It is not a calculated risk if you haven’t calculated it.
Naved Abdali, Author
Year after year single-pilot IFR operations are statistically among the most dangerous types of flying. Fortunately, there are tools and training aids to help minimize and mitigate the risks and make every flight safer.
I’m willing to wager that if Mr. Right Stuff Brigadier General Charles Elwood “Chuck” Yeager were with us today, he’d agree that single-pilot operations in today’s IFR environment are about the riskiest kind of flying you can do.
Why? Well, airspace is busier, airplanes are more complex, and pilots are often overwhelmed by it all. And it all adds up to some unfortunate statistics. In fact, according to a report by Robert E. Breiling Associates, a single-pilot operator was between 1.2 and 1.5 times more likely to be involved in an accident than a dual-pilot operator.
The top four types of single-pilot, piston, and turbine-powered light business aircraft (LBA) accidents and incidents are as follows:
- Runway excursions.
- Loss of control inflight.
- Runway undershoot/overshoot.
- Controlled flight into terrain (CFIT).
Unfortunately, the list goes on. But from hangar rash to a total loss, every incident or accident has one thing in common: The end result is typically the last piece in a complex chain of events. The end result answers the what, but not the why. And, in too many instances, the why began a while ago with poor risk identification and management. While risk management is critical for every pilot, identifying and mitigating risks as they pertain to each flight is especially important to single-pilot operations. I’m hoping the reason is apparent.
“The workload demand on single-pilot operations necessitates that they are thoroughly prepared for every flight,” explained Brian Laird, Chief Commercial Officer for TrainingPort.net. “Part of that means identifying potential hazards as well as assessing the severity and likelihood of the risks those hazards pose if encountered.”
“The use of a FRAT (Flight Risk Assessment Tool) can be very helpful in risk management and mitigation,” he continued. “The NBAA Single Pilot Safety Committee’s FRAT uses the PAVE Model (Pilot, Aircraft, Environment, and External Pressures) guideline and simplifies the process.” (You can download a copy on the NBAA website: nbaa.org).
“Using a risk assessment matrix, the risk associated with each identified hazard is derived from the hazard’s probability and its severity from high to medium to low,” Mark Larsen, NBAA Director, Safety and Flight Operations, said. “A risk management doctrine dictates the timing – before flight or in-flight – and level of effort needed to mitigate the hazard.”
Larsen cited the matrix included in NBAA’s Risk Management Guide for Single-Pilot Light Business Aircraft, which breaks the various levels of risk into three levels: high, serious, and low. “High” risks must be mitigated by taking action to lower the likelihood and severity to lower levels before departure. If the aircraft is already in flight, the risk can be avoided by an appropriate diversion or other decisive action.
“Serious” risks should be reduced to lower levels before departure or through appropriate divert or other actions if already in flight. Flights with “medium” risks can depart or continue but should involve action to lower the likelihood and severity whenever possible. “Low” risks can usually be addressed by following checklists and complying with standard procedures.
“There are varying versions of risk assessment matrixes, so be sure to follow the mitigation strategy appropriate to the matrix you are using,” Larsen said. “Ultimately, risk management allows you to weigh the potential costs of a hazard against the possible benefits of allowing the hazard to stand uncontrolled.”
One is the Busiest Number
By now, you’re saying, “Of course, single-pilot operations are more dangerous. I’ve got to do everything myself.”
Ah, there’s a key. You are solely responsible for every element of the flight. And those responsibilities don’t begin and end in the left seat. Think about it for a minute: How many times have you left home a bit late and rushed to the airport to fly out for an early meeting? Or perhaps at the end of a long day, you’re faced with flying home in marginal weather. The list goes on and on.
Pilots being pilots, taking time to analyze all the elements of an upcoming flight isn’t something you’re going to tend to do on the best of days.
“Typically, these aren’t professional pilots. They are business professionals that happen to be pilots who use their airplanes for business and leisure travel,” Laird said. “Risk management is not top of mind for them. It’s possible that many of them have never heard of the concept as it regards their flying.”
So, Mr. or Ms. business pilot, you’re left with dealing with each and every situation “on the fly.” Not the best course of action if safety is top of mind. But that may be changing. While risk management/mitigation hasn’t been stressed in flight training in the past, Larsen said that’s currently evolving.
“Risk management competency is crucial because poor risk management is likely a root cause of most fatal light business airplane accidents. Accident root cause analysis is not always available from conventional data sources for many such accidents. Still, safety experts regularly make the connection between poor risk management and accidents/incidents where the root cause has been investigated,” he said. “I believe we are in a transition period with complete incorporation of risk management into flight training programs.”
“For decades, the detailed regulatory basis for pilot training, check rides, and proficiency checks were in the applicable Practical Test Standards (PTS), which focused on knowledge and skills appropriate to tasks within given areas of operation,” Larson added. “In the past decade, the FAA and industry began work to create Airman Certification Standards (ACS) that replace PTS’s for all certificates and ratings.”
The new standards add detailed, applicable risk management elements to the knowledge and skills of tasks within areas of operation,” he said. “Those updates were originally released in 2018-2019, though further changes have been made since.”
He also said that many training providers have or are updating their curricula and courseware to cover all elements of the applicable ACS, including the detailed risk management elements.
Single-Pilots Don’t Have to Go it Alone
While the concept of risk management/mitigation may be new to many pilots, the good news is that there are many aids to help you add it to your preflight planning without drastically increasing your workload. TrainingPort.net has provided online courses for Single Pilot Resource Management (SRM) since Scott Macpherson introduced the company during the 2006 NBAA-BACE event.
“And 16 years later, our mission remains the same,” Laird explained, “To equip pilots with online training solutions that mitigate operational risks, elevate competency, and facilitate continuous improvement. For example, our SRM (Single-Pilot Resource Management) topic has seven lessons. They explore the effective use of all resources available to single-pilot operators to meet the unique challenges they face while improving safety and efficiency. Each session takes 15 minutes to complete and can be completed all at once or spread out over time.”
TrainingPort.net’s seven SRM sections include:
- Threat and Error Management.
- Communications.
- Situational Awareness.
- Workload Management and Decision Making.
- Fatigue, Pressure, and Stress
- Automation and Technology Management.
Laird said that from his experience, the most valuable part of the program is workload management and decision-making. Second, by a small margin, is automation and technology management. Not surprisingly, considering the fact that in many cases, the first time a pilot sees these advanced systems is in the airplane’s cockpit.
“Before I got into online training, I worked for a big simulator training provider for LBA pilots,” he said. “Glass cockpits absolutely have a big impact on risk management. One of the biggest things I routinely found was that pilots were washing out because of their inability to understand and operate the advanced avionics, not because of their stick and rudder skills.”
“The technologies today require that you know whatever systems you have in the airplane 100 percent,” Laird added. “When things happen, they happen quickly. And you need to know what to do fast. If you’re not multiple steps ahead of the systems, you are lightyears behind the airplane.”
He points to many contributing factors to pilots “getting behind the airplane,” including lack of familiarity, complacency, distraction, and the overall dulling of basic stick-and-rudder skills.
“Also, the lack of tactile feedback from the controls can contribute to a loss of situational awareness,” Laird said. “For example, some new fly-by-wire systems require no throttle management after takeoff. Set it and forget it. It’s easy to overlook these systems and their correct operation until you have an emergency situation. Then it’s often too late.”
Additional Tools to Help Manage Risk
While it may seem that risk management/mitigation is a reasonably new effort, it’s not. Larsen explained that for over a decade, NBAA has had a dedicated Single-Pilot Safety Working Group that is part of the NBAA Safety Committee. The group’s sole focus is on addressing identified safety issues in a way that’s appropriate for the single-pilot business aviation environment.
“That group, in conjunction with the broader NBAA Safety Committee, creates resources published on the NBAA website that single-pilot operators can use to strengthen the safety posture of their flights,” he said. “In addition, pilots can attend the annual NBAA Single-Pilot Safety Standdown that is held in conjunction with NBAA-BACE each year.”
To complement those events, Larsen said that NBAA has a host of single-pilot-focused safety resources on its website at nbaa.org/aircraft-operations/safety/single-pilot-operations/. In an ongoing effort to expand its reach, NBAA regularly works with single-pilot aircraft type clubs and leads an owner-pilot coalition of those associations to collaborate on issues relevant to the single-pilot community, including safety, insurance, and operational best practices, among other topics.
An example of that outreach is the NBAA’s recent announcement regarding the formation of its Owner Pilot Association Coalition (NBAA OPAC). This dedicated group has been created to bring together leaders of business aircraft owner-pilot organizations in a “collaborative effort to tackle top concerns for business aviation.”
The announcement release went on to say, “This new, grassroots coalition will connect the best thinking to concrete action to address owner-operators’ unique challenges, and also optimize the many ways aviation can support their business needs.”
The first owners’ organizations to join NBAA’S OPAC include Cirrus Vision Pilots and Owners, Citation Jet Pilots Association, Embraer Jet Operators Association, Malibu M-Class Owner and Pilots Association, Pilatus Pilatus Owners and Pilots Association, and the TBM Owner Pilot Association are all actively involved in the group’s efforts.
Making Single-Pilot Operations Safer
Larsen strongly stressed that to make significant strides in reducing accidents, pilots must commit to making proactive risk management/mitigation part of every phase of flight.
“Appropriate preflight planning must include a comprehensive risk assessment, especially in the
single-pilot environment. The best place to mitigate the risk of a hazard is while you’re still on the ground,” he said. “The proactive investment of time and thought in Risk Management, a critical Single-Pilot Resource Management skill, will make for less stressful flights and easier decisions while en route because you’ve pre-planned your options.”
“The ultimate goal is to provide the tools that enhance the likelihood of conducting your business and getting back home to your family without incident,” Larsen concluded.
