Pilots in Command: Your Best Trip, Every Trip
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ASA PILOTS P I LO T S I N C O M IN COMMAND YOUR BEST TRIP, EVERY TRIP MAND SECOND EDITION PILOTS “Captains Class” is an extra module in pilot upgrade training that air carriers use to train new captains. Considered by captain-candidates as the capstone of training, this enables a pilot to operate each flight, each trip, as a good leader. Yet not every Captains Class provides tricks of the trade or sage advice on leadership, and pilots know that when things go wrong, everyone looks IN COMMAND to the captain—the pilot-in-command—to make things right. Pilots In Command: Your Best Trip, Every Trip goes beyond what is required by flight training curricula, into what is both a rarity and a necessity: solid advice from real pilots to student and professional aviators alike about how to be true leaders. This second edition includes new discussions on professionalism and safety management systems for today’s airline operations. In an easy-to-use format, on a range of topics that all tie into the application of basic leadership skills, the author covers crew roles, crew briefings, flight attendants, crew resource management (CRM), threat and error management (TEM), ground services, dispatch, customer service, KRISTOFER PIERSON abnormal and emergency situations, layovers, crew dynamics, 14 CFR Part 117 rest rules, safety (SMS), and a new model of transformational leadership YOUR BEST TRIP, EVERY TRIP and professionalism for pilots. Pilots In Command shares with you the insights and techniques typically SECOND EDITION gained only from years of experience and interaction with your fellow pilots and crew at 35,000 feet. KRISTOFER PIERSON, an experienced pilot for a major U.S. airline, has been working in several segments of the aviation industry for the last two decades. Pilots in Command: Your Best Trip, Every Trip capitalizes on Captain Pierson’s experiences as a pilot, a leader, and an educator. Aviation Supplies & Academics, Inc. 7005 132nd Place SE Newcastle, WA 98059 800-ASA-2-FLY www.asa2fly.com ASA-PIC-2 KRISTOFER PIERSON ASA-PIC-2 PIC2 Cover.indd 1 1/26/17 11:49 AM PILOTS IN COMMAND YOUR BEST TRIP, EVERY TRIP SECOND EDITION KRISTOFER PIERSON AVIATION SUPPLIES & ACADEMICS, INC. NEWCASTLE, WA Pilots in Command: Your Best Trip, Every Trip Second Edition by Kristofer Pierson Aviation Supplies & Academics, Inc. 7005 132nd Place SE Newcastle, Washington 98059-3153 [email protected] | www.asa2fly.com ©2017 Kristofer M. Pierson All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a re- trieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechani- cal, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright holder. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and Kristofer Pierson assume no responsibility for dam- ages resulting from the use of the information contained herein. None of the material in this book supersedes any operational documents or proce- dures issued by the Federal Aviation Administration, aircraft and avionics manu- facturers, flight schools, or the operators of aircraft. Second edition published 2017 by Aviation Supplies & Academics, Inc. First edi- tion published 2014. The 4R Model of Leadership discussed in Chapter 11 is used with permission from Dr. Mark McCloskey. ASA-PIC-2 ISBN 978-1-61954-465-9 Printed in the United States of America 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Pierson, Kristofer, author. Pilots in command : your best trip, every trip / Kristofer Pierson. pages cm ISBN 1-61954-162-9 (trade pbk.) 1. Air pilots—Training of. 2. Airplanes—Piloting—Human factors. 3. Leadership—Study and teaching. 4. Flight training. I. Title. TL712.P54 2014 629.132’5216—dc23 2014021974 06 CONTENTS Foreword vii Acknowledgments ix About the Author xi Introduction xiii 1 Defining a Pilot-in-Command 1 Cockpit Crew Roles ........................... 3 Introducing Threat and Error Management............ 6 Workload Management ......................... 16 Responsibility and Authority ..................... 18 2 Crew Briefings 21 The SEA-ICE Method of Crew Briefings ............. 22 The FFOT (First Flight of Trip) Briefing.............. 23 The Standard Preflight Briefing ................... 29 SEA-ICE on Arrival ........................... 33 The Post-Flight Briefing ........................ 35 3 In Charge Behind the Cockpit Door 39 Lifeguards of the Skies.......................... 39 Communications Need a Clear Path ................ 42 Briefings ................................... 43 In-Flight Communications ....................... 45 Postflight and Debriefs ......................... 48 Making the Crew ............................. 49 4 Rediscovering the “Lost Art” of CRM 53 The New CRM .............................. 54 5 You Can’t Leave Home Without Them 73 You Can’t Leave Home Without It ................. 73 Not Your Airplane, Still Your Baby! ................. 75 Leaving Maintenance to the Pros .................. 77 The Surprisingly Essential Nature of Gate Agents ....... 78 6 Pilots (and Dispatchers) In Command of Operational Integrity 81 Go/No-Go Decisions—It’s More Complicated Now..... 82 Planning and Executing: Effective Dispatch Release Review 84 The Big Picture: Maintaining Operational Reliability..... 88 v PILOTS IN COMMAND 7 Customers Care That You Care 91 No Matter the Fare, They Care .................... 93 Communicating To Customers: Beyond the PA ......... 93 Value-Added Customer Interactions ................ 95 8 Known Unknowns and the Challenges of Non-Normals 99 Relax. It’s Just a Light…Right?.................... 99 Checklist and Non-Normal Management............. 102 9 Away From the Airport But Still At Work 109 Slam, Click! Crew Interactions on Layovers ........... 110 Rest Is King—The Advent of 14 CFR Part 117......... 111 14 CFR Part 117: The Basics of Fatigue Management .... 113 The Rest of the Rest Rules: 14 CFR Part 117 Fatigue Mitigation and Risk Management .......... 114 Your “Personal” Fatigue Risk Management Plan......... 119 In Summary................................. 126 10 Safety 127 Preflight Planning............................. 128 Weather Safety............................... 130 Airport Safety ............................... 133 Takeoff Safety ............................... 134 Safety in Cruise .............................. 137 Approach and Landing ......................... 139 21st Century Threats ........................... 140 SMS and Safety Reporting ....................... 142 11 Pride in Professionalism–The PIC Leadership Model 145 On Leadership ............................... 146 The PIC Leadership Model: An Application of the “4R” Approach ........................ 147 Putting the PIC Leadership Model to Work Right Now ... 158 On Professionalism............................ 161 Living the Part ............................... 172 12 Tips, Tricks, and Tools of the Trade 175 Cockpit Organization .......................... 175 Cockpit Cards ............................... 178 Monthly Upkeep ............................. 181 Sharpening the Saw............................ 183 Conclusion 193 vi FOREWORD When aviation students head to college, they learn all about airplanes, weather, ATC, CRM, and how to fly in the big skies that surround our world. For many students, they stick to the hard work, progress through their certificates and ratings, and when they graduate, we are rightful- ly proud of their accomplishments. After college graduation, students launch into their careers as professional pilots. Many take the conven- tional route of instructor, regional airline pilot, and the giant step to the majors. This is the same route that Kris Pierson took. As one of his professors, I could wisely wag my graying head and boast that we gave Kris his wings as a professional pilot. Then I read Pilots in Command: Your Best Trip, Every Trip! Reflecting the tirades of Grampa Pettibone, an old friend from naval aviation, I bel- lowed, “Jumpin’ Jehosaphat! Where did he learn all that dad-burned stuff?” I scrutinized the table of contents from our college textbooks, those cardinal guides we use to funnel piloting knowledge and skills into our fledgling aviators. There were no chapters on “Lifeguards of the Skies” or “Not Your Airplane, Still Your Baby.” Our texts had many pages de- voted to the concept that 65%…or 75%…or even 85% (pick a number in the upper range) of airplane accidents were caused by human error, but there wasn’t a chapter on “When Personalities Fail, You Can’t.” In our college education courses, flight attendants weren’t mentioned as members of joint CRM training classes. Funny thing—in a 490-page college textbook for Commercial and Instrument Pilots, “customers” got less than a quarter of a page. In Pilots in Command, customers get a whole chapter; so do dispatch- ers! Imagine, a whole chapter on “Away From the Airport But Still at Work.” In college we seldom taught pilots what to do when they were off-duty; we never mentioned “Crew Interactions on Layovers.” As new pilots emerge from their chrysalis, they are ready to explore the com- plex (and sometimes messy) world of professional flying. This book doesn’t cover everything an airline pilot should know before taking that first step across the threshold of an airline company, but it helps to fill the huge gap between the College Textbook and the Flight Operations vii PILOTS IN COMMAND Manual. Indeed, the book should be mandatory reading before a pilot accepts an