PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - AS332L2 Ditching off Shetland: 23rd August 2013
Old 15th Sep 2013, 14:03
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thelearner
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Aberdeenshire
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More thoughts from an ex Pax

From DB
Hopefully the HSSG, the Government enquiry into helicopter safety and the AAIB will identify these cultural obstacles and force the Operates to properly and adequately mandate the use of Automation in sufficient detail, for each type, such that the loss of life, caused by these completely avoidable accidents, ends forever.

In addition we must now surely all recognise the enormous safety benefits of a DAFCS with in built flight envelope protections.
I want you guys, the biggest contributors to this thread, to try and bring the learned outcomes to the enquiry, or the HSSG, I worry that it won't find it's way there otherwise? There has been fantastic input from many here, in particular DB (who already seems to have huge respect from his peers for the improved procedures for night flying after ETAP from what I have read), HC, 26500lbs, keithl, victor papa and others. How can we make this happen?
I know HC works for Bristows, don't know and not asking about the others either, but is there no forum or method for getting some workshop or workgroup together from the 3 Aberdeen companies, with trainers and NS pilots included?

The comparison with Norwegian statistics was mentioned early on lots of times. We should also ask the question why are Bristows UK statistics so much better than the other 2? Is it chance - remember no criticism here - shields down and looking for learnings.

26500lbs quote
I agree with Al-bert and Crab in that more training would be a godsend. I really hope this can be a reality. It was always a luxury we had in the military that training hours and aircraft without pax on board were available. Now we only have the sim. Al-bert mentioned the autopilot culture and said should we just go all the way, with pilots really just monitoring? This is the direction we are heading. With the introduction of the new rig-approach into the S92 autopilot system the pilot will effectively only need to take control once committed to landing. With the introduction of all these fantastic levels of automation we must be even more cautious as to how to implement them and how to support our pilots through training. We must also use them completely and thoroughly to reap their benefit. This has to develop. Basic flying skill MUST not be lost. Otherwise we might as well sit in Mumbai with a non-alcoholic cocktail. Sounds nice to me on a dark winter night but not sure it will sell!
More training - tailored to needs - agreed.
I don't want to be flown by anyone remotely from Mumbai - ever. The new Rig Approach AP mentioned for S92 also worries me (also as previous comments say S92 AP very inerior to EC225?) - the helideck is usually very close to the Derrick - I would want to be hand flown on/off the rig as we are now.

S76Heavy Post
As far as cockpit gradient is concerned: as a Line Trainer I stress the fact that I am very capable of making my own mistakes and therefore they have the duty to speak up if they are not happy. Mostly I try to be humorous about it to avoid any tension, saying something like "Don't kill me and don't allow me to kill you".

When correcting errors I make an effort to keep the emotions out and calmly discuss events later. Ensure the safey of the flight, the rest is secondary. Every error, after correction, is first and foremost an opportunity to learn. That also goes for my own errors, and whenever they have corrected me I am very happy with their performance and tell them so.

There is never any doubt about who is in charge on the flight, so my attitude does not diminish the capability to take decisions, very quickly if required. But it also helps to create an open atmosphere where my copilot feels safe to monitor my actions, and act if required.
Could not agree with this more. Also agree with the post by 212 man - this cannot really be trained in the SIM - it's a culture that needs to be built if it is not there already - and it does not appear to be there from what I have read.

Finally (for this post) EASA already knew a lot of the above. In a much earlier post I mentioned a section of a report from them, first issued in 2009 but then uprevved in February this year - but I don't know if anyone read it - but nobody commented so I am going to post the link and a section in below, but there is much more in this section of the report than I have posted here.

8.6 Training Areas of Special Emphasis (TASE).
8.6.1 General
Within “Super-Puma Fleet”, each variant differs from the others in complexity and sophistication;
EC225 LP and AS332e should be considered as highly automated aircraft.
Several studies have identified that automation (its use and its limitations) is not well understood by a part of the pilot community. This in turn can lead to situations where pilots are unable to satisfactorily control the flight path of their aircraft.
This leads to two separate but connected issues:
a. Understanding how to use the automatics, what can go wrong with the automatics and how to cope when they do go wrong, and
b. The need to retain the ability, when all else fails, to recover the aircraft manually.
Training, initial, additional and recurrent are the only effective mitigation for these issues.
Automatics and their integration with other systems should be taught holistically, rather than treating it as a separate subject.
Training providers should ensure that pilots completing training courses for highly automated aircraftsuch as the EC225 LP & AS332e and to a lesser extent, the AS332L2, have a detailed operational knowledge of the automatic flight systems and have demonstrated competence in their use. The
Type Rating examination question paper should test a pilot’s understanding of how the automatics affect the operation of the aircraft. Furthermore operators should have in place a programme of training that will ensure pilots are able to retain their manual flying skills.

Last edited by thelearner; 15th Sep 2013 at 14:07. Reason: formatting last section
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