Tue Oct 09, 2012 2:39 pm
#1106760
The Risk Manager
Company founder and present CEO, instructor, charter pilot, salesman and finance raiser… the pressures on Pilot X are building.
By Richard Boswell
As the rain started to patter down on the windscreen, X smiled. It quite literally never rains but it pours. As the intensity of the rain increased, he gazed out of the cockpit at the thickening grey clouds and realised that it was decision time. Should he stay or should he go?
On paper, the decision was simple, but it depended on what bit of paper you were looking at. X had run the little charter company for nearly 30 years and in his capacity as Crew Resource Management instructor and Flight Safety Officer the decision was easy. Taxi back and cancel the flight. But as is common with small aviation companies, he wore many hats and another one was founder and CEO. Year-on-year he tried to carve an existence as an aviation entrepreneur; some years were good, others much more difficult, with X living a hand-to-mouth existence from charter to charter. Still, he had managed to survive where countless other companies had failed. However, one thing was certain, every year the cost of business increased and the amount of business declined.
Today, here was a lucrative charter with customers who promised to bring lots of repeat business when he needed it most, so to taxi back now and deposit his passengers at the terminal building, knowing that there were unlikely to be any hotel rooms available at this remote location and long since the last train had departed was not wise. And with 10,000 hours under his belt on the trusty Seneca V and with almost 20,000 in total, he knew that he could virtually fly this route blindfold. And to continue in this weather, that is virtually what he would have to do.
As always, things were never as simple in reality as they appeared in the classroom when he gave flight safety courses. “Don’t fly if you feel fatigued, don’t fly if the weather is below limits, don’t fly if your safety equipment is unserviceable.” The advice was sound in an academic environment but did not reflect the day-to-day reality for most pilots.
He reflected on his day. He had started early after a late finish the night before. The charter the previous evening had gone well but he had not arrived back until almost 11pm. This meant that he could not fly and remain within the flight time limitations regulations until 11am this morning. He had an early morning charter but it was straightforward and he had organised for one of his young freelance pilots to fly it. This meant he needed to get up early to make sure that the pilot was fully prepared for the flight. It may have been easier to fly it himself but the FTL rules didn’t allow this and he had a meeting organised with his bank manager at 9am anyway. The meeting went pretty much as expected. X was hoping to borrow some money to fit the fleet of two aircraft with enhanced GPWS. It was expensive, but X could see the safety benefits of the technology given the nature of his operation. He had experienced a few close shaves in the past and appreciated that with the correct equipment and training this system would help avoid further close shaves or worse. His bank did not see it like this – why would they lend him money for equipment that did not improve efficiency and was not required by legislation for his type of aircraft and operation?
By the time he returned to the airfield, his junior pilot was back safe and sound. The flight seemed to have gone well but he had not been able to get the weather radar to work and, although he had not needed it for the flight, as the weather was forecast to deteriorate, he had ‘snagged’ the aircraft in the technical log. X sighed, he knew that this was the correct procedure but he also knew that there was no way that an engineer would be able to come out and fix the aircraft before he needed it. He also knew that they didn’t carry any spares for the weather radar, as they were too expensive to hold in stock. He cleared the snag and transferred the defect to the deferred defect list as he was entitled to do, and noted that unless he could fix the radar within ten days the aircraft would be grounded.
The empty leg to collect the passengers was uneventful, however, on arrival at the small regional airport things started to go downhill. He was aware of the approaching weather front and knew time was tight; he had already called his passengers and politely asked them to be prompt, and also called for a refuel as he taxied in, only to be told that there would be a delay of up to two hours. On shutdown, he dipped the tanks. He had enough to get back with VFR reserves but only just, and without the weather radar he didn’t want to go IMC anyway. He decided to go with what he had rather than wait for the bad weather to arrive. As he walked towards the terminal his passengers phoned him: they were delayed at security and were being told that they needed a ticket before they could pass through and proceed airside.
It took another 45 minutes before X managed to locate his passengers and steer them through security and load them in the aircraft. The grey clouds were already looming when he called for start. Taxying out, he was informed that there would be a further 10-minute delay before he could take off, as there was jet traffic they wanted to get out before him. And then the rain started to patter down on his windscreen. Should he stay or should he go? ■
Questions
1 Unfortunately these types of real world pressures are increasingly common for both private and commercial pilots alike. What would you have done and how do you manage risk?
2 What is enhanced GPWS and what safety benefits does it bring?
3 What is a deferred defect list?
Company founder and present CEO, instructor, charter pilot, salesman and finance raiser… the pressures on Pilot X are building.
By Richard Boswell
As the rain started to patter down on the windscreen, X smiled. It quite literally never rains but it pours. As the intensity of the rain increased, he gazed out of the cockpit at the thickening grey clouds and realised that it was decision time. Should he stay or should he go?
On paper, the decision was simple, but it depended on what bit of paper you were looking at. X had run the little charter company for nearly 30 years and in his capacity as Crew Resource Management instructor and Flight Safety Officer the decision was easy. Taxi back and cancel the flight. But as is common with small aviation companies, he wore many hats and another one was founder and CEO. Year-on-year he tried to carve an existence as an aviation entrepreneur; some years were good, others much more difficult, with X living a hand-to-mouth existence from charter to charter. Still, he had managed to survive where countless other companies had failed. However, one thing was certain, every year the cost of business increased and the amount of business declined.
Today, here was a lucrative charter with customers who promised to bring lots of repeat business when he needed it most, so to taxi back now and deposit his passengers at the terminal building, knowing that there were unlikely to be any hotel rooms available at this remote location and long since the last train had departed was not wise. And with 10,000 hours under his belt on the trusty Seneca V and with almost 20,000 in total, he knew that he could virtually fly this route blindfold. And to continue in this weather, that is virtually what he would have to do.
As always, things were never as simple in reality as they appeared in the classroom when he gave flight safety courses. “Don’t fly if you feel fatigued, don’t fly if the weather is below limits, don’t fly if your safety equipment is unserviceable.” The advice was sound in an academic environment but did not reflect the day-to-day reality for most pilots.
He reflected on his day. He had started early after a late finish the night before. The charter the previous evening had gone well but he had not arrived back until almost 11pm. This meant that he could not fly and remain within the flight time limitations regulations until 11am this morning. He had an early morning charter but it was straightforward and he had organised for one of his young freelance pilots to fly it. This meant he needed to get up early to make sure that the pilot was fully prepared for the flight. It may have been easier to fly it himself but the FTL rules didn’t allow this and he had a meeting organised with his bank manager at 9am anyway. The meeting went pretty much as expected. X was hoping to borrow some money to fit the fleet of two aircraft with enhanced GPWS. It was expensive, but X could see the safety benefits of the technology given the nature of his operation. He had experienced a few close shaves in the past and appreciated that with the correct equipment and training this system would help avoid further close shaves or worse. His bank did not see it like this – why would they lend him money for equipment that did not improve efficiency and was not required by legislation for his type of aircraft and operation?
By the time he returned to the airfield, his junior pilot was back safe and sound. The flight seemed to have gone well but he had not been able to get the weather radar to work and, although he had not needed it for the flight, as the weather was forecast to deteriorate, he had ‘snagged’ the aircraft in the technical log. X sighed, he knew that this was the correct procedure but he also knew that there was no way that an engineer would be able to come out and fix the aircraft before he needed it. He also knew that they didn’t carry any spares for the weather radar, as they were too expensive to hold in stock. He cleared the snag and transferred the defect to the deferred defect list as he was entitled to do, and noted that unless he could fix the radar within ten days the aircraft would be grounded.
The empty leg to collect the passengers was uneventful, however, on arrival at the small regional airport things started to go downhill. He was aware of the approaching weather front and knew time was tight; he had already called his passengers and politely asked them to be prompt, and also called for a refuel as he taxied in, only to be told that there would be a delay of up to two hours. On shutdown, he dipped the tanks. He had enough to get back with VFR reserves but only just, and without the weather radar he didn’t want to go IMC anyway. He decided to go with what he had rather than wait for the bad weather to arrive. As he walked towards the terminal his passengers phoned him: they were delayed at security and were being told that they needed a ticket before they could pass through and proceed airside.
It took another 45 minutes before X managed to locate his passengers and steer them through security and load them in the aircraft. The grey clouds were already looming when he called for start. Taxying out, he was informed that there would be a further 10-minute delay before he could take off, as there was jet traffic they wanted to get out before him. And then the rain started to patter down on his windscreen. Should he stay or should he go? ■
Questions
1 Unfortunately these types of real world pressures are increasingly common for both private and commercial pilots alike. What would you have done and how do you manage risk?
2 What is enhanced GPWS and what safety benefits does it bring?
3 What is a deferred defect list?