It seems that everyone is agreed thata pilot (commercial or private) should want to be able to recognise risk, toknow / think about how it can be minimised, and then act appropriately toreduce that risk, so far as is necessary and reasonable in the circumstances of thatflight. This is perhaps along-winded way of saying “display good airmanship”. That, in turn, is about having the rightmind-set as a pilot.
The question dividing opinion is how to achieve that mind-set at theoutset (grant of a license) and how to maintain it. The focus on PPL is, to my mind, adistraction because not all holders of commercial licenses display consistentlygood airmanship (based on my reading of all Helicopter accidents recorded by UKAAIB).
I do not see any solution as being (only) instructor-basedas without testing there cannot be enforcement, without which there is less incentive (in a cost-conscious world) spend the time to train.
Stepping away from aviation, how is this handled in otherareas, and can we learn from them? I make two observations and a suggestion.
1. UK Driving License ( easier in my day ) but now they have a hazard perception test. It is a pass-fail test based on your abilityto identify hazards developing.
2. In my line of business (I am a self-declared businessmanPPL) we have our own risk issues. We have regular testing of practitioner's risk assessment and ability to act to mitigate risk appropriately, using web-basedsystems. We read the scenarios and answer the questions; at the end of the test you get a simplepass / fail. Should I fail there is nofeedback as to which questions I got wrong. Instead I would have to undertake therelevant training again in full, and then can re-test. This means that I have to understand the material, not simply learn the answers to the questions. Until we pass, our certificate to practiceis suspended.
My suggestion is a change to the testing environment for everyone, whichin turn will change the training environment. Time and cost can be saved elsewhere; there is material taught andtested at PPL theory level that is of no practical use whatsoever once we hold alicense. Weed-out that material and introduce helicopter (for PPL(H)) specificrisk examples. Already in EASA we have to undertake type-specific annual LPC toretain our license. All (PPL and CPL)could annually take a web-based risk identification / mitigation test before beingallowed to sit their LPC. Failing thetest should require evidence that the risk awareness training has been retaken and the test successfully passed.A solution like that need not create significant additionalrunning cost, and it should put a focus back onto safety throughout the life ofanyone’s license.