AEA Pilot's Guide 2021-2022 - 10

DODGING AVOIDABLE IMPACTS
Continued from page 9
A snapshot of CFIT contributing factors
Most of these factors and contributing conditions should
sound familiar to most pilots - they're repeat factors with a
long history of thwarting pilots' best efforts. Consider these:
* Pilot error
The most-common denominator in CFIT accidents is
pilot error with loss of situational awareness a frequent
contributor. Spatial orientation is a frequent contributor to
CFIT, growing out of a loss of situational awareness.
When a pilot becomes spatially disoriented, he or she
is either unsure or mistaken about the aircraft's position
in relation to surrounding terrain. Degraded situational
awareness, particularly a lack of understanding of the
aircraft's geographical position and attitude, can lead to
poor decision-making and mistakes, mistakes which end in
a CFIT accident.
* Visibility and weather
One surprising aspect of CFIT is the conditions in which
most CFIT accidents occur. Instinct might expect these
accidents predominantly when flying at night, IMC or both.
But according to the statistics, more than 75% of CFIT
accidents actually occur in daylight.
Even more surprising is that more than half occur
in VMC. Flying visual flight rules into instrument
meteorological conditions remains among the most-deadly
precursors to CFIT accidents. A safety study found that out
of a group of 41 CFIT accidents, 25% involved the pilot
continuing VFR into IMC.
All of those accidents were fatal.
Pilot fatigue, distraction or disorientation
Safety authorities have spent a lot of time in recent
years studying pilot fatigue and working on ways to reduce
accidents caused by pilots exhausted by the hours and
sleep cycles they endure - particularly line pilots for airlines.
Fatigue, disorientation and distraction contribute to the
accident stats yearly.
*
The most-experienced aviators can fall victim to
exhaustion - a dangerous condition in the cockpit. We have
to acknowledge that most GA operators depend on one pilot
to handle all the associated duties.
Being aware of how tired or rested the pilot is becomes a
solid first step toward eliminating the problem of exhausted
pilots on the flight deck. Safety authorities consistently
- 10 -
recommend that pilots always fly well-rested and alert. They
also urge pilots to avoid distractions, particularly during critical
phases of flight such as takeoff, climb, descent and landing.
Planning ahead and practicing for proficiency are two
proven steps to reducing CFIT events. Good flight planning
can help the pilot reduce the workload and prevent too
much " head down " time. But as good as pilots can be at
preparing and planning, distractions still happen -
distractions capable of shifting the flight crew's focus away
from what's outside.
Tools for avoiding CFIT
Thankfully, the avionics industry offers tools designed to
help pilots stay alert to flights diverting from controlled flight
and give the flight crew alerts - even tools to help the pilot
return the aircraft to straight-and-level flight. Consider these
options for both types of solutions.
CFIT Checklist
The Flight Safety Foundation developed its FSF CFIT
Checklist to help pilots and aircraft operators assess the CFIT
risk for specific flights. Available in Arabic, Chinese, English,
French, Russian and Spanish, the FSF CFIT Checklist has
been widely reproduced and distributed. More than
30,000 copies of the checklist have been distributed
worldwide, and many thousands more have been
reproduced from FSF resources.
The purpose of this free software is to help flight
crews and others assess CFIT risks for specific flights,
identify factors that reduce those risks and enhance pilot
awareness of CFIT risk.
The worksheet is designed to be equivalent to the printed
FSF CFIT Checklist so that wording, calculations and risk
scores correspond between the two formats, except as
required to take advantage of Microsoft Excel functions.
This user-friendly software runs on computers equipped with
Microsoft Windows operating systems and the Microsoft
Excel spreadsheet application.
The worksheet was developed as a collaborative effort
by staff from the Federal Aviation Administration and Flight
Safety Foundation. William L. McNease, an FAA flight
standards inspector, and Gerald H. Pilj, an aircraft certification
engineer, initiated the project.
Pilj programmed the worksheet's interface and automated
functions. The FAA is not responsible for the accuracy of this
educational tool and does not require its use by U.S. aircraft
owners and operators.
Continued on page 12...
AEA Pilot's Guide 2021-2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AEA Pilot's Guide 2021-2022
