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By Captain Richard J. PetrofT, U. S. Marine Corps, and Lieutenant (junior grade) Novell E. Wicker, U. S. Coast Guard
adage “You can lead a horse [or any
OSBORNE/NAVAL AVIATION NEWS
^atti
'•uteri t ------------------- — --------
^itik >> l° Wa*er’ but you can’t make him
re^i ’ holds great meaning within the vi(lual av'a^on safety. Motivating indi- hiost S to ^r*nh from the “safety cu arduous and frustrating task.
is a
i inking from qie safety cup is the “means.” The
____ ' end” is a lower accident rate. This article pre-
<tlleans”ntS ^*ve leadership techniques or successful ^nce and draws some conclusions that will give cre-
Cthe “end-”
c°nsistK,ncy Procedure Quizzes: These short quizzes Se.S) tT| ,tllree to five questions on emergency process thea e UP by the safety officer and administered dur- b°ok ande^ly >al1 Pilots meeting.” Quizzes are closed LSt iaker ?Iaded on the spot by someone other than the Su8hom hCy are uscd as a t0°i t0 beep pilots current Stail(larH; year and to prepare them for the annual These atl0n exam.
K es- The-'ZZes sb°w how well the pilot knows his proce-
bu]
•hot
too
biiliatj^ Can instiH professional pride, or be totally iv*,,: (To an aviator “loss of faro” ran he hishlv
lvat!
unci
in o • an avialor, “loss of face” can be highly :om ^ *S a relatively simple idea and probably not
°Hnion
among a number of units. Most people
deplore the idea of continual test taking as a means of determining one’s professional knowledge. The quizzes were not designed for this purpose. However, this assumption makes them effective. People are inclined to prepare themselves for a test, looking for specific answers rather than reading just for the sake of reading. Most of the pilots who take these quizzes maintain fairly high quiz averages even though grades are of no significance.
Pilot Lectures: Every week, a pilot is designated to give a lecture or presentation on preselected aviation-related subjects. The presentations generally last an hour and include time for questions and answers. Individual effort is documented and used in fitness reports. (Accountability is a key element in making people safety-responsible, and documentation provides an accurate record.) The main goal of this leadership approach is to broaden the pilots’ knowledge of the equipment, its use, and the environment in which they work. This approach is actually geared more toward the individual than the group. The preparation is an education in itself. This technique enhances the pilot’s knowledge of aviation, which strengthens his ability to make the right decisions.
Aviation Bull Sessions: The aviation bull session started off in one unit’s operations department, with the operations officer and the assistant operations officer asking each other questions from pertinent manuals. This technique helped keep the information fresh in their minds. This informal game was sort of the naval aviators’ answer
Vi
'gs /
October
1986
131
to “Trivial Pursuit.” After awhile, the junior officers in the department started to participate. The longer they played the game, the more structured it became, though it remained informal.
The game starts between 1530 to 1630 and lasts about an hour. It should be played three or four times a week. It can be played by two to eight players. With more than eight, each pilot would not be able to participate enough.
The game starts off with the operations officer asking someone a question. If the player gets the question right, it is his turn to ask anyone else a question; but if his answer is wrong, the original player gets to ask someone else another question. The operations officer and the assistant operations officer control the flow of the game so that everyone gets their fair share of questions. No score is kept, but it becomes quite evident who knows the subject and who does not.
Confessionals: “I am a naval aviator, and once I put on my wings, I will not make any mistakes while flying. But if I do, I will not embarrass myself by telling anyone else.”
Does this attitude remind you of someone? Is it the right way to think? This is an unacceptable attitude for an aviator to have, but to some degree, we all think this way. The human factor is very much involved in flying, and though we hate to admit it, we all make mistakes.
Aviation leadership has long recognized the value of learning from mistakes. All the safety publications put out in all aviation communities use this technique. But how do we get our pilots to admit their mistakes and share their experiences with others? I have seen an answer in several squadrons. Let’s call it the “Pilot Confessionals.” We will use a Marine aviator’s experience as an example.
On one of our squadron training days, our aviation safety officer got up in front of all our pilots and told us a story of a flight that happened the previous week. The pilots made a mistake, recognized it, and found a solution in time to avert a possible mishap. The safety officer was visibly uncomfortable while telling his story, but nowhere near as uncomfortable as I was. I was the copilot on that flight, and I had to present my version after him. The following is a brief description of what happened.
The flight started out of Monterey, California, as a tactical navigation flight to the Los Angeles area via Owens Valley. Between Monterey and Owens Valley there are some high mountains. I was at the controls when we approached these mountains. It was a beautiful, clear day, and visibility was greater than 30 miles. As we approached the mountains, we started a constant airspeed climb at 130 knots with military power. At about 8,000 feet with terrain closing in on both sides, we found ourselves at 80 knots and losing speed. The aircraft commander immediately took the controls and executed a sharp 180° turn right and dropped the nose to regain airspeed. Once we pulled out of the pass and had room to maneuver, we did several climbing 360° turns until we were above the ground level of the mountain pass. Then we continued the flight.
During the remainder of the flight, we had P^^jns time to analyze what had happened: The high tno ^ ^ had presented us with a false horizon. We both fered from visual illusions about the terrain. 1 t to angle that the helicopter was capable of was insut i ^jng. clear the pass. I was not aware of this while I wa* ;n0se The closer we got to the pass, the higher I raised to maintain my visual cues at their relative positic>nS windscreen. We both had relaxed and ignored oU^ute or ments for some time. Had we gone for another m ^oll|d so, we would not have had room to maneuver. roUgh probably have had to make a forced landing in ve ■
terrain' .a help so02'
We hoped that sharing our experience would i eXper!' one else. Pilot confessionals are set up to share ves his
anOnoa o Viao on pvnpripnpp fHfit HC ^ ^ • ..H
ence. Once a pilot has an experience that he j8l. fellow pilots could benefit from, he sees 1 safety officer and then the commanding officer.
ition
sente|
A-
mand should know beforehand what will be P ^ ridi' The executive officer keeps order and ensures t par- cule is directed toward the confessors. To ticipation, one of the senior officers starts off
with a story of his own.
admit
that
In order to correct an error, you must first ^ ^eip out you have made one. Take this one step further an eXperi' your fellow aviators by letting them know ot y° g as a ence. Maybe they will not make the same mis ^ tbe result. It may take some courage on your pa > benefits should be obvious.
blisb .
Safety/NATOPS Jeopardy: This game was PuDplayj the October 1985 issue of Approach magazin this game generates interest and breaks up t e g pay*' of the same old training, week after week. The g ofle |s few exceptions to the television version. The m that questions instead of answers are posed to eptf°
in i
pants. Most questions are multiple choice Emergency Procedures and Final Jeopardy.
The game box can be created any way a One possibility is a box structured for three tea
unit
132
Proceedings
/ Oct®1
,Kr
lminates a light.
categ0<?Uesti°as are made up in advance in a full range of rules1£S’ Suc*1 as tactics, emergency procedures, course ate u’ ai?d hodgepodge questions, but only five questions diffj | at any one time. The questions should range in The s / t0 c°incide with the appropriate point values. Standi f.^^aval Air Training and Operating Procedures questi lzati°n Department makes up and maintains the Thr nS’ S0 d°es not participate in the game.
‘Uce pc - ’
and a-. *s the key; the “scorekeeper” does just that
nies (jyjQ?PP*e can run the game: the “master of ceremo-
®eofSei .-
^Uesti0ectlng the next question. If no one answers the <;ndCom*tly , it is thrown out, and the last team that
•hat |6rS CaC^' ^ *s designed with three lights, a switch terniC ears the lights and resets the circuit, and three input hasa s’ one for each team’s main wire. Each main wire three' 'nPut terminal on the game box, and
pUsh 'n(t'vidual wires spliced into it to which a hand-held butto Utt°n *S attached. When any one of the nine push ciosesS arC ^ePressc(h 't activates two relays; the first rejaa tthcuit and lights that team’s light; the second The f[enioves the other two teams’ lights from the circuit. illum'Tf ^utton to be depressed will be the only one that
The (
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the Sen-1Sts *n the set up; the presiding “judge” is one of team t^°r°fficers and settles all disputes. The MC picks a categ0rStart the game. The team selects a question by thr°u jT and point value. The MC reads the question Sec°ndsUnt'- 3 'S illuminated. The team then has ten °r theirS l° ^*Ve an answer- If that team exceeds their time Suhtractai|SWer wrong> the point value of the question is Pate jn fi~ ^rom their score, and they can no longer partici- starts re tlUestion. The MC then resets the circuit and °0e 0f a ln§ the question again to the other two teams. If valUe of ® teams answers correctly, they get the point lege of ,at ^luestion posted to their score and the privi-
correctly picks another question.
The game is played in three parts: Jeopardy, Double Jeopardy, and Final Jeopardy. In Jeopardy, the point values range from 10-50 points. All point values double in Double Jeopardy. In Final Jeopardy, each team bets any portion of their score in an effort to win the game. The bets are made secretly, and the MC collects them and reads the question. All teams should be given ample time to write down their answers. The results are then made public, and the winning team is declared.
These techniques work for some, but they may not work for everyone. They may not produce the same results. People make the difference. The command and each individual must be willing and supportive. For aviation safety to be effective, it must include everyone involved with aviation. It is impossible to place the responsibility on any one group. If there is one thing that can make or break the success of aviation safety, it would have to be the concept of professionalism. The accident rate cannot be zero unless no one flies. Living in an imperfect world will always make room for the unexpected and the unavoidable. The best we can hope for is that we would all strive earnestly to be the very best we can, while keeping safety the number one priority.
Captain Petroff is a member of the transport helicopter community. After he finished flight school in 1981, he was assigned to a CH-53 A/D squadron on the West Coast. He is currently with the Naval Air Training Command.
Lieutenant Wicker’s first tour of duty out of flight school was at a Coast Guard Air Station in the northwest United States. He is currently assigned to the Naval Air Training Command.
Editor’s Note: This essay is the winning entry of the Naval Aviation Safety Leadership Essay Contest, organized by the Aviation Safety Office, NAS Pensacola
For All
, Like
e ------------------------------------
ant Bart R. Sparks, U. S. Navy
preaihingV(^ naval aviator, I grew up •friers. \y, king Navy jets on and off i ecatneSn mk dream became reality, !,k for a]j ^ncerned for my safety. Luck-
y>e
./ ‘Or a]l . - ---------- >1I; ouivi; . x^vx^
rnidH|aVlators’ ‘he Navy was and is .die of a u
r^paig ® °f a huge public relations J§ht^—0bring safety into the lime-
^°r B”‘ it the number
. r everv " ■■ “>v- iiumuer one priont; QllS Mio a family man witi
toi
*s.
one priority
o ________________ y man with
h0Drmedak. may be naval avia-
% enim° ,not only to be there to set dtake ;, their “wings of Gold,” bu
for
# TV nigs oi \jOIu, Dili
the sr, i*S safe for them as it has been
; so far : hair
The [ra •
^ a safpl'11® comrnand by nature has t<
l ^Cone v,,ioj0.r'cntcd program. To take
With . j/tugiam. iu laivc
w° left feet and teach him
think about safety. Many students have never left the ground before. But, by the time each one completes his flight instruction, he is a fledgling aviator, looking toward the fleet. He packs up his 200 flight hours and heads to the replacement air group (RAG).
Some arrive at the RAGs with swelled heads, thinking that they already know everything and can bend their airplanes to their limits under any circumstances. These fledgling pilots fall into the less- than-500-hours window—the pilots most likely to have an accident. Lack of experience is a contributing factor to many accidents, but if each nugget would remember his lack of flight time and experience, and take it into account, many
“pilot error” accidents would never occur. It takes the entire RAG syllabus and first cruise cycle to gain the experience to become a fleet aviator. 1 call this experience gap between nugget and fleet aviator “the gray area.” Those who attempt to skip the gray area are usually the ones who overstep their limits and have accidents.
My first sea tour was a lucky one—all three commanding officers made safety their number one priority. The safety officer and safety department maintained a sound safety program. Although the safety officer has a direct line to the commanding officer, a safety program will not work well without a self-starting safety chief running it. This individual
October 1986
133