GAARMS REPORT: 2013 May 19
The FAA Improving GA Safety
Fred Gibbs
By the time you read this, you may have already attended our May annual meeting at Chandler Aviation and heard the latest update on GAARMS. But what you may not know is that right after the annual meeting, the Arizona Aircraft Accident Review Group (affectionately called the AZ AARG) held their meeting over in the airport conference room to work on identifying and developing solutions, tactics and strategies to try to reduce the fatal accident rate, and the overall accident rate, here in the state and among our pilot community, i.e., you!
In last month’s newsletter, I included the following excerpt from the NTSB about what they think the FAA should be doing to improve GA safety:
1.) Add a specific requirement for all pilots who do not receive weather-related recurrent training, that the biennial flight review include the following:
Recognition of critical weather situations from the ground and in flight;
Procurement and use of aeronautical weather reports and forecasts;
Determination of fuel requirements; and
Planning for alternatives if the intended flight cannot be completed or delays are encountered.
(For example, the “standard briefing” section of NWS/FAA website contains all of the information cited in AC00-45E, “Aviation Weather Service,” as constituting a standard briefing, as well as additional graphical weather products, yet it includes a disclaimer stating that it should be “used for advisory purposes only.”)
2.) For pilots holding a private, commercial, or airline transport pilot certificate in the airplane category who do not receive recurrent instrument training, add a specific requirement that the biennial flight review include a demonstration of control and maneuvering of an airplane solely by reference to instruments, including straight and level flight, constant airspeed climbs and descents, turns to a heading, and recovery from unusual flight attitudes.
The latest round of discussions has the FAA now going in a different direction. This excerpt came out of the AVwebFLASH newsletter – FAA Calls for GA Safety Improvements
With the busy summer flying season upon us, FAA Administrator Michael Huerta on Tuesday met with leaders from EAA, AOPA, GAMA, NBAA and others in the general aviation community to discuss actions to enhance safety and reduce accidents. The GA fatal accident rate has remained flat over the past five years, Huerta noted. "We cannot become complacent about safety," he said. "Together, we must improve the safety culture to drive the GA fatal accident rate lower." The group agreed to set short-term goals to raise awareness on the importance of basic airmanship and to promote a positive safety culture. Huerta also asked the aviation community to commit to several longer-term goals.
Huerta called on the aviation community to install life-saving equipment in older airplanes, such as angle-of-attack indicators, inflatable restraints, and two-axis autopilots; to improve data collection and analysis; and to improve airman certification testing and training. To meet these goals, the GA community and the FAA agreed to work together and move forward as quickly as possible on three key initiatives -- an overhaul of airman testing and training standards, an expedited rewrite of Part 23 that will make it faster and cheaper to install new technology in airplanes, and more industry-wide efforts to collect and analyze safety data.
What does this have to do with APA, you ask? Well, when you look at what the FAA is proposing, the AZ AARG is right in line with them, or is it vice versa?
The AZ AARG believes in new technology for safety of flight, such as Cirrus’s CAP parachute recovery system, airbag/inflatable seat restraint systems, etc., as well as some good old technology, like shoulder harnesses in every aircraft, angle-of-attack indicators, and even a basic autopilot or wing leveler. But there is still no substitute for good basic stick and rudder flying skills – airspeed and altitude are your friends, and they are complementary – gotta have both to be safe. You can trade some of one for the other, but you need both to fly successfully!
So what do you think about the need to “improve the airman certification testing and training” standards? Improve it to what, is my question! Yeah, airman testing, specifically the written, definitely needs to be overhauled. Things like ADF need to go; things like GPS need to be added; the requirement to be able to read the “secret code” weather formats needs to be dropped. There is so much available on the web, it makes the coding obsolete for the average pilot. (The weather service can still use it if they want!) And the FAA needs to stop writing trick questions that test your reading ability, not your knowledge levels.
With regard to the revision to the Part 23 rules… HOORAY! The paperwork and “BS” requirements to install new seat belts, an angle-of-attack indicator, or any other equipment you might like to have in your airplane to help you fly and manage better is ridiculous – and very expensive. Why should new seat belts and shoulder harnesses cost over a thousand dollars? I can probably put a 5-point NASCAR-approved restraint system in my race car for under $300.00 bucks…
So far this year, we have only had 4 fatal accidents with 5 fatalities (Quick, knock on wood!):
- A crash at Casa Grande involved a KingAire BE-90 practicing takeoffs and landings.
- At Ryan Field, a C150 had a stall/spin during the downwind-to-base turn.
- Out by Wikieup, an off-airport emergency landing after an engine failure in a Mooney resulted in one fatality, the pilot’s wife in the right seat.
- At Bullhead City, a pilot committed suicide during the approach to the airport.
As analyzed by the AZ AARG, two of these accidents were determined to be loss-of-control accidents, which go back to basic flying skills, although the KingAire accident was a much more “advanced” loss-of-control issue. The Mooney off-airport emergency landing – a story all to itself – was/is an equipment issue: no shoulder harnesses installed in the airplane - which I believe could have prevented the fatal injuries. The 4th accident, the suicide, was most likely not something we, as a safety-oriented organization, could have done anything to prevent.
APA continues to provide our safety seminars all across the state, with the next one coming up in Flagstaff:
June 15, Flagstaff: EFB Workshop
This is a workshop-type safety program, where we will break out into groups to address the specific operation of your EFB; i.e., ForeFlight, WingXPro7, or Garmin. Should you wish to participate, please register at both FAA Safety website and directly with Fred Gibbs. We need specific information regarding your present skill level on the App you use, so that we may determine how many instructors will be needed for each App. Also, be sure to watch for the FAA’s SPANS notice. It has a limited circulation, so if you live more than 75 miles from Flagstaff and you want to attend, you need to search the FAA Safety website or contact Fred Gibbs directly!
Should you desire a safety program at your local airport, simply contact APA via our website or call our Safety Program Director, Craig Albright, at 480-776-9358. Or you can contact me, Fred Gibbs, at 410-206-3753 or email. The Arizona Pilots Association provides the safety programs at no charge. We will most certainly help you organize a program of your choice, and we can recommend programs that your pilot community might really like.
WINGMAN Program – Don’t come to a safety program by yourself. But don’t just bring your old buddy who always comes with you. Bring someone new, and get your BFF to also bring someone new. We need you to help us expand our audience, to expand our reach, and to expand our ocean of faces. Statistics show that the folks having accidents are the ones who don’t participate in the WINGS or safety programs, so help us reach out to those folks and pull them in. I never complain when a program runs out of chairs!