Airbus and Boeing unite to create an upset recovery training aid
Airbus and Boeing have teamed up to try to raise awareness of how pilots should deal with loss of control incidents, one of the main causes of airline accidents.
They are distributing an upset recovery training aid to 900 commercial carriers worldwide, which will help airlines to train their pilots, many of whom may only have had limited training on the subject.
Capt Larry Rockliff, vice president training for Airbus North America and team co-chair, says that, while upset training is something every pilot should do in the course of their careers, lack of regulation means that it often does not happen.
"There are only minimal requirements for that kind of training to gain your qualifications," he says. "Then it's left to the training departments of the carriers to look at."
Put together by a 60-strong team including representatives from airlines, aircraft manufacturers and industry regulatory bodies, the training aid consists of a CD-ROM containing a range of tutorials, training syllabuses and videos detailing how to recover successfully from unusual flight attitudes that might result from causes such as difficult weather conditions, vertigo or system malfunctions.
It is presented in a flexible, modular format that will allow airlines to pick and choose which elements are best suited to complement their existing training sessions and reflect their pilots' experience. "For some pilots, it's just a review," says Rockliff. "For others it will be the first time they are looking at this aspect of flying and aircraft design."
Airbus and Boeing are in the process of distributing the product to around 900 airlines around the world. Airbus will further promote the aid at its training symposium at the end of the year.
Originally released in 1998, the new version of the training aid incorporates additional recommendations made by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board following the crash in November 2001 of an American Airlines Airbus A300-600R near New York, which killed 255 people.
"The FAA said pilots should be more educated on this topic," says Rockliff. "We decided updating the training aid would be the perfect way to achieve that."
"While on the decline since the training aid was first released, loss of control accidents are still a leading cause of fatal accidents in the world's commercial fleet," says Capt Dave Carbaugh, Boeing chief pilot and team co-chair. "To further reduce that number, the industry needs to continue to work hard to improve aviation safety. This training aid is one way to do that."
"If you consider that upset is one of the main causes of accidents, by an overwhelming degree compared to most other cause factors, this is not something that should sit on a training manager's shelf and gather dust," says Rockliff.
Source: Flight International
