Airbus Procedures and callouts

[Uplinker]

Hi Check Airman.

I have been flying Airbus for 11 years now, and before that, four different conventional (i.e. non computerised) turbo prop and jet aircraft types.

What I find with Airbus is that sometimes the procedures might seem superfluous, but then one dark and stormy night, something bad nearly happens and you go Ah, THAT is why we have to do that. For example; what does LAND (green) on the FMA tell you?

You say you are new to the Airbus, and my guess is that you have probably never seen anything go wrong with one. So your mindset is 'why call it, it is never wrong?'. Well, calling the FMA is for a number of reasons.

1. You are verbally confirming a mode change.
2. You are communicating with the other pilot. (who is supposed to then read his/her FMA and say 'checked' if it agrees)
3. The FMA is the output of the aircraft systems, and should confirm the input(s) that have been made.
4. Unless you read the FMA out loud and the other pilot reads theirs and says checked, how do either of you know that each FMA says the same thing?
5. You are also confirming that the other pilot is aware of what is going on and has not for example become fatigued or incapacitated.

Trust me, reading the FMA out loud is a very sensible thing to do. By NOT doing so you are

1. Ignoring Airbus SOPs
2. Not keeping the other pilot in the loop. Unless you read the FMA out loud, and the other pilot reads theirs and says checked, how does the other pilot know you have read it correctly. And how do you know the other pilot has read it?
3. Possibly not reading it yourself
4. Confirming the aircraft will do what you have asked it to do and confirming the selections you have made. (I still see some pilots look at the flap lever instead of the E/WD to confirm the flap setting).

One day, something might happen to you - or not happen that should have - and you will get that cold sweat feeling of 'bloody hell that could have ended badly', and you will realise why Airbus are flown the way they are. Don't assume - always check.

Don't resist the Airbus, fly with it. It is a wonderful machine.

PS beware of saying what you expect to see rather than what is displayed in front of you. The other day during a control check, the other guy said "full left" as I was holding full right rudder. I said "are you sure?" he said "yes full left" Then I pointed to the rudder position read out on the F/CTL page. He looked for a moment, confused, and eventually said "....Oh err sorry, full right."