Although more experienced pilots are likely to make more automatic decisions, there are tendencies or operational pitfalls that come with the development of pilot experience. These are classic behavioural traps into which pilots have been known to fall. More experienced pilots, as a rule, try to complete a flight as planned, please passengers, and meet schedules. The desire to meet these goals can have an adverse effect on safety and contribute to an unrealistic assessment of piloting skills. All experienced pilots have fallen prey to, or have been tempted by, one or more of these tendencies in their flying careers.
These dangerous tendencies or behaviour patterns, which must be identified and eliminated, include the operational pitfalls shown in the list shown below.
- Peer pressure – Poor decision-making may be based upon an emotional response to peers, rather than evaluating a situation objectively.
- Mindset – A pilot displays mind set through an inability to recognize and cope with changes in a given situation.
- Get-there-itis – This disposition impairs pilot judgment through a fixation on the original goal or destination, combined with a disregard for any alternative course of action.
- Duck-under syndrome – A pilot may be tempted to make it into an airport by descending below minimums during an approach. There may be a belief that there is a built-in margin of error in every approach procedure, or a pilot may want to admit that the landing cannot be completed and a missed approach must be initiated.
- Scud running – This occurs when a pilot tries to maintain visual contact with the terrain at low altitudes while instrument conditions exist.
- Continuing visual flight rules (VFR) into instrument conditions – Spatial disorientation or collision with ground/obstacles may occur when a pilot continues VFR into instrument conditions. This can be even more dangerous if the pilot is not instrument rated or current.
- Getting behind the aircraft – This pitfall can be caused by allowing events or the situation to control pilot actions. A constant state of surprise at what happens next may be exhibited when the pilot is getting behind the aircraft.
- Loss of positional or situational awareness – In extreme cases, when a pilot gets behind the aircraft, a loss of positional or situational awareness may result. The pilot may not know the aircraft’s geographical location or may be unable to recognize deteriorating circumstances.
- Operating without adequate fuel reserves – Ignoring minimum fuel reserve requirements is generally the result of overconfidence, lack of flight planning, or disregarding applicable regulations.
- Descent below the minimum en route altitude – The duck-under syndrome, as mentioned above, can also occur during the en route portion of an IFR flight.
- Flying outside the envelope – The assumed high performance capability of a particular aircraft may cause a mistaken belief that it can meet the demands imposed by a pilot’s overestimated flying skills.
- Neglect of flight planning, preflight inspections, and checklists – A pilot may rely on short and long-term memory, regular flying skills, and familiar routes instead of established procedures and published checklists. This can be particularly true of experienced pilots.
Management of external pressure is the single most important key to risk management because it is the one risk factor category that can cause a pilot to ignore all the other risk factors. External pressures put time-related pressure on the pilot and figure into a majority of accidents.
The use of personal standard operating procedures (SOPs) is one way to manage external pressures. The goal is to supply a release for the external pressures of a flight. These procedures include but are not limited to:
- Allow time on a trip for an extra fuel stop or to make an unexpected landing because of weather.
- Have alternate plans for a late arrival or make backup airline reservations for must-be-there trips.
- For really important trips, plan to leave early enough so that there would still be time to drive to the destination, if necessary.
- Advise those who are waiting at the destination that the arrival may be delayed. Know how to notify them when delays are encountered.
- Manage passengers’ expectations. Make sure passengers know that they might not arrive on a firm schedule, and if they must arrive by a certain time, they should make alternative plans.
- Eliminate pressure to return home, even on a casual day flight, by carrying a small overnight kit containing prescriptions, contact lens solutions, toiletries, or other necessities on every flight.
