Download Flight Comment Magazine Issue 3, 1968
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FLIGHT COM CANADIAN FORCES DIRECTORATE OF HEADQUARTERS FLIGHT SAFETY COL R. D. SCHULTZ DIRECTOR OF FLIGHT SAFETY Last year an eminent meteorologist wrote an article on thunderstorms which was widely acclaimed . It MAJ M. D. BROADFOOT ICOI H. E. B10RNESTAD discussed the circumstances leading to the loss of FIIGHT SAFETY ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION an airliner which had attempted to penetrate a squall line . Salient among the points was the author's well- intentioned advice on the "safest" region in a thunderstorm . Articles of this sort imply that thunder- storm penetration is on the books for a pilot sooner or later - a proposition we strongly oppose . We can 2 Flight Safety in Training Command draw only one conclusion from our statistics - flying When the last Air Defence Command sponsored article a PP eared in Fli 9 ht into a thunderstorm is asking for trouble . This is not SAFETY Comment in 19b2, the CF101 and CF104 were bein introduced into the Command to say, of course, that no pilot will ever lock horns 6 Good Shows 9 . An increase in the accident rate due to this re-equipping was antici with a CB, but attempttng to answer questions like P ated . It is to VS the credit of all ADC personnel, "What is the safest altitude to penetrate a thunder- 8 FOD is crippling us! actively assisted b Y CFHQ and Materiel Command, storm?" is overly suggestive . Excluding combat ENVIRONMENT that the accident rate did not increase but continued a stead Y decline requirements - and even here thunderstorms or 10 Flight Safety - 1910 Style during the next few years. This success was not due to 9 ood luck but was the result squall lines can seriously degrade effectiveness - of a professional approach to the business of fl Y in 9 aero P lanes . This is the there is simply no justification for attempting 13 Injured? essence of flight safety. penetration of these icebergs of the air. In 1967 the accident picture was not so bright . Four accidents due to P ilot 14 Rescue in Training Command errors resulted in three fatalities . Birdstrikes caused three other accidents . After a successful ejection a pilot drowned, possibly due to inadequote safetY equipment or to inadequate ejection training . In analysing A base medical officer recently completed a survey 16 Lowe~ the rate in 68! this record the common factor in all of hearing changes in members of a jet squadron of the accidents is the ADC operating environment . Environment ranging in age from 21 to 40 . He found that more than 19 A Rose by any other name encompasses the whole circumstance under which aircraft are operated and SO% of the aircrew had suffered some hearing loss in maintained . This includes training requirements, aerodrome facilities, aircraft the last year - offset by a slight improvement in 24 From the AIB design limitations, technical and operating supervision, flying time limitations, hearing of another 32%, Hearing loss was greater for equipment inadequacies and economic restrictions, Errors occur when pilots or groundcrew than aircrew . Requests for soundproofing 26 On the Dials technicians are unable to cope with the environment . buildings, etc, have gotten nowhere; the immediate The aim of the ADC flight safety program is to reduce the hazards of our need is for more extensive use of earmuffs around 27 Aircraft Ground Incident - CFP135 operating environment and to prepare personnel and equipment for this environ- hangars and tarmacs. Also, aircrew were advised to ment . It is not realistic to expect a zero accident rate within the sco e wear their helmets proceeding toand from the aircraft P of ADC flying operations but a when the noise level is high, 29 Gen from 210 reduction in the number of Preventable accidents is possible. Supervisors who are directly responsible for flyin 9 o P erations or 32 Letters to the Editor technical support are best qualified to recognize environmental hazards and to plan their operations accordingly. This is particularly pertinent under the 5ince January 1954 we have had no fewer than ten present situation wherein economic factors affect flying rates, technical in-flight losses of throttle control in the T33 - renovations and new construction programs . The responsibility for reducing not to mention three similar occurrences on the Editor Capt J. T. Richards these environmental hazards rests with all military levels . An effective fli 9 ht ground following a flight. (The first victim of this Assistant Editor Capt J. G. Christison safety program must define and eliminate or minimize the effects of these malfunction was recommended for a Good Show in Art and layout CFHO Graphic Arts hazards . Crash Comment - Flight Comment's predecessor.) In 19b5 a T33 crashed, writing-off the aircraft; the throttle had become disconnected . The latest occurrence i s an embarrassing reminder that despite Flight our operating this aircraft for well over a decade we Comment is produced by the CFHQ Direc- torate of Flight Safety. The contents have failed to prevent a liazard which has, over the do not neces- sarily reject official policy and unless otherwise years, been ascribed variously to maintenance stated should not be construed as regulations, or- error, supervision error, and design error. Fact is, ders or directives. Contributions, comments and it appears to be a statistical certainty that we're criticisms are welcome ; the promotion of flight ~I D going to average nearly one in-flight throttle dis- safety is best served by disseminating ideas and ~ connect per year as long as we operate the T-bird omthe-job experience. Send submissions to : Editor, Flight with the present throttle linkage system, Sls, Comment, CFHQ/DFS, Ottawa 4, Ontario . MAJOR-GENERAL M.E. POILARD Subscriptions availoble from oueen's Printer, Hull, cautions, and special briefings notwithstanding - a P .Q . Annuol subscription rare is f 1 .50 for Canada COMMANDER, AIR DEFENCE COMMAND permanent f ix is what we need. and USA. ROGER Dl!HAMEt,, F,R .S .C, QUEEN'S PRINTER AND CONTROLLEn OF STATIONEAY OTTA W A . 196$ pared by ADCHQ spccialists to reflect reg<rlations and procedures . The em p lo y ment of these checkli s t s i s done fo r the base commander hy hrs own specialists, and may be monitored by the Base Flight Safety Officer or the Base Aircraft yaintenance Safety Officer. Annual inspections by ADCIIQ flight safety staff officers are usually made in conjunction with tactica} evaluation team visits . Unlike the Flight Safety 7'AC EVAL report the flight safety report is presented privately to thc base commander hy the inspection officer. Only when serious defi- ciencies occur is further action taken as a result of t}tese visits . The aim of this type of inspection is stated in its title - Flight Safety As- in sistance ~'isit . by Some of thcse staff positions may be uniyue to AUC . Thc Base ,Air- craft 14aintenance Safety Officer is a technical list officer whose second- the Flight Safety Of~cers of ary duties in aircraft maintenance and industrial safety parallel those af the BFSO in flight safety . The Personal Safcty Equipment Officer is an AIR DEFENCE COMMAND Air aircrew officer whose secondary duties normally include Defence the organizing of local survival trainin ~ this has hecome an im P ortant function in ADCHQ ADC . The Flight $urgeon is assisted in his work of aeromedical super- Major 1. R. Chisholm vision by a Base .Acromedical Support Team whose chairman is an Command operatronal supervisor . Captain T. 0. Cue The remainder of this article outlines some projects pertainin g to improvements in the ADC operating environmcnt . The examples are from selected bases but in manv, cases are co mpa r a bl CFB COMOX e throughout the command . Captain R. L. lensen Flight safety in ADC aims at reaucing the ha- 300 F T zards of the operating environment ; thus, it involves Airfield Approach Aids CFB COLD LAKE preparing men and equipment for that environment, GCA 2° Glidepath zca F T Captain R. M. Wood This means, for example, improvedaerodrome facili- As a rcsult of studies and field trials in ADC the advantages of ties, better approach aids, and - to be realistic - a ?° GCA glidepath ovcr thc ?~° glidepath for century-series more crash and rescue taciltttes . Thts ts the practt- aircraft have become a PP arent, The ,shallower a PP roach th 1-00 FT leads to a safer conversron from an rnstrument approach to a CFB NORTH BA~ cal approach towards the business of accident pre- vrsual landrng in arrcralt such as the CF10I with its high ap- vention ~fhe essence of this aspect of flight safety Captain 1. Nitchen . proach s P eeds and }u gh rates of descent. It is p ossible that the is supervision, training, education, and observation, adoption of the 2° glidepath may be achieved in }968 . The pro- '~ MILE UNUERSIIOOl 1000 FT 2000 FT CFB BAGOTYILLE This article briefly aescribes some of the progress blcm wasdescribed in the'~1ar/Apr 1966 issue of Fli ht Comment . made in ADC in the hope that others may benefit GCA Turntable Captain 1. G. He6ert or perhaps offer constructivc criticism . A project at CFB Bagotville has led to the devclopment of an hydraulically powered turntab}e for the GCA antenna system . CFB CHATHAM 'These turntables are currentl~~, bein g installed throu g hout ADC and in some cases 'I'he problems associated with ,Air Defence Command tasks are many permit a prccision radar approach on all Captain W. 6. Willson runways using the same antenna and diverse . '1'he primary role of ,~1DC is the capability for an all-weathcr system . CF101 operation over a large geographical area .