How to”fly smart” in the airport ground environment? Get a current airport diagram and use it! Here are some tips from FAA SPANS Notice Number: NOTC0932

Line Safety Audits completed by the airlines revealed 23% of errors and 38% of the threats occur before ever leaving the ground.

A crucial part of the flight process is pre-flight planning. Accident analysis reveals that preflight planning is often inadequate or entirely ignored. An important part of this flight process is the obtainment of information for your departure, arrival, and alternate airports. This should include utilizing a current Airport Facility Directory, obtaining current NOTAMs, and having a current Airport Diagram. And not only should we have it, it should be out in plain view and ready for easy reference.

Airports Diagrams are readily available (and FREE!) to download at www.naco.faa.gov If you are an aviation nut you must like charts also, especially free charts given to you by Uncle Sam. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), National Aeronautical Charting Office (NACO), publishes and distributes United States government civil aeronautical charts and flight information publications. You can now download or order these charts online.

It is not only important to have a current airport diagram, but to also USE THEM. You should review the airport diagram before taxi while stationary; and then after receiving your taxi clearance, review the diagram again to ensure that you are familiar with the taxi route and any hold short instructions. Red and White signs and markings mean STOP, do not taxi past unless you have been cleared to do so. Use your charts and checklists, and look outside, both on the ground and in the air for other aircraft. Listen for traffic on the radio too, this helps build a mental picture of activity at the field. Just like a railroad crossing, Stop (at least mentally), Look and Listen when approaching all taxiway and runway crossings. ATC can help out and provide progressive taxi instructions when we are unsure of where we are or where we need to go. A few questions up front will save answering a lot of questions later. If there ever is a question, STOP and ASK!

Visit the FAA NACO site to download the entire library of Airport Diagrams and Terminal Procedures…or go to the FBO and pay a lot of money….

You can also check out the award winning online Runway Safety course provided by AOPA. It’s FREE!

One thing that I do is take a yellow highlighter and highlight the area (FBO, Terminal) on the diagram that I am going to. A Nav Log goes a long way on the ground too, so you’re not heads down looking for frequencies while taxiing. When at all possible, do your checklists when stopped, esp if you are single pilot. We also turn on all external lights when crossing an intersecting runway, which is especially effective at night. If you have a TCAS, you can use that on the ground too to build that mental picture of airborne traffic. At a lot of major airports, they now want you to leave your transponder on at all times, so the Airport Movement Area Safety System can electronically see you and keep ATC in the loop.

If you have any special tips and techniques, let’s hear about them.

Fly (and Taxi) Smart

Clark

From our local FAA Safety Program Manager…

“DOT Says Serious Runway Incursions Still a Danger
The Department of Transportation Office of the Inspector General (IG) said
in a report  released last Thursday that runway incursions remain a
persistent, serious problem, despite the FAA?s efforts to reduce their
frequency. Though the focus of the IG?s study was at Boston Logan, Los
Angeles International, Philadelphia International and Chicago O?Hare
airports, where incursions have recently increased, the results of the
study gave recommendations for system-wide improvements. The study said the
FAA should engage in better information sharing to communicate root causes
of deviations and communicate best practices that have worked to reduce
incursions; focus more on controller human-factor issues and training; and
improve accountability at the national level to ensure runway incursions
remain a top priority. According to the study, runway incursions have
decreased from a high of 407 in fiscal year 2001 to a low of 323 in fiscal
year 2003. Since then, the numbers have remained relatively flat. According
to the IG?s study, the FAA did not comment on how it would address the
concerns noted in the report.”

And my thoughts on the matter….

An open, learning, just reporting culture will be a good start so that rich data can be gathered. then throw in valid risk assessment and a vigorous safety awareness campaign. “Stop. Look. Listen”. Another risk management system that works is “Ask, Assess, Act.”

We need to go beyond who did what, and look at “Why” it happened, and at what level the hazard was generated. Runway Incursions are an area where “Production” goals are outstripping “Protection” mitigations. Time pressure is huge at large airports to increase capacity, and it shouldn’t be. There’s only one thing that can happen when you try to put too much stuff in too small of a bag. There are latent hazards that reside at the Decision/Policy Maker and Line Management level, and they become active failures during the productive activities of controllers, ground vehicle operators and pilots. High ops tempo is always a factor, cognitive task loading leads to increased slips, lapses and mistakes. Invalid assumptions about system performance lead to skewed behaviors, high risk consequences and sub-optimal decisions.

Is the hazard more frequent (percentage wise) at these high capacity airports vs small towered fields? If so, capacity (production) is a risk element that needs to be transferred, eliminated, or mitigated.

Do air traffic controllers have reporting protections similar to those offered by ASAP? When we extend those privileges to everyone, all users of the NAS, then the number of reports will actually go up, which is a sign of a healthy reporting system. Then we will have a better contextual view of the system and be able to focus on “Why”, not “Who”. From there we can develop and implement valid action items and monitor their effectiveness.

Fly Smart

Clark