Good News

Runway incursions are down this year. Great job to everyone who has contributed to the effort to reduce runway incursions. Keep it up! It seems that the FAA's runway safety initiative is helping, and pilots at all levels across the country have received free training resources and education on preventing runway incursions. Runway safety continues to be a hot spot and focus area for the FAA, and there is still room for improvement.

Approximately sixty percent of 2009's runway incursions have been caused by pilot deviations (PD). Of those pilot deviations, a staggering eighty three percent involved general aviation (GA) airplanes. That means five out of six runway incursions are caused by GA pilots. Ouch! We can do better than that! Let's brush up on a few runway safety recommendations.

• Eliminate "heads-down" time during surface operations. Keep your head up and eyes out during taxi. Never complete checklists or other pre-departure (or pre-shutdown) tasks while the aircraft is moving. Here are a few do's and don'ts for taxiing. Do: Keep your eyes and attention outside the aircraft, periodically cross-check your heading indicator to verify you're taxiing in the correct direction and that you are where you think you are. Don't: Program a GPS or configure avionics, run checklists, copy a pre-departure IFR clearance, study an aeronautical chart.
• Always refer to a current airport diagram while taxiing. Study the airport diagram during your preflight planning, and highlight your anticipated taxi route. Pay special attention to any designated airport "hot spots" depicted on airport diagrams, and obtain NOTAMs before departure to check for taxiway closures. Any closures should be marked on your airport diagram.
• Always write down taxi instructions, especially if they are complex or if the airport is unfamiliar. As is clearly stated on every airport diagram, read back all runway holding instructions. I'd take that a step further and advise a read back of all taxi instructions, including runway holding instructions. If you think you may've heard your taxi instructions incorrectly, or if you don't understand the instructions, ask ATC.
• Always use sterile cockpit procedures during surface operations. Only pertinent information should be discussed. This will help eliminate cockpit distractions and keep you from inadvertently wandering onto an active runway!
• Make sure you have a thorough understanding of all airport signage and surface markings. Carry a "cheat sheet" airport sign and marking legend if you must.
• Use external aircraft lights to signal your intentions to other pilots, whether day or night. Remember these guidelines: beacon on anytime the engine is running, strobes on anytime you're occupying an active runway (crossing, holding, taking off or landing), landing lights and all other external lights on when initiating takeoff roll or landing.
• Always look both ways before entering any runway. ATC makes mistakes too! I take this a step further and look both ways before entering a taxiway intersection as well. I announce, "Clear left, clear right." This helps increase my situational awareness and keeps me engaged and vigilant.
• If you're even slightly uncertain of your position on the airport, STOP. Ask ATC for assistance. If you find yourself on a runway, clear the runway immediately, stop, and ask ATC for assistance. Don't hesitate to request progressive taxi instructions if necessary.

Something the airlines have been doing for a few years now (some longer) since the Comair crash in Lexington is performing a mandatory cross-check of the heading indicator prior to initiating the takeoff roll to verify the aircraft is lined up on the correct runway. I've adopted this procedure and recommend it to all pilots. After I line up and immediately before I apply takeoff power I verify proper heading and say, "Runway XX confirmed." This is an excellent way of verifying you've got the correct runway ahead of you and that ATC has cleared it of traffic and it is of sufficient length as planned. Do the same thing when approaching a runway on final. Verify your heading matches the intended runway and say, "Runway XX confirmed."

Following these recommendations will ensure you don't become a statistic! Again, great job, everyone, on the runway safety improvement. We've still got more work to do, so let's keep it up and remember... Stay alert, stay alive.

"We Have Clearance, Clarence."

"I guess he's just headin' in," said the tower controller. I visited my home base airport's control tower a couple weeks ago. The tower controller, or local controller in ATC terms, and I watched as a Cessna 172 landed, exited the runway, and taxied to his parking location without saying a word. The controller, not wanting to fill out a bunch of paperwork near the end of his shift, quickly keyed up and issued the aircraft taxi clearance. The pilot acknowledged, his voice sounding a bit caught off guard by the taxi clearance, perhaps because he didn't understand that he had unwittingly just committed a violation.

This happens all the time. Go park yourself near the sidelines at a busy GA airport with a control tower and count how many airplanes taxi off the runway after landing and continue to their parking location without clearance. Controllers get used to this, and in the interest of maintaining a healthy blood pressure level, they usually don't chastise the unknowing pilots and simply issue a taxi clearance. Sometimes they ignore the violation altogether. But taxiing from a runway to a parking location requires clearance from ATC, just like taxiing from a parking location to a runway for takeoff. Certainly, most pilots wouldn't start-up and taxi out to a departure runway for takeoff without contacting ground control for taxi clearance. Why, then, do they taxi along the same active taxiways in the opposite direction without clearance after landing?

When a controller clears you to land, the runway is yours. Not the entire airport movement area (including the taxiways you plan to use to transition from the landing runway to parking). A taxi clearance must be received after landing, even if the taxi is short and simple. That same taxi required a clearance before takeoff, and it requires a clearance after landing. Other aircraft may be moving about the surface communicating with ground control. Taxiing off the runway after landing and continuing straight onto another taxiway may put you head-to-head with another aircraft. That can create a headache because aircraft can't go backwards, and on narrow taxiways there may be insufficient room to accommodate a 180 degree turn. A shutdown and tow may be required to remedy the situation.

Remember, you must be cleared to taxi before you move anywhere on a designated movement area. That's true whether you're taxiing out for takeoff, taxiing from point to point on the airport surface, or taxiing to parking after landing. Sometimes taxi clearances are extremely short. "Skyhawk 123, taxi to parking." That's a taxi clearance. Three words. The term "taxi to" means you choose your taxi route. You can use any taxiways or inactive runways you desire, just not an active runway. The FAA has recently mandated the issuance of explicit taxi instructions at many airports, meaning controllers are no longer permitted to use "taxi to" clearances. An explicit taxi instruction contains a specific taxi route, but it can still be short. At my home base, I often get the taxi clearance, "Taxi to parking via Alpha." That's still short but explicit because it contains a specific taxi route. No matter what the case, you've got to have a clearance in one form another before taxiing after landing.

The proper procedure is to land and exit the runway as soon as practicable. Always exit onto a taxiway, never an intersecting runway unless specifically instructed by ATC. Pull your entire aircraft clear of the hold short lines and stop, then await further instructions from ATC. Never change to the ground frequency unless instructed by the tower. That's another common mistake I've seen. Some pilots switch from tower to ground automatically after exiting the runway. Don't do that. Stay on tower, give the controller a second to issue you further instructions, and if he doesn't, query him. At that point he'll either issue you a taxi clearance or hand you off to the ground controller. The ground controller will then issue a taxi clearance. If the tower controller issues the taxi clearance, stay on his frequency for the entire taxi unless he specifically instructs you to contact ground. When requesting taxi-in clearance, use the same format you'd use if calling for a taxi clearance for takeoff. It should sound like this, "Denver Ground, Skyhawk 123, clear of 35 Left at Mike 6, taxi to GA parking."

Taxiing off a landing runway and onto an active taxiway is taxiing without clearance. It's a violation and can get you into trouble. So, remember, pull across the hold lines, stop, and await further instructions.

Airplane Pain

Body pain is important to humans. It keeps us from damaging our bodies. When injury begins, pain calls out to us, "Stop!" Pain is a powerful and wonderful communication tool that keeps our bodies preserved and safe from continued injury. Airplanes feel pain too. The problem is, they can't tell us what hurts and when.

Wouldn't it be great if airplanes could talk? "A little more right rudder, please. There, that feels better." Airplanes do sometimes communicate, but in much more subtle ways. As pilots, our primary means of understanding and working harmoniously with our ship is through knowledge. Knowledge of what hurts airplanes, what keeps them safe, what stresses them, and how best to handle them. It's a synthetic thinking game, kind of like aliens from a different galaxy reading a manual about how to decode human body language. "I wonder why the corners of their mouths point up when they're happy," they might say. I've often wondered what an airframe feels during a steep turn. All the rivets, the wing spars, the skin creating different artificial sensations. The problem is, we can't feel those sensations, yet we're very much a part of the airplane and are totally reliant on its structure to remain intact and healthy during flight.

So, we learn in ground school about load factor and aerodynamics, much like aliens would study human anatomy and physiology to better understand our inner workings. But until the day when it's possible to hook electrodes onto our arms and legs that zap sensory information into our bodies in accord with airplane loads and stresses during flight, the best we can do is put knowledge in our brains about what it must feel like for the airplane.

Sometimes we misunderstand or forget. This is what brought down AAL 587, an A300 that crashed during climbout from JFK in 2001. The airplane encountered wake turbulence from a 747 a few miles ahead and the pilot made over-enthusiastic control inputs that ripped the vertical stabilizer off. If only the airplane could've shouted out to the pilot, "Ouch! That hurts! Less rudder!" Since we can't feel the airplane's pain, it's impossible for us to tell when the beating is becoming too severe until it's too late and structural failure occurs. For this reason, we must be extra vigilant and cognizant of our flying technique. Stick and rudder skills are still important, even in this age of automation. Pilots can still break airplanes. A thorough understanding of aerodynamic principles is imperative because we can't be guided by the airplane's sense perceptions, although the airplane is feeling every input continuously.

Be kind to your airplane. Fly it gently, gracefully, and with care and expertise. It will appreciate it, even if it can't tell you with words.

Laser Danger

Reports of Unauthorized Laser Illumination Events have increased drastically in recent years. If you're unfamiliar with what an Unauthorized Laser Illumination Event is, allow me to define it in plain language: some idiot with a laser pointer on the ground shines his light into the cockpit of an overflying aircraft.

Lasers are highly concentrated intense beams of light that can damage the human eye. During night operations, lasers can temporarily blind us (flash blindness), leave a temporary blindspot "afterimage," and cause glare in the cockpit that makes it difficult to see the instrument panel. Lasers present danger to aircraft operations and can damage our vision.

Laser devices have been banned or restricted in the United Kingdom and Australia, and hopefully the same will happen in the United States soon. The good news is that the government is taking this very seriously. Arrests have occured thanks to reports of unauthorized laser events from flight crews, and the FAA is asking for our help in tracking down these reckless criminals. AC 70-2 outlines the reporting procedures. The AC is available on the FAA's web site (www.faa.gov), and I highly recommend looking it over so you can do your part in bringing these laser-wielding morons to justice.

If you get "lased" while flying, notify ATC immediately. ATC will gather information and submit your report to the authorities, and they'll put out advisories to other aircraft that there are unauthorized lasers in the area. If you're operating at an uncontrolled airport, put out an advisory over the CTAF warning other pilots of the unauthorized laser activity. After you land, fill out the Washington Operations Control Center's Laser Beam Exposure Questionnaire. The questionnaire is attached to the above-mentioned AC. You can also send an email to LaserReports@faa.gov. Include as much information as you can -- it will help law enforcement agencies track down the perpetrator.

Timely and accurate reporting of Unauthorized Laser Illumination Events is the key to putting a stop to this problem. I'm excited to know that the FAA is responding to this issue with a sense of urgency. These laser-pointing boneheads (that's the last of the name calling, I promise) are compromising the safety and efficiency of aircraft operations in the National Airspace System. It's our job to help the officials track them down.

No Hydraulics

"I didn't want them to die." That's what DC-10 instructor pilot Dennis Fitch said in a post-crash interview. He was deadheading on United Airlines Flight 232 on July 19, 1989 when a compressor fan failed in the DC-10's number 2 engine, shooting titanium fragments out of the engine nacelle and rupturing the hydraulic lines of all three of the airplane's hydraulic systems.

For a pilot, it's hard to imagine any situation more scary than losing all flight controls. The flight crew, Captain Alfred Haynes, First Officer William Records, and Flight Engineer Dudley Dvorak, immediately responded to the engine failure, shut down the number 2 engine, and began assessing the situation. Dvorak reported a loss of hydraulic pressure in all three hydraulic systems -- an almost unimaginable event. The airplane began banking and oscillating as the crew struggled to maintain control by using differential thrust from the number 1 and 3 engines. Dennis Fitch made his way to the flight deck to offer assistance. Captain Haynes assigned Fitch to throttle control, which was all the crew had to maintain any semblance of control of the DC-10.

The crew diverted to Sioux Falls, Iowa, the nearest suitable airport for landing in the area. Using only differential thrust from the two wing engines, Fitch managed to point the jet toward the airport and establish a descent toward the runway. The final moments of the flight were harrowing, and the crew can be heard on the cockpit voice recorder working all the way down until impact. A distinct increase in engine noise can be heard in the final seconds before impact as Fitch pushed both throttles to maximum power in an effort to make the descent rate survivable. The DC-10 slammed the ground, broke into several pieces, and fire erupted.

One-hundred and ten passengers and one flight attendant were killed in the crash. There were 185 survivors. All four flight crew members survived the crash.

Dennis Fitch saved 185 lives that day. His heroic efforts under unimaginable fear and stress during a situation so seemingly hopeless are what yielded survivors when it was more likely for all those aboard to die. "It tore my heart out to know people died behind me," Fitch said. My heart is with those lost and their families. I hope Fitch reminds himself that he saved more lives than were lost that day.

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Investigator Jim Wildey is an unsung hero of this crash. Wildey devoted his time and energy to investigating the cause of the compressor fan failure which resulted in the fatal loss of the airplane's three hydraulic systems and subsequently flight controls. Wildey discovered a tiny area of metal fatigue on the failed piece of the engine which caused the piece to disintegrate in flight and send titanium shards into the aircraft's hydraulic lines. Wildey determined that the crack was detectable and should've been discovered by United Airlines maintenance technicians during a routine engine inspection prior to the crash. The oversight error by the maintenance technicians was cited as a critical piece of the cause of the crash of Flight 232.

Because of Wildey's efforts and findings, new rules are in place to prevent this type of accident from ever occurring again. Maintenance inspections are more strict, hydraulic systems are built to preserve hydraulic fluid when punctured, and an Airworthiness Directive was issued to prevent other DC-10s with the same fault from suffering the same fate.

The loss of all flight controls is almost unimaginable to most pilots. But that's exactly what Dennis Fitch, Captain Haynes, First Officer Records, and Flight Engineer Dvorak were faced with on July 19, 1989. Fitch kept flying. He never gave up, even when the situation was grave. Other pilots can learn from him. When faced with danger, we must keep thinking, we must keep flying.

Heads Up, Eyes Out

Collision Avoidance. It's a term pilots hear often, and for good reason. Avoiding collisions with other aircraft is one of the most critical objectives pilots manage every flight. Mid-air collisions are almost always fatal, and they can happen with little or no warning. The risk of a mid-air collision never goes away. Every second of every flight, day or night, good weather or bad, the risk of a mid-air collision lurks in the background. In your mind, however, consideration of that risk should be in the foreground.

The recent mid-air collision over the Hudson River resulting in the deaths of nine people is a sobering reminder of this. It's easy for pilots to forget about the danger of mid-airs. It's extremely rare that we unintentionally share our airplane's personal space bubble with another aircraft. Heck, on some flights we hardly even see other aircraft in the sky around us. It's easy for us to feel like we are alone in our chunk of the sky and relax, or altogether discontinue, our traffic scan. We figure the sky is big, so what are the odds that another aircraft is going to occupy the exact same piece of it simultaneously with us? That depends.

In the vicinity of an airport those odds increase drastically. In the case of the recent Hudson mid-air, the probability of a mid-air collision was markedly higher than in most areas of the country because of the business and congestion of the New York terminal area. It's like a bee's nest for aircraft. And when the weather is good (as it was the day of the Hudson mid-air), watch out. The odds of bumping into another aircraft increase even more. Although that might be counterintuitive at first, remember that good weather not only means more airplanes in the sky, but less ATC control and separation of those airplanes. When weather is good VFR, the total number of aicraft in the sky increases while the number of aircraft being positively controlled and separated by ATC decreases. That spells increased collision risk.

Most mid-air collisions occur during daytime VMC in the vicinity of an airport, just like the Hudson mid-air. But mid-airs can happen anytime. It only takes two airplanes in the sky to introduce a collision risk. The collision of two vintage airliners over the Grand Canyon many years ago was an excellent example of this. The two airplanes were virtually the only ones in the area, yet they collided killing all aboard. Anytime there's another guy up buzzing around in the same sky as you, there's a chance you could smash into each other. Throw more airplanes into the mix, as in the vicinity of an airport, and you better watch out.

The FAA's "Operation Lights On" program suggests pilots turn all external lights on (including landing lights) within ten miles of an airport, and/or when operating below 10,000 feet MSL. Lights should also be on during reduced visibility or, of course, when taking off or landing. Landing lights should be used even during daylight. The use of external lights helps manage collision risk by making your aircraft more conspicuous to other traffic.

Remember to maximize use of internal and external resources. If you have passengers aboard, brief them before engine start to speak up if they see traffic. Use effective scanning techniques when searching for traffic. Remember, the human eye takes a second or two to focus after it fixes on an area. Sweep the area around the airplane in short, ten degree segments, pausing 1-2 seconds each segment. Sweeping your eyes in a nonstop motion across the sky is unlikely to help you spot other aircraft because your eyes will be out of focus and their motion-detecting ability will be compromised. Use traffic avoidance systems such as TIS or TAS only as a secondary or backup means of avoiding other aircraft, and remember that those systems will not warn you of aircraft without a transponder. Never relax when the TIS/TAS display shows no other airplanes around. There could be a J-3 Cub without an operative transponder converging head-on with you. Minimize "heads down" time in flight and remember most of your attention should be focused outside of the airplane while in visual conditions, even when on an IFR flight plan. ATC only separates IFR traffic from other IFR traffic; it's the VFR guys you need to be concerned about. Just like the regulations state, it's the responsibility of the pilot to maintain separation from other traffic while in visual conditions. ATC can't separate you from someone they don't know is there (i.e. a VFR aircraft without a transponder).

If flying VFR, utilize ATC Flight Following whenever possible. This is one of the best external resources VFR pilots have available to help manage collision risk. This service also helps manage risk in other areas such as terrain and airspace avoidance. Always follow AIM-recommended procedures regarding traffic patterns to assist other pilots in knowing where to look for you. When the flow of traffic is orderly and predictable, there's less risk of a mid-air. And, of course, always use the CTAF at uncontrolled airports to let other pilots know where you are and what you're doing.

Our current collision avoidance system for VFR aircraft is limited in the United States. It relies almost completely on the "see and be seen" or "see and avoid" principles, and that doesn't work sometimes. It didn't work over the Hudson, and nine people are dead because of it. Luckily, transponders and traffic avoidance systems are becoming more mainstream and widespread throughout the GA community. That's a big step forward, but remember the best method of reducing collision risk is to keep your eyes outside of the airplane searching for threats. Don't expect the other guy to be looking for you, because often he isn't. It's your responsibility to keep yourself separated from other aircraft, so take it seriously. Your life depends on it.

Mid-Air

Nine are dead after a mid-air collision over the Hudson River today. The collision involved a helicopter conducting a sightseeing operation and a Piper Saratoga. The Saratoga had just taken off from Teterboro. Witnesses reported seeing the Saratoga overtaking the helicopter just before the collision. The worst news: there was a child aboard the Saratoga. I hope grace met him and the others on the Hudson. My deepest sympathy is with those involved.

More on this soon.