Premium on Safety - Issue 40, 2021 - 9

SAFETY SPOTLIGHT

Photo credit: SM Spangler
A series of Go/No-Go/Go-No-Further questions should propel every flight from preflight to post-flight.

Go/No-Go or Go-No-Further
Navigate Safety with a Comprehensive, Ongoing Socratic Conversation
BY SCOTT SPANGLER
Every flight, no matter the aircraft involved or its destination,
presents the pilot in command an endless string of questions
whose answers determine the safety of that flight. Aeronautical
decision making (ADM) summarizes these questions as Go/
No-Go. This succinct question subliminally suggests a solitary
interrogative good for the whole flight.

Critical thinking is challenging what you know with questions posed
by new information. It is a process of elimination that connects new
learning to old that increases your knowledge and decision making
ability. No matter how long you've been flying, you will likely be
able to recall situations you faced as a student pilot you avoid today
because of the lessons they taught, and you remembered.

But flights that start well often don't end that way because some
variable, such as weather for example, has changed en route. Go/
No-Go or Go-No-Further is a progressive mindset that probes
every aspect of flight and includes alternate courses of action
when the answer is Go-No-Further.

New information that contradicts what you believe should sprout
questions like dandelions in spring. Replace rote acceptance with
curiosity. Carefully and diligently explore, investigate, and examine
each contradiction to determine the value of its differences.
Equally important in the internet era is validating the source of
the new information. Regardless of what many seemingly reliable
online sources may say, the Earth is not flat.

Flying is a mental journey as well as a physical one. Navigating
safety, the preemptive goal of every flight, is not that different
from finding one's way to a desired destination. In Wayfinding:
The Science of Mystery of How Humans Navigate the World,
M.R. O'Conner wrote, " At the heart of successful navigation is a
capacity to record the past, attend to the present, and imagine the
future-a goal or place we'd like to reach. "
To navigate safety, pilots find their way by answering an ongoing
series of questions that draw on their first-hand and erudite
experience to analyze the variables of the current situation,
and project these conclusions into the future. To process these
questions efficiently, a Go/No-Go or Go-No-Further mindset
succinctly evaluates every step of the flight.
Socrates, a classical Greek philosopher employed the question as
the foundation of his teaching. Starting with his inquiry, the class
would discuss it, ask, and answer related questions to stimulate
critical thinking and to illuminate ideas. They would search for
commonly held truths that shape opinion and scrutinize them to
determine their consistency with other beliefs. In other words,
the Socratic Method connects what you know and believe to new
knowledge and information.

Addressing aviation, Ernest K. Gann made clear that Fate is the
Hunter. Like any predator, it hunts first pilots who are complacent
and/or unprepared. Processing each Go/No-Go or Go-No-Further
decision chain draws on the pilot's experience and knowledge.
Acquiring both is an endless effort that should become
progressively more refined as new information and experiences
expand the depth of what one already knows. A good starting
point is the FAA Risk Management Handbook (FAA-H-8083-2).
With the proper mindset, learning from the misadventures of other
pilots is much more efficient and economical than learning those
lessons first hand. The NTSB's online library of accident reports is a
bountiful buffet of unhappy lessons for everything that flies. The FAA
also serves educational meals on its Accident & Incident website.
For a monthly appetizer, subscribe to the ASRS Callback. The
Aviation Safety Reporting System's free online publication
presents " de-identified " report excerpts with commentary on the
lessons learned. Most rewarding are its " What Would You Do? "
issues that present various situations and a few different options,
with outcome commentary.
contd. next page

https://asrs.arc.nasa.gov/

Premium on Safety - Issue 40, 2021

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