Complacency as a major contributor to aviation accidents.

[Kinetic]

When pilots are flying they need to be actively doing their job of being the pilot in command, despite anything interesting outside that is going on.

This is best done with a high state of discipline and mental rigorousness that many people don't have to stay in the moment and do what they should be doing.

Most pilots I come into contact are unable, have not thought about it, or unwilling to do this and look for other solutions to fly safely.

This is a subject that many will find unpalatable.

How many evaluations of accidents have considered and discussed this issue?

 

[Vance]

When pilots are flying they need to be actively doing their job of being the pilot in command, despite anything interesting outside that is going on.

This is best done with a high state of discipline and mental rigorousness that many people don't have to stay in the moment and do what they should be doing.

Most pilots I come into contact are unable, have not thought about it, or unwilling to do this and look for other solutions to fly safely.

This is a subject that many will find unpalatable.

How many evaluations of accidents have considered and discussed this issue?

I agree with you Kinetic; complacency is a safety issue in aviation.

I feel my overconfidence is a direct result of my complacency.

Surviving poor aviation decision making does not validate those decisions.

Part of any check ride or flight review involves being alert for complacency because complacency is recognized as an aviation safety issue.

I know many pilots who are quick to condemn other pilots complacency as a way to pretend they have not become complacent.

 

[Mayfield]

I agree with you Kinetic; complacency is a safety issue in aviation.

I feel my overconfidence is a direct result of my complacency.

Surviving poor aviation decision making does not validate those decisions.

Part of any check ride or flight review involves being alert for complacency because complacency is recognized as an aviation safety issue.

I know many pilots who are quick to condemn other pilots complacency as a way to pretend they have not become complacent.

Amen Vance. I find you to be the opposite of complacent. And you have spent years learning your craft.

Jim

 

[Kinetic]

"I know many pilots who are quick to condemn other pilots complacency as a way to pretend they have not become complacent."

Agreed. There are many components to this.

One way to test the focus component - When you lose your focus, how quickly do you pick up on it and refocus. How often do you lose your focus? What are you focusing on in the cockpit and outside the cockpit? Are you constantly restudying or have just ignored it after passing your checkride? Do you really understand what you are doing and the dynamics of your gyro, or are you doing things by rote?

As a pilot do you really think about what some of the contributory factors like lack of training, poor judgment, not regularly flying, and not understanding the dynamics of a gyro might have and likely have contributed to some of these gyro accidents, and where are you inside that envelope?

If an instructor is not using a checklist when training, what is that instructor communicating to their student?

Are instructors being honest with fixed wing pilots about the need to fly gyros regularly, understand their dynamics, and to question whether minimum training will be adequate?

If you are an instructor. Do you use a written training program for gyroplane instruction? Are you insisting that your students take advanced training from you?

I was told by one instructor that most of his fixed wing pilots students quit after their first solo flight because they scare themselves. Whose fault is that?

 

[TyroGyro]

Another vote for rigorous ADM.

Risk and Aeronautical Decision Making (ADM)

I attach the relevant section from the latest version of the UK CAA "Skyway Code". As I firmly believe that the vast majority of fatal gyro accidents are caused by poor ADM I think the gyro world would be a lot safer if more attention was paid to such things... Fly Safe

www.rotaryforum.com

You should never just "go flying" on a whim...

 

[Vance]

"I know many pilots who are quick to condemn other pilots complacency as a way to pretend they have not become complacent."

Agreed. There are many components to this.

One way to test the focus component - When you lose your focus, how quickly do you pick up on it and refocus. How often do you lose your focus? What are you focusing on in the cockpit and outside the cockpit? Are you constantly restudying or have just ignored it after passing your checkride? Do you really understand what you are doing and the dynamics of your gyro, or are you doing things by rote?

One of the things I love about aviation is there is always something to learn.

The FAA requires all pilots to have a flight review with an appropriately rated flight instructor every two years to ensure that they didn’t just forget about the things they learned to pass their check ride.

There is an order of importance and not everything can be checked in two hours.

Part of your upcoming check ride will be for you to demonstrate that you have understanding and do not do things just by rote.

 

[Vance]

As a pilot do you really think about what some of the contributory factors like lack of training, poor judgment, not regularly flying, and not understanding the dynamics of a gyro might have and likely have contributed to some of these gyro accidents, and where are you inside that envelope?

I find value in the study of aviation mishaps and trying to figure out how to break the chain that led up to the mishap.

It takes effort and focus because it is easy to just imagine; “I would never do anything that stupid!”

 

[Vance]

If an instructor is not using a checklist when training, what is that instructor communicating to their student?

Are instructors being honest with fixed wing pilots about the need to fly gyros regularly, understand their dynamics, and to question whether minimum training will be adequate?

If you are an instructor. Do you use a written training program for gyroplane instruction? Are you insisting that your students take advanced training from you?

All of the flight instructors I know use and teach the use of check lists.

I don’t know any dishonest flight instructors. If a client of mine has a mishap I will likely hear from the FAA or the NTSB so it is in my interest to emphasize all of the things that could get them into trouble.

In order to become an FAA certificated flight instructor I am required to demonstrate a syllabus and the ability to write lesson plans.

As a flight instructor I suggest my clients take advanced training after they have passed their check ride.

I have no authority to require it.

 

[Kinetic]

I agree with TyroGyro about rigorous ADM.

 

[Kinetic]

I think the issues surface with a newbie like me. As I understand it, most gyro pilots are private pilots seeking an add on.
An instructor who is use to working with add-ons may have trouble retooling for some old guy like me who never flew before.
Without Zeus training me, I would have been screwed IMO.

 

[BEN S]

Vance "It takes effort and focus because it is easy to just imagine; “I would never do anything that stupid!”
I have yet to find anything so stupid I can't imagine me doing it....at least once.

 

[EI-GYRO]

You don't have to be stupid to make mistakes. Sometimes the machine's design will help you to.

 

[StanFoster]

I have admitted here after having so many flights in my Helicycle with nothing to fix..or adjust....the tentacles of complacency started taking over. I get extremely focused when there is a challenge...but I need a constant visible challenge to keep me focused. My curved stairbuilding is a very satisfying continual challenge that has kept me after 30 years...actually more focused than ever. I really feel my brain only can handle curved stairways....or flying helicopters...but not both. I could tell while I was extremely focused on my Helicycle building and flying...it was taking away from my stairbuilding...although my customers never noticed.

I have told Vance how I would skip a preflight...but try to make it up by doing a really good next preflight. Of course that doesn't cut it and a head-on train wreck was inevitable eventually.

The only good thing I can say about myself is I made the best ADM move of my flying career and quit flying. Probably why I am still watching you all 8 years later....and with no regrets!

 

[PJB]

Not wishing to detract from anything that has been said around what used to be called "airmanship" and the obvious need for it, I do think that the gyroplane and its community has been poorly served by sound data and research.

The GWS is a good positive example of how a "system" can help in some areas of the flight that has and does snag, although these areas that snag are very under researched and investigated in all of the accident reports that they have generated - i.e. I see few [if any] recommendations from accident branches to regulators that require them to make aircraft regulation more robust, pilot training enhanced or understanding of flight dynamics improved. Indeed to that end I have been reading a PhD paper from a few years ago that concludes that extreme manoeuvring can lead to excessive rotor teeter angles during certain phases of the flight resulting in rotor to prop/tailplane contact.

That is something likely deserves far more investigation and research.