Let me start with a confession. I’m bad with names. Utterly terrible. Odds are that five minutes after meeting a new first officer I’ve forgotten their name already. I can remember a lot of other details without issue, but names are a real challenge. Now something I’m usually good at is recounting and remembering details of aircraft accidents and incidents. I was at the Udvar Hazy facility once near the Concorde and a group on a tour was asking the docent questions about the accident. He didn’t know some of the details but having read the accident report and being able to remember details I was able to answer questions and help the docent.
Details Matter: A Plea To Pilots And Controllers
I say this because we have had so many incidents in the last couple of years that I’m honestly losing track. Since June Southwest alone has had four major events which could have very easily ended in disaster. All four of those errors are identical to errors that have been made in the past by other crews which resulted in a crash and fatalities. American had a tire blow and seems to have initiated a high-speed reject, which is something we are trained not to do. They got it stopped, but that could have easily gone the other way. Then there are events like the American 777 that got lost at JFK and crossed the runway in front of a Delta flight that had started its takeoff roll. This was a highly experienced JFK-based Captain too and having read the report from the NTSB my sense was “there but for the grace of God go I.”
We also have had a rash of major controller mistakes. Flights cleared to takeoff with another aircraft already cleared to land almost on top of them. Aircraft cleared to cross runways when another aircraft was cleared for takeoff. The list is long and frankly terrifying. The FAA has acknowledged this but it doesn’t seem to be getting any better. We just had another event at Syracuse with video that made the hair on the back of my neck stand straight up:
I’ve personally had multiple problems in the last couple of years with ATC giving me a new route because of weather but the new route actually put me right into the heart of a line of thunderstorms. It’s almost like they are issuing routes without paying any attention to the weather that has driven the problem in the first place.
This has to stop. We’ve been lucky so far. Incredibly lucky. Unbelievably lucky in fact. But we simply cannot continue to roll the dice again and again, because eventually our luck will run out and we will have a tragedy on our hands. None of us want that.
Modern aircraft are incredibly safe and reliable. We have so many systems now that give us greater awareness and make our jobs simpler that we get relaxed about flying. Day in and day out it’s a routine and in that environment it’s easy to relax your vigilance. We can’t do that.
To Pilots
To my fellow pilots, we need to refocus on being wary and alert when doing our jobs, making sure the airplane never goes anywhere our mind hasn’t already been. As I’ve discussed previously (link here) we need to focus on airmanship. We need to recommit to keeping that active mental picture of what’s going on around us.
Captains, when the workload starts to increase and you’re trying to manage a problem and taxi the aircraft while the other pilots are heads down, don’t. Stop, set the brake and figure it all out before you make an all too human error. We are in command of that aircraft, no one else, and its up to us to make sure our brand new first officer isn’t behind and trying desperately to catch up. It’s up to us to be willing to say no when something isn’t right.
Yes, the NOTAM system is a total mess. Yes, there are 25 Unlighted towers at 150AGL 25 miles from the field and the edge lights are out on that taxiway you never ever go near. Yes, the FAA loves to put out a NOTAM for a change that is essentially permanent instead of doing their jobs and correcting the charts. I’m living it with you. But we can’t ignore the things. Because buried in amongst all the stuff we don’t care about is possibly something that will kill us, like a runway that’s closed until 15 minutes after our scheduled departure from an uncontrolled field.
We need to be professionals in the truest sense of the word. No matter how long you have been flying, no matter how comfortable you are in the job, there is always something to learn and mistakes, large and small, made by others that we can learn from. Don’t get relaxed. Constantly ask yourself, what can go wrong and what will you do when it does.
To Air Traffic Controllers
To the controllers out there, I say you can and must do better. Imagine having to go home knowing you made a mistake that put two airplanes in the same place at the same time resulting in fatalities. I get yours is a difficult and stressful job. I suspect that despite that it’s all too easy to get relaxed in the flow of your job and let some of your vigilance fall away. You can’t do that in aviation. That’s when things go wrong.
CONCLUSION
Flying on an airliner in the western world has become the safest mode of transportation known to man. Younger pilots and readers who want an understanding of how things used to be should read Ernest Gann’s book Fate is the Hunter. Considering how safe flying is today it can be a shock to realize that it wasn’t always. But never forget, “Aviation in itself is not inherently dangerous. But to an even greater degree than the sea, it is terribly unforgiving of any carelessness incapacity or neglect.”
> Read More: A Call To Action For Airline Passengers
