ON COMMERCIAL AVIATION SAFETY AUTUMN 2007 ISSUE 68 THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE ISSN 1355-1523 UNITED KINGDOM FLIGHT1 SAFETY COMMITTEE The Official Publication of THE UNITED KINGDOM FLIGHT SAFETY COMMITTEE ISSN: 1355-1523 AUTUMN 2007 ON COMMERCIAL AVIATION SAFETY FOCUS is a quarterly subscription journal devoted to the promotion of best practises in contents aviation safety. It includes articles, either original or reprinted from other sources, related to Editorial 2 safety issues throughout all areas of air transport operations. Besides providing information on safety related matters, FOCUS aims to promote debate and improve networking within the industry. It must be Chairman’s Column 3 emphasised that FOCUS is not intended as a substitute for regulatory information or company publications and procedures. Editorial Office: Ed Paintin Developing Aeronautical Charts for the Future 4 The Graham Suite Fairoaks Airport, Chobham, Woking, by Russell Thorp Surrey. GU24 8HX Tel: 01276-855193 Fax: 01276-855195 e-mail: [email protected] Web Site: www.ukfsc.co.uk Office Hours: 0900 - 1630 Monday - Friday Are You Getting the Message 6 Advertisement Sales Office: by Karen Skinner, NATS UKFSC The Graham Suite, Fairoaks Airport, Chobham, Woking, Surrey GU24 8HX Tel: 01276-855193 Fax: 01276-855195 email: [email protected] PrivatAir - Uniting exceptional customer services with safety 8 Web Site: www.ukfsc.co.uk Office Hours: 0900 - 1630 Monday - Friday by Jan Peeters Printed by: Woking Print & Publicity Ltd The Print Works, St. Johns Lye, St. Johns, Woking, Surrey GU21 1RS UKFSC Members List 12 Tel: 01483-884884 Fax: 01483-884880 ISDN: 01483-598501 e-mail: [email protected] Web: www.wokingprint.com FOCUS is produced solely for the purpose of Overweight Landing? Fuel Jettison? What to Consider 14 improving flight safety and, unless copyright is by Rick Coletta, Flight Operations Engineer indicated, articles may be reproduced providing that the source of material is acknowledged. Opinions expressed by individual authors or in advertisements appearing in FOCUS are those of the author or advertiser and do not Perception, Attention and Safety Management Training 21 necessarily reflect the views and endorsements of this journal, the editor or the UK Flight Safety Committee. While every effort is made to ensure the UKFSC Seminar 24 accuracy of the information contained herein, FOCUS accepts no responsibility for any errors or omissions in the information, or its consequences. Specialist advice should always be sought in relation to any particular circumstances. Front Cover Picture: A Boeing 757 in the livery of PrivatAir 1 Editorial Working Together In early July NATS released their Strategic So, if CRM training is boring then just how types of errors are being made. As a result Plan for Safety 2007. The publication of this much more boring is the in flight operators have been able to make document clearly illustrates the monitoring function that the aircrew have to changes to their procedures to try to commitment that NATS has towards safety. perform. Is it therefore surprising that at improve this area. However errors will Not only have they shown a willingness to times technical and human failures are not always be made and so it is imperative to share their plan but they have also revised immediately picked up by the monitoring continue to work together to reduce these some of their targets set the previous year aircrew? For instance a turboprop aircraft errors. There is no shame in making an and set out how they intend to measure was set up to cruise at FL170 on an airway, error as we are all human. The shame their performance over the next year. some time later the monitoring pilot noticed comes from failing to investigate and take that the aircraft had climbed to FL190. His corrective action when an error is made. Ensuring the safe operation of aircraft in mind told him this was incorrect so he the airspace requires close collaboration checked his pilots log. The cruising level Personal professional development is that between pilots and air traffic controllers. should have been FL170. Nobody had aspect of ones life that has to be ongoing if One can only hope that operators have noticed that the aircraft autopilot had not we are to stay abreast of the development similarly formulated a Strategic Plan for been engaged and none of the crew taking place in the aviation industry. Safety for their operation. For those airlines noticed the gradual climb to FL190. What Manufacturers are all trying to improve the who have created such a plan one can were the crew doing and how well was the equipment installed on modern aircraft to only wonder if they have the same priority monitoring function being done? make it smarter so that less errors are likely issues as those of NATS or how similar it to be made by the operators of such is. If not then using the NATS Safety Plan Level busts occur for a number of reasons. equipment. In order to understand these as a guide should be a pretty good The statistics tell us that the risk from level developments and their affect on today’s starting point. busts is not increasing but neither is it aircrew and engineers it is necessary to decreasing. NATS have introduced read avidly or to attend presentations or Over the past twenty years many of the software that interrogates the aircraft training courses where this knowledge can safety issues have been addressed by transponder signal and provides ATCO be easily absorbed. introducing technological solutions, VOR, with the actual altitude of the aircraft. In this ILS, TCAS, EGPWS to name but a few. The way if the aircraft does not comply with the Each year the United Kingdom Flight one area where the industry has not been instructions, as the monitoring function Safety Committee holds an Annual Seminar successful is that of Human performance fails, the ATCO will soon pick up the error. on a topic that the Committee feels is and in particular the role of the aircrew in important to understand. The topic this monitoring the aircraft automation systems. The risk from airspace infringements is year is on Technical Innovation and Human increasing with the increase in traffic levels. Error Reduction. In choosing this topic we The importance of the monitoring function We need a better understanding of why hope to introduce many of the aspects that of the aircrew cannot be emphasised these airspace infringements occur. NATS may cause uncertainty when operating enough, as when automation goes wrong it are working to resolve this by mapping modern aircraft and some of the aspects may be difficult to notice and then even infringement “hot spots” and providing that could cause the operators of such more difficult to analyse and rectify. In Lower Airspace Radar Service to cover equipment to make errors. If you are addition, the monitoring function is tedious these hot spots. What is the pilot employed in the aviation industry then this and one for which the human mind is not community doing to prevent infringements? is one Seminar that you should not miss. particularly well suited. Runway incursions seem to be reducing A whole industry has sprung up around thanks to the ongoing work being done human factors and human performance (mainly by NATS) to create better but as yet there is no firm evidence that situational awareness in pilots, controllers any of the human factors training has had and drivers. This work needs to be a profound affect on the incident rates. continued in order to keep the number of CRM training was introduced into the runway incursions to the minimum. Better annual training programme but unless airfield design could assist in this area. this training is constantly revised and injected with new and stimulating material Incidents attributable to pilot performance it becomes boring and little attention is make a significant contribution to risk in our paid to it. Some will tell you that it is a airspace. Our open reporting system has waste of time. enabled us to better understand what 2 Chairman’s Column Another Year, Another Chairman! by Capt.Robin Berry, CTC Aviation Services Ltd Taking the Chair of such an august body benefit under the umbrella of the UKFSC. actually sit round the same table and as the UKFSC is challenging in anyone’s This will reduce the number of separate discuss rationally how to keep moving book but I seem to have inherited the post meetings to be attended while safety forward. Actual incidents are freely at a particularly difficult time. Not only are concentrating the expertise under one roof discussed and the safety lessons learnt are most of the Board new to post but we have thus affording a great opportunity for passed on for the benefit of all. Listening lost our Chief Executive at the same time. I working in a harmonised way to address to some of the delegates from less have already publicly expressed my sincere the flight safety issues. enlightened parts of the world one would thanks to Ed Paintin for his hard work and be forgiven for thinking that flight safety dedication as Chief Executive. The post is I am sure that you all have ideas of your was all about suppression of information, vital to the success of the Committee as it own on how the UKFSC could be more political intrigue and “CYA”! is the CEO who has to action all the bright useful to you. Pass those ideas on! When ideas that the rest of us come up with and we have our new CEO in place I will ensure In our own regular forum, the Safety keep us to the rational and sensible path.