I’d like to use today’s Movie Monday for more than just entertainment, I want to address something of significance to pilots of all levels. Mainly, look outside your plane when you are taxiing. You can fiddle with the GPS while you are sitting still and you should already have all your instruments setup before you start taxiing. When you start taxiing, don’t do anything except watch where you are going.
Don’t just take my word for it, consider the following email I, like many other pilots that use the FAA’s online services, received:
Safety Tip: Airport Surface Deviations
Notice Number: NOTC2939Airport Surface Deviations have been on the rise recently and it is up to all of us to be more diligent and to be more professional in our aviation endeavors.
At the bottom of an esteemed co-worker’s e-mails there is the following statement:
If you look both ways before crossing a road, then how many ways should you look before crossing a runway?
Think about this for a second and then review what you look for, and I mean really “Look For,” prior to entering/crossing a taxiway or runway. You should realize that if you see another aircraft or a vehicle or a piece of equipment near where you are, then maybe you don’t have the proper clearance to proceed.
For example, did the Tower tell you to hold short and you missed that or did the Tower tell the other operator to hold short and he missed it? As you look on final approach and see an aircraft out there, ask yourself again, “Do I have clearance to take the active runway?”
If you are ever in doubt on any of these, be proactive in looking out for your safety and the safety of others. Contact Ground or Tower and verify your instructions. Be diligent in copying your taxi clearance; verify your take off clearance when you see someone on final.
An ounce of caution can be all it takes to break the accident chain or the error chain. Don’t become a statistic in the FAA files or in the newspaper headlines.
Honestly, I think the FAA’s tip misses a step: stop the plane. Apply this within reason, but if you are not sure what you’re cleared to do and stopping the plane won’t cause more problems, do it and then ask for clarification. That’s the bottom line, if you are unsure about what is going on then stop and ask. Take for example a time when I was still training for my Private Pilot Certificate; we were shooting touch-and-goes and the tower never cleared us for the option. We waited what seemed like forever. In fact, when we reached the point where we normally would have turned base, we finally radioed the tower to ask. As it turned out, he asked us to extend our base.
The following video is a really great example of a pilot who is most likely fiddling around with toys in the cockpit (maybe a big fancy GPS?), but at the very least doesn’t seem to be paying attention. Coupled with a possibly poor decision on the part of the helicopter pilot, this could have been a really bad. Thankfully, the helicopter pilot did some fancy maneuvers to stave off disaster. Ideally, both pilots should have stopped then they could have worked out the next step.
Special note for fixed-wing pilots that don’t encounter helicopters much: they hover taxi and all kinds of crazy stuff – make sure to look all around while you are taxiing. You never know when 20,000 parts flying in close formation are going to show up 10 feet off the ground right in front of you.
This second video is a recent prime example of watching where you park and watching where you taxi. I’m sure most everyone has seen the video or at least heard about the taxiing A380 hitting a parked regional jet and tossing it around like a Mercedes C-Class hitting a Smart Fortwo. Here it is just in case.
For interested parties, here’s some video of a C-Class obliterating a Smart Fortwo. Do you see the similarities?
Finally, if you’re still with me, here’s a great video on the topic from the FAA. The video is actually a fairly recent production, so the technology is actually up to date. It runs about 20 – 25 minutes, and I highly recommend you watch it (I did).