PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF AN ONLINE SURVEY TO DETERMINE AIR-

TRANSPORT PILOT ATTITUDES ABOUT UPSET RECOVERY TRAINING

 

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Rodney O. Rogers, PhDDepartment of Aeronautical Science

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical UniversityDaytona Beach, FL 32114

rogers@erau.eduhttp://webfac.db.erau.edu/~rogers

AIRPLANE UPSET 

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Any• Unusual aircraft attitude• Abnormal kinetic-energy level

Threatening loss of control inflight (LOC-I) and ground impact

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LOC-I CURRENTLY THE NUMBER ONE CAUSE OF AIR-TRANSPORT FATALITIES AND HULL LOSSES

WORLDWIDE (1573 DEATHS—2002-2011)

VOLUNTARY COMPANY-SPONSORED UPSET- RECOVERY TRAINING (UPRT)

 

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Industry’s Uneven Response to LOC-I Accidents Since the Late 1990s

• Academic Training• Simulator-Based Training• On-Aircraft Training in an Aerobatic Airplane

BUT IS UPRT EFFECTIVE? 

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LOC-I Accidents Are• Infrequent, but … • … They Continue to Occur• Colgan Air 3407 & Air France 447

IS UPRT EFFECTIVE? 

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Ask the Pilots Who Receive It• Online Survey (Currently Ongoing)• Respondents Self-Selected• Over 100 Pilot Responses to Date

ORGANIZATION 

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• Description of the Survey

ORGANIZATION 

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• Description of the Survey• Data Collected

Pilot Demographics UPRT Received from Employer Pilot Confidence in Maneuvering Skills Pilot Evaluation of the UPRT They Receive

ORGANIZATION 

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• Description of the Survey• Data Collected

Pilot Demographics UPRT Received from Employer Pilot Confidence in Maneuvering Skills Pilot Evaluation of the UPRT They Receive

• Survey Results and Implications

ORGANIZATION 

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• Description of the Survey• Data Collected

Pilot Demographics UPRT Received from Employer Pilot Confidence in Maneuvering Skills Pilot Evaluation of the UPRT They Receive

• Survey Results and Implications

ADDITIONAL AND MORE DETAILED INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE IN THE CONFERENCE PAPER

 

SURVEY DESCRIPTION 

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23 Questions• Pilot Demographics: 9• Type of UPRT Received: 6• Attitudes about UPRT: 8

SURVEY MARGIN-OF-ERROR 

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• Sample Size = 100• Target Air-Transport Pilot Population = 50,000• Margin of Error = Less than ±8%• Confidence Level = 0.95

SURVEY MARGIN-OF-ERROR 

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• Sample Size = 100• Target Air-Transport Pilot Population = 50,000• Margin of Error = Less than ±8%• Confidence Level = 0.95

• Respondent Pilot Opinions Differ from Target Pilot Opinions by No More than 8%

• 95% Probability that Results Would Be the Same if the Survey Were Repeated

DEMOGRAPHICS: PILOT AGERespondents Evenly Distributed by Age Group

 

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DEMOGRAPHICS: YEARS IN PROFESSIONRespondents Fairly Evenly Distributed by Years of Service

 

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DEMOGRAPHICS: TOTAL FLIGHT TIMEAverage Flight Hours: 9612

 

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DEMOGRAPHICS: INITIAL TRAINING VENUERespondent Distribution Appears Not to Be Atypical

 

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DEMOGRAPHICS: EMPLOYER CATEGORYMost Respondents Flew for Regional or Major Airlines

 

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HOURS OF EMPLOYER-PROVIDED UPRT:INITIAL ACADEMIC TRAINING

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HOURS OF EMPLOYER-PROVIDED UPRT:INITIAL SIMULATOR-BASED TRAINING

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HOURS OF EMPLOYER-PROVIDED UPRT:RECURRENT ACADEMIC TRAINING

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HOURS OF EMPLOYER-PROVIDED UPRT:RECURRENT SIMULATOR-BASED TRAINING

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EMPLOYER-PROVIDED UPRT: ON-AIRCRAFT AEROBATIC TRAINING AVAILABLE?

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AUTOMATION DEPENDENCY:ABILITY TO “HAND-FLY” AN AIRPLANE

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“I AM WELL-PRACTICED AND FEEL CONFIDENT TO HAND-FLY AN AIR-TRANSPORT AIRPLANE WHEN AUTOMATION FAILS …”

AGREEMENT THAT SELF CAN HAND-FLY AN AIRPLANE WHEN AUTOMATION FAILS

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SD = Strongly Disagree; D = Disagree; N = NeutralA = Agree; SA = Strongly Agree

RECOVERING FROM A SERIOUS UPSET

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“I AM CONFIDENT BEYOND DOUBT THAT I COULD SAFELY RECOVER FROM ANY UPSET I MIGHT ENCOUNTER…”

AGREEMENT THAT SELF CAN RECOVER FROM A SERIOUS UPSET

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SD = Strongly Disagree; D = Disagree; N = NeutralA = Agree; SA = Strongly Agree

RECOVERING FROM A SERIOUS UPSET

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“THE TYPICAL AIR TRANSPORT PILOT IS WELL PREPARED TO RECOVER AN AIR TRANSPORT AIRPLANE FROM AN IN-FLIGHT UPSET.”

AGREMENT THAT PEER PILOTS CAN RECOVER FROM A SERIOUS UPSET

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HOW TO EXPLAIN? “I CAN RECOVER FROM AN UPSET WHEN MY BUDDIES CAN’T”

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ADEQUACY OF EMPLOYER-PROVIDED UPRT

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“MY COMPANY PROVIDES ADEQUATE TRAINING TO PREPARE ME TO RECOVER FROM AN UPSET…”

PILOT AGREEMENT THAT EMPLOYER-PROVIDED UPRT IS “ADEQUATE”

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NEED FOR BETTER UPRT

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“MY COMPANY SHOULD PROVIDE ITS PILOTS MORE EXTENSIVE AND/OR BETTER UPSET-RECOVERY TRAINING…”

PILOT AGREEMENT THAT EMPLOYER-PROVIDED UPRT SHOULD BE “BETTER”

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SUMMARY: RESPONDENT PILOTS BELIEVE THEY SHOULD RECEIVE “MORE AND/OR BETTER” UPRT

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• Low Reported Hours of UPRT

SUMMARY: RESPONDENT PILOTS BELIEVE THEY SHOULD RECEIVE “MORE AND/OR BETTER” UPRT

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• Low Reported Hours of UPRT• Low Confidence in Ability of Typical Air-Transport

Pilot to Recover from a Serious Upset

SUMMARY: RESPONDENT PILOTS BELIEVE THEY SHOULD RECEIVE “MORE AND/OR BETTER” UPRT

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• Low Reported Hours of UPRT• Low Confidence in Ability of Typical Air-Transport Pilot

to Recover from a Serious Upset• Low Confidence in “Adequacy” of Company-Provided

UPRT to Prepare Them to Recover from a Serious Upset

SUMMARY: RESPONDENT PILOTS BELIEVE THEY SHOULD RECEIVE “MORE AND/OR BETTER” UPRT

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• Low Reported Hours of UPRT• Low Confidence in Ability of Typical Air-Transport

Pilot to Recover from a Serious Upset• Low Confidence in “Adequacy” of Company-

Provided UPRT to Prepare Them to Recover from a Serious Upset

• Strong Agreement that UPRT Should Be Improved

CONCLUSION:

SURVEY RESPONSES ARGUE FOR IMPROVED AIR-TRANSPORT UPRT

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CONCLUSION: SURVEY RESPONSES ARGUE FOR IMPROVED AIR-TRANSPORT UPRT

BUT ARE IMPROVEMENTS LIKELY?

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FACTORS FAVORING IMPROVED UPRT:• Adverse Media Exposure after an Upset Accident• Forthcoming ICATEE Recommendations

CONCLUSION: SURVEY RESPONSES ARGUE FOR IMPROVED AIR-TRANSPORT UPRT

BUT ARE IMPROVEMENTS LIKELY?

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FACTORS FAVORING IMPROVED UPRT:• Adverse Media Exposure after an Upset Accident• Forthcoming ICATEE Recommendations

FACTORS OPPOSING IMPROVED UPRT• Challenging Economic Environment and High Cost

of Line-Pilot UPRT• Absence of Convincing Cost-Benefit Analyses• Low Air-Transport Accident Rate

Regulator and the Flying Public Willingly Accept the LOC-I Risk

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“We have met the enemy, and he is us.”

--Walt Kelly’s Pogo

Pieter Breughel’s “The Fall of Icarus” ca. 156043

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About suffering they were never wrong,The old Masters: how well they understoodIts human position: how it takes placeWhile someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along…

In Breughel's Icarus, for instance: how everything turns awayQuite leisurely from the disaster; the ploughman mayHave heard the splash, the forsaken cry,But for him it was not an important failure; the sun shoneAs it had to on the white legs disappearing into the greenWater, and the expensive delicate ship that must have seenSomething amazing, a boy falling out of the sky,Had somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on.

--W.H. Auden, “Musee des Beaux Arts”

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46U.S. Naval Aviator

14 Years Active / Reserve Duty2500 Hours

247 Carrier Landings

1500 Hours Chance-Vought F8 Crusader47

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500 Hours Douglas A4 Skyhawk50

Attended On-Aircraft LOC-I Training at Calspan, Roswell, NM51

Flew CALSPAN Lear-25 In-Flight Simulator52

Attended UPRT at Aviation Performance Solutions (APS)53

Flew Extra-300 at APS, Mesa, Arizona54