Weather plays a significant role in aviation accidents. Both the NTSB and the FAA cite weather as a contributing factor in 35 percent of general aviation accidents. In the terminal area, the most common probable cause of fatal weather accidents are low ceilings, fog, wind and night. In the cruise phase of flight, flight into adverse weather and VFR into IMC are the most probable causes of fatalities. It is therefore imperative owner-pilots of business class aircraft be diligent in mitigating risks of encountering nasty adverse weather.
For any flight that ventures out from the immediate airport area, a pilot in command is required to become familiar with weather reports and forecasts (14 CFR 91.103). Most pilots utilize a weather briefing from Leido (also known as 1800wxbrief.com) or from their favorite Electronic Flight Bag app, such as ForeFlight or Garmin Pilot. There is a multitude of other weather information sources online that can be helpful to pilots, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and its various branches.
In creating the EZWxBrief app, Scott Dennstaedt, a former National Weather Service research meteorologist and certified flight instructor, has aimed to augment the existing weather briefing products and put together a comprehensive resource for aviation weather planning.
EZWxBrief can be used on a browser on your computer or your favorite mobile device. Unlike the regular apps you download from the Apple or Google app stores, EZWxBrief is a Progressive Web App, which means that it runs inside the browser in your device. You must be connected to the Internet for the app to work. Other than that, the look and feel of the app will be similar to those of any resident app you have on your mobile device.
Before we continue, I should caution that EZWxBrief is intended to provide supplemental weather information only. In using EZWxBrief a pilot does not fulfill their legal preflight obligation. In other words, EZWxBrief does not count as an official weather briefing. The pilot must therefore still obtain an official preflight brief. Having said that, I have found EZWxBrief to be helpful in supplementing official sources of preflight weather.
EZWxBrief includes two main functionalities: a decision support tool for preflight planning and a comprehensive selection of static weather imagery.
The EZWxBrief decision support tool is built around a pilot’s personal minimums. The pilot can specify acceptable personal parameters for a variety of departure, enroute and arrival weather. Those range from ceiling and visibility to icing intensity and convective potential. The heart of EZWxBrief’s decision support tool is an interactive map. After the pilot enters the departure airport, a set of interim waypoints, a destination airports and a desired cruising altitude, EZWxBrief displays the designated route on its map. With the route entered, the EZWxBrief app’s magic begins.
The selection of various weather products overlaying the map will be familiar to most users of Electronic Flight Bag applications. EZWxBrief differs from other apps in that it shows a matrix of colored dots below the map. This is the EZWxBrief departure advisor decision support tool. There, a matrix of colored dots is shown. Each column in the matrix represents a flight departing at a specific time, starting at the present and continuing in one-hour increments. Within a column, each dot corresponds to a weather condition the pilot is forecasted to encounter on that flight (e.g., departure ceiling, enroute icing, enroute turbulence, etc.). This is all neatly depicted using red, yellow and green colors, representing the relationship between the respective weather conditions and the pilot’s minimums. If all the dots in a column are green, a flight departing at the column’s representative time would be forecasted to encounter weather meeting the pilot’s personal minimums.
The beauty of the EZWxBrief departure advisor tool is that it synthesizes large amounts of information into a form that is easy to digest. It also makes it easy for a pilot to determine an optimal departure time, taking into account any adverse weather conditions. As an example, let us take a look at a proposed flight from Montgomery Gibbs Executive Airport in San Diego to Houston Hobby airport. Using the app, the pilot can determine that a flight departing now or in an hour is forecasted to encounter weather that meets their personal minimums. However, if departure is delayed, the pilot will be forecast to encounter weather that violates personal minimums.
The fun does not stop here. The EZWxBrief departure advisor tool makes it easy to drill down into the data and examine individual flight weather conditions for each hypothetical departure time. The pilot simply clicks on a column in the departure advisor matrix to reveal weather details. The app can also display various weather overlays on the map such as radar, Graphical AIRMETS
(G-AIRMETS), pilot weather reports (PIREPS), Central Weather Advisories (CWAs) and more. The EZWXBrief also provides a profile view, which pilots can use to examine icing, turbulence and clouds along the route and for different departure times.
The second part of the EZWxBrief app is a catalog of static weather imagery, as offered on other weather briefing tools. Distinguishing itself, the EZWxBrief static weather imagery catalog is by far the most extensive catalog that I have ever seen. While pilots can obtain such charts themselves for free from government sources such as the Aviation Weather Center (if you have not used aviationweather.com, you should!), the Storm Prediction Center, the GOES-R satellites and others, having access to all charts in one place within EZWxBrief is a plus. In addition, EZWxBrief and Scott Dennstaedt offer seminars to help pilots deepen their understanding of weather and practical use of the various weather charts.
Overall, EZWxBrief is a well put together app that can supplement aviation weather planning. The usual caveat applies here: While EZWxBrief excels at synthesizing a lot of information into a concise display, pilots should not blindly rely upon the EZWxBrief departure advisor tool. It is incumbent on pilots to investigate and fully understand forecasted weather phenomena and their resulting weather conditions. This includes understanding the prevailing weather systems and weather trends, as well as the formulation of flight alternatives, diversions and exit strategies.
Remember that no airplane is an all-weather airplane. This is true for business piston aircraft and, yes, even for business turbine aircraft. Delaying a flight by a few hours or a few days often makes it possible to avoid the dangers associated with inclement weather. Always abide by the adage, “It is better to be on the ground wishing that you were in the air than be in the air and wishing you were on the ground.”
Source: Sage Journals.“The Role of Weather in General Aviation Acidents: An Analysis of Causes, Contributing Factors and Issues.”
