Stanley11:
I'd like to say something about the lack of comms. As pilots, we are always taught to do the following steps in any emergency:
1) Fly the aircraft, i.e. regain control of the aircraft
2) Communicate, tell someone. Mayday calls need not be made on 243 or 121.5, switch only when time permits
3) orientate and subsequent actions.
China Flyer:
That's not what I was taught. At all. Ever.
In fact, it was along the lines of:
1. Aviate
2. Navigate
3. And last of all, time permiting, Communicate.
Aircrew react well to Standard Operating Procedures. Unfortunately, the challenge illustrated in the above quotes reveals a great difficulty that can arise when a maxim becomes a dictum! If you chant it, and act on it as though it was a liturgy, you can come unstuck. We live in a world where cosy soundbites rule. Alas this can all too easily undo the good that was intended by the snappy "Aviate, Navigate, Communicate" maxim.
Sure, there are three separate actions. Whilst I cannot conceive of removing AVIATE from top priority, if the motor skills you have acquired through experience prevent you from flying the aircraft AND paying heed to one or other of the remaining tasks, you must consider that you need help. Communicating this need would be good at this point in the proceedings. SHOVE the navigation task onto someone else: like ATC?
The terrain you are over might also make an early call for help desirable.
In an aircraft that has two pilots, two people sharing three tasks is easier than one person. Of course, if one of you has become incapacitated, then calling for help early takes much pressure off you!
Aviate, navigate, communicate ought to be viewed as a collection of requirements and not a by numbers drill.
There are two ways of problem solving: intellectually or procedurally.
An intellectual approach allows EVERY problem to be novel and brings a pilot's primary and background knowledge plus experience to bear to come up with a solution. All well and good.
Unfortunately, no two people will resolve a given problem in the same way. There will quickly come a time when some pilots will always be in demand, more so than others! In military or civil aviation, you have n aircraft and require n crews to operate them.
Standard Operating Procedures (S.O.Ps) came from military forces. S.O.Ps and the concept of checklists take the heat out of a situation by freeing the brain to cope with anything novel to deal with. Too many S.O.Ps makes the task difficult while people try to find the best-fit procedure.
If you're not careful, the "Aviate, Navigate, Communicate" maxim renders its execution a conundrum for rule-based people drilled in the concept of S.O.Ps.