Originally Posted by
eckhard
Pilot DAR
But if the training organisations could manage to instill a basic 'survival kit' into their students, on top of all the other requirements that they are obliged to fulfil, we might find fewer of these appalling and unnecessary accidents in the future.
I think when teaching people to be "safe" pilots there is a tendency to swing for the fence "do
This and you will be safe", or binary arguments "written checklist are
Bad, no no no written checklists are
Essential"
Personally from a flight s training perspective the creation of safe pilots is all about having the student sweat the boring, unsexy little details all the time, every time, so that it becomes habit.
A while ago I was flying with one of the students who I had trained for their PPL. One of the things I require of my students is that before they turn the key they verbalize to me "tow bar out, area clear". The idea is that this will become a habit and they will mentally do that check before starting the engine after they have finished their PPL.
So we are strapped in, seat adjusted, doors closed and he goes to turn the key to start the engine; and then stops. He turns to me and says "I am 99 % sure the tow bar is out but I want to check". So he pushes the seat back, un does his seat belt, opens the door and leans out to see that in fact the tow has been removed.
That young man aspires to be a commercial pilot. I would like to think that I have inculcated the kinds of good habits that means he will never be hurtling down a runway with locked controls while his FO tries some home made procedure to release the control lock........