Month: January 2020

Most encounters with Inadvertent flight into Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IIMC) are unnecessary and avoidable with proper planning.  It is no secret that IIMC has claimed the lives of many pilots and passengers throughout the years.  As a simulator instructor and check airman for a Part 135 Helicopter Air Ambulance (HAA) company, I spend a good portion of my time training pilots for the possibility of an encounter IIMC.  Better training, and increased emphasis on more conservative weather decisions are helping keep those numbers down for now, but I see some recurring patterns that could cause a resurgence of IIMC accidents if left unchecked.  One of these trends is lack of proper preflight planning.  This post is HAA-centric but the concepts here can apply to many areas of the aviation industry.

“You can’t encounter IIMC while sitting on the couch!” -anonymous   

Perhaps the best way to prevent IIMC accidents is to decide not to go when the weather is not good enough.  Simple enough, right?  It is easy to turn a flight down when a thunderstorm sits over the base, or when fog restricts your ability to see the aircraft on the ramp 100 yards away.  But what about those marginal days?  Do the minimum ceiling and visibility set forth in 135.609 go far enough to protect us? 

Let me make a statement here and see how many feathers I can ruffle.  Here goes:  135.609 minimums (800-2, 800-3, etc.)  DO NOT provide legal weather to accept most HAA Flights.  135.615 anyone?  Isn’t there something in there about the highest obstacle along the proposed route of flight, and having sufficient weather to safely clear that obstacle by 300 feet in the daytime or 500 feet at night?  I can already hear someone exclaiming that we don’t have to fly OVER the obstacle.  We can fly AROUND it.  Absolutely correct! But, there is more to it than simply deciding to go around.  Close your eyes and picture a route you frequently fly, making a mental note of terrain and obstacles along the route.  What ceiling would you need in order to clear the highest obstacle by 300’ day/500’ night?  If you decide to go around, what obstacles will you NOW be flying over, what ceiling do you need to clear THEM by 300’ day/500’ night?  Think that through.  Go ahead.  I’ll wait. 

Odds are that the ceiling required is above 800 feet, unless the route you are thinking of is across the Bonneville Salt Flats in uncontrolled (or Class B) airspace.  At night, if I have to maintain 500’ clearance from terrain and obstacles, plus 500’ above me for cloud clearance (depending on the airspace), then with NO obstacles I would need at least 1000’ ceiling to be legal.  Am I overthinking this?  I think it is more likely that most pilots are underthinking when the weather is marginal.

“By the time I’m finished planning this flight, the patient is going to be dead…” -Someone reading this post right now

I am not suggesting that we print pretty blue cards for pilots to hold up to the sky in order to turn down flights when the sky doesn’t match the card.  I still believe that HAA pilots help provide an important service to the community, but the weather and flight planning requirements of 135.609 and 135.615 can be an important “speed bump” for pilots when conditions start getting marginal.  With a little extra planning, flights can be conducted safely in less than ideal weather.

As Helicopter Air Ambulance pilots, it is our job to provide safe and expedient transport of the sick and injured in the best way possible.  When the weather permits us to clear even the highest obstacle along our route of flight by 300’ day/500’ night, then let’s go!  When the weather is marginal, let’s slow down a moment and find a better route.  When even that doesn’t work, or you find yourself thinking, “This is stupid…I am trying WAY too hard to make this work”, then a helicopter is not the best way to provide transport for that patient. 

You can’t encounter IIMC when you are sitting on the couch.

You might think I am about to ramble on about new year’s resolutions, new starts, getting to the gym, etc.  But you’d be wrong.  What I am thinking about today is the idea of being intentional in the way we approach our jobs as pilots.  Whether we are a private pilot who likes to go for the $100 (I think its up to $200 now) hamburger, a flight instructor, a helicopter air ambulance pilot, an airline captain, a Director of Operations, or an FAA inspector, we all could benefit by simply being a little more in tune with what we are doing and what is going on around us.  I think some might call this “Situational Awareness”.

There are plenty of examples of pilot error accidents where loss of situational awareness is likely the root cause.  But HOW does a pilot increase situational awareness?  I think one very simple way of increasing our awareness is to be intentional about our actions.  Let me explain what being intentional looks like.

• When a pilot conducts a preflight inspection on an aircraft, they are really looking at specific things and not just going through the motions.  This pilot knows about common weak areas/failure points, and actively looks for them.
• When conducting a walk-around just prior to flight, this pilot has a specific mental list of things to look for such as cowlings, latches, doors, fuel cap, tie downs, etc.   This pilot does not start an aircraft before doing this last minute walk around.
• When this pilot moves a switch in the cockpit, they know why they are moving the switch and what effect moving the switch should have.  They look for those effects and start asking questions when the desired effect does not materialize.
• This pilot actually reads what is on the page when performing a “Do-Verify” checklist. 
• When performing a pre-takeoff or pre-landing check, this pilot is honest with themselves about what they see and is looking for the things that might be amiss. 
• When setting up for an instrument approach, this pilot actually listens to the morse code ID for the NAVAID required by the procedure. 
• This Director of Operations creates a policy to comply with FAA regulations with the intention to meet both the letter AND the intent of the rule. 

These are only a few examples, but the concept can be applied to just about any aspect of our operations.  There are many aviation professionals who approach their art in this manner.  They know what the desired outcome is, what actions will bring about that outcome, and how to verify that the desired outcome occurred.  Unfortunately, there are too many who are simply content to go through the motions.  I’ve seen good pilots point at an oil temperature that is above limits while proudly exclaiming that “T’s and P’s are in the green!” (In the simulator, of course) They are paying lip service to their tasks, but not REALLY doing them.  These are good pilots, but they have gotten complacent over time.  If you are not looking for something, it is unlikely you will find it!

I don’t believe that the intentional approach is something most people are born with.  At some point this involves making a choice, and often requires a little extra work.  So, if you are one of those who apply this intentional approach to your duties, thank you for being a positive example to those around you.  If you are not one of these people, then it’s never too late to give it a try.  Afterall, it’s a new year!  Let’s Do This! (But let’s REALLY do this…)