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is a poor impulse to imprint on a pilot. New stall training emphasizes reducing the angle of attack in order to break the stall. Loss of altitude is no longer graded.
For all of this, the problem has not yet been solved. In 2019, Atlas Air flight 3591 crashed into Trinity Bay just outside of Houston after the first officer mistakenly com- manded a go-around (investigators believe that his watch bumped a TOGA button located on the power levers). He mistook the resultant pitch up for a stall and pushed the nose into an unrecoverable dive. Like the captain in the Colgan crash, the Atlas first officer had a spotty back- ground with checkrides. These sorts of events can point to a dark secret: training programs have to account for (at most) an average pilot exhibiting average skills. Though the application of advanced skills occasionally results in an outstanding save (see United Airlines flight 232, US Airways flight 1549 and Delta Air Lines flight 1080, among others), there can be danger in attempting to train overly complex theory into nominal pilots. Even relatively simple skills can sometimes be too much. An emphasis on maintaining a safe boundary from the “edge of the envelope” is generally sufficient for the sake of safe flight.
The intent of training is not to lower the standards but to produce a safe skillset that pilots can comply with on a regular basis. Even a great pilot on a bad day (ear- ly show, insufficient rest, emotional distractions, poor
nutrition/exercise/illness, et al.) can get themselves into a great deal of trouble when attempting to comply with an overly complex process. It is best to simplify maneuvers and profiles to the point where an exhausted pilot has a fair shot at success. Aerobatic training emphasizes profi- ciency at the edge of the envelope, and there is nothing wrong with that. Yet, in aircraft designed for transporta- tion, it is important to focus on skills that produce a suf- ficient margin for error. This requires the development of proficiency while making allowance for distractions and bad days. A high-performance aircraft is exceedingly complex, requiring a great deal of attention to master. There is no such thing as a perfect process. It is far bet- ter to accept the merely satisfactory than to treat trivial details as though they are of prime importance. You are going to make mistakes. Reserve them for the things that won’t kill you.
Stan Dunn is an airline captain and check airman. He has 7,000 hours in turbine powered aircraft, with type ratings in the BE-1900, EMB-120, EMB-145, ERJ-170, and ERJ-190. Stan has been a professional pilot for 14 years, and has been flying for two decades. You can contact Stan at stan@bellman- multimedia.com.
Yingling
February 2022 / TWIN & TURBINE • 11