Page 4 - Volume 17 Number 7

2 • TWIN & TURBINEJULY 2013editor’sbriefingOh, I wouldn’t do that. You’ve had those thoughts, I’m sure. We all put up this shield against weakness, whenever we hear about a pilot who pressed on in the face of hopeless odds – with a disastrous outcome. We’re sure we wouldn’t have the character flaw that led to his demise. We have better judgment... right?If you have this vaunted superior judgment, consider where you might have learned it. Judgment is one of the three vital pillars of safety support, along with skill and knowledge, which make for successful piloting. And yet, it’s often confused with aptitude or character, neither of which alone guarantees good judgment. So, from whence cometh this important component that tips the scales toward survival in critical situations?There’s an old proverb, “Good judgment comes from experience, and that experience comes from bad judgment.” But maybe it doesn’t have to be our bad experiences that engender the formation of judgment. If we’re willing to learn, we can study the outcomes of other pilots’ experiences, applying what we learn to our operations.This is probably the most fruitful aspect of group training, such as we might receive in the classroom at initial or recurrent type-specific courses. “This is what happened to me one night...” begins the story, and we pay attention, because this might be us someday. As another old saw goes, “You can’t live long enough to make all the mistakes yourself.” When a system fault comes up that wasn’t in the emergency checklist, only judgment, honedby our experience or others, gives us the decision-making ability to do the right thing.Dealing with the dynamics of thunderstorms requires a lot of judgment, beginning with our knowledge of how convective weather works and how the system’s movement will impact our flight. Each situation is different, so textbook lore is only a start; as pilots, we have to apply what we see on the display and out the windshield. The book says stay 20 miles from all thunderstorms – but where is the storm, exactly, and which way is it moving? Assessing these factors is where judgment comes in, with a healthy respect created from our experience in times past.When we say “we wouldn’t have done that,” we’re assuming we would have backed away sooner or seen the danger with our superior ability to perceive. But the pilot we’re disparaging might have thought the same thing, entrapped by the old “just a little farther” temptation we’ve all considered. If we’re truly going to be superior aviators, we need to learn from everyone’s experience, not just our own.I commend David Miller’s “On Final” page to your consideration. Giving up is never easy, especially for a pilot. But it’s necessary at times – especially for a pilot, who’s the only person in the aircraft making decisions. As I write this, I’ve already scrubbed tomorrow’s trip, because the weather looks to be unworkable.As our capabilities grow, with the acquisition of better equipment, the need for good judgment must keep pace. That’s truly what it means to be PIC.Judgment Call—LeRoy CookLeRoy Cook, Editor