Enhancing Pilot Safety through Training

“Thank you for saving my life and the lives of my passengers.”

There’s nothing quite as gratifying as saving the life of another human being. For the team at FlightSafety International, receiving a call, letter, or email from a customer expressing heartfelt gratitude for providing training that literally has saved one or more lives makes the job more than worthwhile.

“In 2020, we implemented an inadvertent flight into IMC [instrument meteorological conditions] module in all of our helicopter courses, and all helicopter pilots take it whether they are instrument rated or not,” said Richard Meikle, EVP Safety, Courseware and Compliance, noting that it was the pilots’ spacial disorientation in IMC that killed basketball star Kobe Bryant, family, and friends in January 2020. “Since then, we’ve had at least four emails from pilots saying that training literally saved their life. None of those pilots were required by regulation to get this IMC training because they were flying under visual flight rules (VFR), but by providing training beyond the regulations, we made them safer pilots who made it home.”

Safe Pilot Traits

The ultimate goal of training is to enhance pilot safety, but as long as humans are piloting the ship, they will still have human traits, tendencies, and foibles. Meikle says there are three key traits that define a safe pilot: knowing and operating within one’s limitations, applying discipline to one’s thoughts and actions, and assessing the situation before acting.

“Impulsive action in an aircraft can have bad consequences,” said Meikle. “There are, of course, times where you have to act very promptly and that assessment phase may be quite short—such as an engine failure on takeoff—but those events are relatively rare. Generally, you have enough time to assess the situation and make an informed decision before you take action.”

Disciplined thought includes the methodical use of checklists and following standard operating procedures (SOPs) for every flight. Sometimes familiarity with an aircraft or beautiful flying conditions can lull pilots into shortcutting procedures or skipping the checklist. But well-trained, disciplined pilots recognize that daily habits become ingrained and good habits can be more quickly recalled when something goes awry; a pilot used to using checklists won’t need to fumble for them in an emergency situation.

Pilots who know and operate within their limitations tend to be safer pilots because they don’t often create emergency situations: the VFR pilot who lands in deteriorating weather short of their destination, the charter pilot who declines a severely overloaded trip, or the bizjet pilot who diverts to a dry runway when an unexpected rain shower makes a short field too tight to land safely.

According to Meikle, “Limitations include those of the aircraft they are flying, airspace and operational limitations, and the pilot’s own personal limitations in terms of competency, experience, and training with regard to the upcoming flight.”

Training is one way that pilots learn the extent of these limitations and can, in certain circumstances, expand them. A pilot who knows the aircraft systems and operational performance of their aircraft is less limited than an unfamiliar pilot who isn’t sure.

“From a safety point of view, we train pilots all the way the aircraft limits, but we encourage them to maintain a set of more conservative personal limits based on their experience in total, and in the aircraft for the conditions” said Mark Kleinhans, FSI’s director of safety. “Their skillset exceeds the requirements of each flight. We have to ensure there are no gaps in knowledge or skills.” 

Expanding Limitations through FSI’s Master Aviator Program

One way pilots can address their personal limitations is through FlightSafety’s Master Aviator program. Launched in 2015 for fixed-wing pilots and in 2016 for helicopter pilots, the Master Aviator program awards pilots for completing a set of core and elective courses beyond the typical initial or recurrent training events.

“The Master Aviator program is a terrific indicator to pilots of the commitment of their flight department and the individuals within to enhance their skills beyond the core,” said Meikle. “It takes most pilots a couple of years to complete all of the requirements for a particular aircraft, and pilots can earn Master Aviator in multiple aircraft to really hone their skills on each.”

Advanced simulator courses in rejected takeoffs, helicopter approach and landing accident reduction, crew resource management, energy management, using night vision goggles, upset prevention and recovery training, and international procedures strengthen pilots’ abilities to handle these situations. Elective online courses include topics such as fatigue management, warm/cold weather operations, corporate aviation security, safety management systems, and weather radar.

“Any pilot who completes one of our core courses is a safe, competent pilot, but the Master Aviator program takes them to the next level,” said Kleinhans. “Think of it like this: most everyone who drives a car knows how to drive defensively and how to avoid accidents, but none of us are qualified to be a security detail for the president of the United States. The president’s limo driver is trained to a higher level. And that’s what the Master Aviator is designed to do.”

Training Beyond the Aircraft

When pilots complete initial or recurrent training at FlightSafety, they get much more than practice simply flying the aircraft. FlightSafety curriculum is continuously updated to incorporate various human factors topics such as communication, leadership and teamwork, workload management, problem-solving and decision-making, and situational awareness. In addition, FlightSafety keeps its finger on the pulse of the industry to address key concerns like runway incursions/excursions, unstable approaches, and the reluctance to go around in its course materials.

“We try to bring awareness of what’s happening in the industry to the classroom so pilots gain an appreciation for what’s going on outside of their own operations,” said Meikle. “If you understand what’s going on in the industry, there may be a nugget or two that you can bring back to your own operation to make it even safer than it is now.”

FlightSafety’s partnerships with GE Aerospace and the Presage Group have fostered innovation in teaching and reinforcing core pilot competencies based on actual industry and pilot data. Through GE Aerospace’s flight data analytics program, FlightSafety can access aggregated flight data from thousands of aircraft and analyze trends that affect how pilots fly specific aircraft types in various situations. The insights provided are then worked into the curriculum. For example, when the data showed a link between unstable approaches and runway excursions, the FSI team created a “spotlight” to focus on runway excursion prevention in every fixed-wing initial or recurrent course.

Executing a “go-around” during an unstable approach is often the best way to prevent a runway excursion. Yet the data indicated that only about 3% of unstable approaches resulted in go-arounds; during the rest, the pilots wrestled the aircraft to the ground, usually with a favorable outcome albeit with reduced safety margins and in some cases, narrowly avoiding a serious event. FlightSafety worked with the Presage Group to study the psychology of the go-around using simulators to fly various approaches and interviewing the pilots afterward about their decision to go or not go around. Presage and FSI then jointly developed course content and scenarios for use in training.

Smart Investments in Instructors and Classroom Tech

FlightSafety’s investment in its curriculum isn’t always externally driven; in fact, its initial and continual investment in instructors and classroom technology has kept it ahead of its competitors for decades.

“When we hire a new instructor, we go beyond checking the boxes to make them legal to be an instructor,” said Kleinhans. “It’s a long process to become a FlightSafety instructor, including learning how to train clients that have deficiencies or need additional practice, and how to challenge those who have clear mastery of the aircraft. We invest a lot in how our instructors actually deliver the training because our philosophy is to train not just what’s required but what will actually keep people safe.”

Recognizing that the learning styles of students have changed over the years, FlightSafety also strives to provide the best learning aids for each client.

“Pilots in my generation are used to receiving a book, a booklet to take notes in, and a highlighter,” said Meikle. “If you did that to many of the clients walking in today, they would not be impressed because they expect the content to be digital. But on the other hand, if you gave me an iPad with the course loaded on it and told me to take my notes on the iPad, it would be quite frustrating. So technology cannot be a one-size-fits-all solution.”

Meikle noted that for technology to work in the classroom, it must be intuitive. Students shouldn’t need to spend too much time learning how to use the technology before they get to the content. This is one reason that FlightSafety has limited its use of technologies such as virtual reality and eye tracking to specific applications like hands-on maintenance training and instrument training in helicopters.

“Technology is great, but it can’t be added simply for the wow factor,” said Kleinhans. “In some ways, it may feel like we move more slowly than the marketplace allows, but we are being intentional with the integration of technology in our classrooms. We’re trying to make sure that any technology we deploy improves the training environment [and does] not detract from it.”