General Aviation Safety

Boeing 777 Procedures from a 777 Pilot

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The retired 777 pilot I spoke with is not interested in being publically identified and I’ll alternate using he and she when describing this pilot’s comments to me. Note that this pilot flew the Boeing 777 for more than 10,000 hours.

He said that the only way a 777 gets slow is if the autothrottles are not engaged, even if they are armed. Yet she said that Boeing procedures are for the autothrottles to remain engaged throughout the landing until after the aircraft rolls out onto the runway. He also said that the crew would have had to turn off the autothrottles, as there is no autopilot mode that disengages them.

Finally! An Accurate G1000 simulator

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Finally there’s a device that so closely mirrors the real Garmin G1000 that I don’t need to make excuses for it. It’s the new GT Glass Trainer from Precision Flight Controls (PFC). Technically, most devices found in flight schools are not flight simulators. The FAA reserves that term for the million dollar devices used to train pilots in turboprops and jets. Most systems found in flight schools are AATDs, or Advanced Aviation Training Devices. The GT Glass Trainer is an AATD.

Enter the GT Glass Trainer. It is low cost compared to other G1000 AATDs, about $25,000, and I estimate it replicates the G1000 with 99.8% accuracy, vastly better than other devices I’ve seen. I’ll discuss why it’s so accurate in a moment.

Dealing with the Marine Layer – Having a Plan B

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All pilots flying in the S.F. Bay area need a Plan B for dealing with the marine layer. To not consider alternatives ahead of time is reckless: the marine layer is a fact of life and if you fly long enough, eventually it will impede your flying. Recently I executed one version of a plan B I formulated decades ago and have taught to many of my students: I landed at Livermore and walked to a nearby motel. It was simple and easy with a guaranteed safe outcome.

NTSB Alert—In-Cockpit NEXRAD Weather Age Misleading and Killing Pilots

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Pilots are dying because they’re unaware that NEXRAD data is much older than the 1 or 2 minute “age” they see on the screen. the NTSB issued an alert warning “pilots using in-cockpit FIS-B and Satellite Weather display systems that the NEXRAD “age indicator” can be misleading. The actual NEXRAD data can be as much as 20 minutes older than the age indication on the display in the cockpit. The issue is discussed in detail in my Max Trescott’s Garmin G1000 Glass Cockpit Handbook. Chapter 8 is devoted entirely to Onboard Data Link Weather, such as the services provided by SiriusXM, previously known as XM Weather.

Floatplane Pilot Rescues Thrown Boater from Lake

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On April 30, 2012, three seaplane pilots rescued a boater just before dark who’d had been thrown in the water. 20-year old Alexander James Higginbotham was already becoming hypothermic while treading water for 15-20 minutes in the frigid 45° water. He’d been in a 14-foot fishing boat when the bolts he used to attach a seat to the boat broke, sending him backwards into the water. Rusty Eichorn, an Itasca County Commissioner, owned the Cessna 180 floatplane that made the rescue and he was assisted by pilots Lynn Bohanon and Kenny Forst who were also on board.

Sharing Airspace with Drones

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The 145-page FAA reauthorization bill forces the FAA to speed up the introduction of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) into the National Airspace System, which will inevitably lead to more mid-air collisions. To date, UASs have been authorized solely along the Mexican border and within restricted airspace. In the near future, pilots may be sharing all airspace with these unmanned aircraft. At least one UAS has already had a mid-air collision. In August 2011, over the skies of Afghanistan, a 450-pound UAS hit a C130 cargo plane, damaging the plane and forcing an emergency landing. The drone was destroyed.

Pilot Training Reform Symposium – What Would You Change?

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What ideas do you propose for 1) Improving General Aviation Safety and 2) Improving the Pilot Training Process so that more people become pilots. Those are the two central themes of next week’s 2011 Pilot Training Reform Symposium being held by SAFE, the Society of Aviation and Flight Educators. Hats off to SAFE for having the vision to take on this challenge. By bringing industry leaders together, including senior members of the FAA, they’re providing a forum for getting the best ideas in front of the people who can implement them. What ideas do you have that this group should hear next week?

KLN 94 Gotcha Flying RNAV GPS Y and Z Instrument Approaches

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A serious issue with the Bendix/King KLN 94 GPS, found in almost every Cessna built between 1997 and 2004, had been uncovered. When using the KLN 94 to fly RNAV (GPS) Y and Z approaches, there’s a huge gotcha that could kill an unsuspecting pilot. Specifically, the problem is that when you select a GPS approach on it, the letters Y and Z don’t appear in the approach titles, so it’s difficult to know which of these approaches you are selecting. Let’s look at the GPS (RNAV) Y 36L and GPS (RNAV) Z 36L approaches into the Napa County Airport, KAPC.