAA,
InstrumentRatingPTS
,FAA-S-8081-4D(Apr.2004),
availableat
<
http://www.faa.gov/education_research/testing/airmen/test_standards/media/FAA-S-8081-
4D.pdf
>(incorporationofscenariosintheplanofactioncharacterizedasamajorenhancement);
RobertA.Wright,FAA,
ChangesInGeneralAviationFlightOperationsAndTheirImpactOnSystem
SafetyAndFlightTraining
(DraftVersion2.0Apr.2002),p.10,
at
<
http://www.faa.gov/education_research/training/fits/guidance/media/whitepaper.doc
>(whencoupled
withstate-of-the-arttrainingdevicesandcurricula,[scenario-basedflighttraining]wouldbeideallysuited
topreparinggeneralaviationpilotsforoperationinanincreasinglycomplexNAS.).
See
ArlynnMcMahon,MCFI,
MakingaCompletePilot,NAFIMentor
(Aug.2005),pp.10-13(explaining
scenario-basedtraining);MichaelW.Brown,
TransformingScienceintoArtWhatthePTScanand
cannotdoforpilottraining,
FAAA
VIATION
N
EWS
,Jul./Aug.2005,pp.26-28(Asaninstructor,yourtask
istodevelopscenarios,trainingexercises,andcurriculathathighlightallknowriskfactorsandother
considerationsassociatedwithagivenPTSmaneuver.
Id.
p.28).
4
PaulW.Caro,
FlightTrainingandSimulation
,
in
H
UMAN
F
ACTORSIN
A
VIATION
229(EarlWiener&
DavidNagel,eds.AcademicPress1998).PerhapsCarosuseofpreviouslyunattainableisbetter
characterizedbypreviously
unattained
becauseoruonlylimitsareself-imposed.EmailfromDoug
Stewart,MCFI(Aug.11,2005)(emphasisadded).
5
S
TICKAND
R
UDDER
3(McGraw-HillPublg1972)(1944).Langeweischeisreferringtostickandrudder
skills.[His]statementreinforcesthementalitythattrainingshouldbemaneuversbased.Yetwehave
realizedthatlimitingourselvestojusttrainingmaneuvers(aswehaveprettymuchsinceWWI)ignoresthe
realkiller...thatbeingriskmanagement/aeronauticaldecisionmaking.AtthetimethatLangeweische
wrotethis,mostflyingwasconductedlocallyandengineswerelessreliablethantheyaretoday.Stickand
rudderskillswerewhatsavedthebaconinmostinstances.Today,ifwedonttraintoproficiencyin
thoseskillswetypicallybendmetalorcrackcomposites,butdonotnecessarilykillourselves.Itispoor
decisionmakingskillsthatleadtomostofthefatalitiestoday.EmailfromDougStewart,
supra
note4
.
Balancingtheobjectivityneededtomeasurestickandrudderskillswitt
h
esubjectivityrequiredto
evaluatepilotperformanceinothercriticalareasisnosimplematter.MichaelW.Brown,
supra
note3,p.
.626
DougStewart,MCFI,
TechnicalLessons,
NAFIM
ENTOR
,Mar.2005,p.9.Stewartexplains:Because
theseairplanesarebeingusedforlongcrosscountryflightsforthemostpart,creatinggreaterexposureto
risk.Furthermore,manyofthepilotsthatcanaffordthesetypesofaircraftare
megatypeA
personalities,
thatarenotusedtobeingtoldthattheycannotdosomething.EmailfromDougStewart,
Id
.
Increasingly,thesearethefolkswhohavethemeanstofly,yetthey(generally,often)disdainany
questioningoftheir
judgment,
andsofailtoavailthemselvesofopportunitiestolearnthisvitalflying
skill.EmailfromMichaelRadomsky,Pres.,CirrusOwnersandPilotsAssn(Sept.4,2005).
***

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