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FAA Risk Management Handbook (2009)
This handbook is a tool designed to help recognize and manage risk. It provides a higher level of training to the pilot in command (PIC) who wishes to aspire to a greater understanding of the aviation environment and become a better pilot.
It makes available recommended tools for determining and assessing risk in order to make the safest possible flight with the least amount of risk. The appendices at the end of this handbook contain checklists and scenarios to aid in risk management consideration, flight planning, and training.
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Select and Use Conventional and Unconventional Personal Minimums
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The use of a Personal Minimums Checklist is one method for identifying and managing risks when you fly. It’s an excellent starting point for considering risks, especially for low-time pilots. If you have thousands of hours of experience, it’s possible you didn’t learn about Personal Minimums when you got your license years ago. To have survived this long, however, you have probably developed your own routine for managing risk, or have just been lucky. Rather than waiting for the luck to run out, take the time now to develop your own Personal Minimums.
First, print a copy of the FAA’s Accident Prevention Brochure P-8740-56, called Personal Minimums Checklist . Then spend some quiet time reading through the four categories of Pilot, Aircraft, Environment, and External Pressures and decide on the minimums that you’ll use to guide your decision making for every flight. Think of it as a way to not only preflight the airplane, but also to preflight the pilot and other risk factors.
In the Pilot category, you might set the minimum number of hours of sleep that you’ll always require before making a flight. In the Aircraft category, you might set your minimum fuel reserves at 1 hour in the daytime and 1-1/2 hours at night. That is double the legal minimums but, when you consider that 11 percent of accidents are fuel related and mostly preventable, it makes sense to carry extra fuel.
In the Environment category, you might choose to fly with at least 5 or 6 miles of visibility in the daytime, which, again, is double the legal minimum visibility of 3 miles. Or, although it is legal to take off IFR with zero visibility, you might decide to always require a ceiling and visibility that allow you to return IFR to your departure airport if you encounter a problem after takeoff.
Also, consider unconventional minimums that you will not find on the list. For example, because most night accidents occur when the moon is not in the sky or it is obscured by clouds, you might decide to not fly at night, unless at least a quarter moon is visible. Or, because fatigue is an accident factor, you might decidenever to fly after 11 p.m., or after you’ve had a combined workday and flying time of, for example, 10 hours. Be creative in selecting personal minimums that fit your knowledge of yourself and known accident factors. Then, never violate the minimums you have established, regardless of the internal or external pressures you may experience to complete a flight.
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The FAASTeam has asked Max Trescott, the 2008 National CFI of the Year, to write a series of safety tips. Max, a San Francisco area-based Master CFI, specializes in teaching in and publishing training materials for glass cockpit aircraft. You can read more of his work at www.maxtrescott.com and www.g1000book.com or e-mail him at info@sjflight.com .
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Runway Safety Tip
Notice Number: NOTC1697
During investigations of actual runway collisions, it has been learned that there were cues that could have provided flight crews with information regarding what was about to happen. ATC recordings, reviewed after some accidents, have contained pilot and controller transmissions that could have been used as indicators to prevent an accident.
Pilots don't have to become controllers in addition to flying the aircraft, but it's always a good idea to "listen-up," especially when you're holding on a runway awaiting takeoff clearance. You may inadvertently be cleared for takeoff with another aircraft landing or departing on an intersecting runway. Or an aircraft could be cleared to land on the runway on which you're holding.
If you're concerned about safety for any reason, speak-up and ask!
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Download Your Personal Ops Manual Template
All flight operations come under the rules provided to us by the Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs). While adhering to the letter and spirit of the FARs goes a long way toward promoting safe flying, they represent the bare minimum in terms of a comprehensive safety mind-set. Think of a flight conducted under FAR Part 91—the general operating and flight rules. While comprehensive, these rules leave a lot unsaid—your personal risk-tolerance policies, for example. Or your attitudes toward rest periods, or flying in adverse weather, or aircraft maintenance policies.
The airlines, charter, and fractional operations all develop their own guidelines that are designed to exceed the limits of the FARs. These guidelines set out the organization’s specific procedures according to corporate culture, all in the name of safety. This way, there’s a second set of rules to back up the FARs. Yet another set—exhibited in each pilot’s own personal attitudes—rounds out what ought to be an adequate triad of safety and operational controls.
Those of us flying under FAR Part 91 should emulate the safety structures used by the airlines. Experienced pilots, safety experts, and insurance companies all agree that having a personal operations manual is perhaps the best way to promote safe attitudes and procedures. The manual needn’t be long or complicated, just a plain-language synopsis of the expanded, personalized rules you intend to follow. Jack Olcott, president of General Aero Company Inc. and former president of the National Business Aviation Association, has shared his ideas regarding personal operations manuals including examples and templates for your use. Click here to download the PDF.
In the same vein, the AOPA Air Safety Foundation has developed an online safety course that deals with in-flight decision making. It’s only one of many such excellent interactive online courses, and to take it visit the Web site. It’s free; it counts as participation in the FAA’s Wings program; and, like a personal operations manual, it puts you in the right frame of mind.
—Thomas A. Horne
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The Operators Guide to Human Factors in Aviation is a project of the Flight Safety Foundation European Advisory Committee. The project is designed to provide operational need-to-know information on human factors topics to aviation personnel.
The project structure consists of a steering team and several development teams. The projected products of the effort are briefing notes, presentations, checklists, posters and other means of conveying human factors information to management, maintenance, operational, cabin, air traffic control and other personnel involved in aviation activities.
Materials are available from the OGHFA SKYbrary Portal.
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