Slow death of airmanship.
 

For my entire career I have found myself surrounded by professional helicopter pilots. Initially they collectively appeared to be a very capable engaged and professional group.
My previously high impression of professional helicopter pilots has been wavering of late.
At first I thought my descending impression was unfairly influenced by the individuals I currently work with, but maybe not. I think maybe there is a broader trend.
I too easily fell into the trap of blaming restrictive safety and fatigue management systems and subsequently began to feel some sympathy for the pilots doing their best to function in a restrictive work environment. However when I looked more dispassionately at my current work place, I concluded that this is not the cause of an observed decline in airmanship.
It seems to me that there is a broad cultural problem. This cultural problem is leading the restrictions pilots place on their selves rather than the pilots being restricted by systems and procedures imposed on them by their employer.
I have seen Professional Pilots unable to interpret a flight manual and a minimum equipment list. Leading to phone calls to the flight standards department whilst operationally deployed.
I have seen pilots certify for ‘Pilot approved maintenance’ without ever carrying out that maintenance.
I consistently see pilots skip a pre- flight check of the aircraft. (The first thing you learn when learning to fly)
Airmanship is in decline. Pilots no longer deserve the respect and trust once earned by their predecessors.
Please reply and tell me why I am wrong! It might improve my bleak view of the world. PPrune might start a new category for counselling jaded aviators.

Unlikevice, you may have noticed your lack of responses. There has been over 141 views. Though your topic is good and deserves some attention you have to forgive for our lack of motivation. This website in general has been the victim of more then one "reporter" or such that will come here under the guise of a person in the industry, give baiting questions, assimilate the responses and then have the gall to report it as news. You have only 1 post, nothing in your profile so you may have to work a bit harder to blend in. If I am wrong I will be the 1st to apologize to you.

regards,

BLCL

Not at my workplace. I fully intend to reach my retirement safely. Sounds like a few backsides need kicking round yours.

I don't believe any of those failings you list fall under the banner of 'airmanship,' more like low calibre pilots with poor personal standards!

Mmmm ...

....Not at my workplace. ....

Nor mine ... and my plan for retirement mirrors ShyTorque's .... :ok:

Big words from someone not even in the job.

For example, "I have seen Professional Pilots unable to interpret a flight manual and a minimum equipment list. Leading to phone calls to the flight standards department whilst operationally deployed."
More details please, do you really know what was said to the department or just interpreted things wrongly? Weren't they just calling up to inform someone of the problem? Why is there something wrong with calling someone to clear things up or for further advice?

Also, "I consistently see pilots skip a pre- flight check of the aircraft" could simply mean that he doesn't actually see these people do a pre-flight, not that they haven't done one! Is he on the shoulder of these pilots, following their every move and action?


"For my entire career I have found myself surrounded by professional helicopter pilots"
I suspect unlikevice is the sort of person that has been doing their job too long and has the opinion he knows someone elses job job better than they do. In his view, S.O.P. stands for 'Statement of the Oldest Person'!

What ShyTorque said, +1.

Maybe there are a few issues here.
Maybe the jaded unlikevice is having a bad day and is imagining things.
OR
Maybe the pilots he has been exposed to in the dark past were ex-military, well trained and handpicked from the finest stock.
Nowadays any drip that has a daddy who can pay for flying lessons gets a job.
Why do you think we need such robust systems and procedures? It is to compensate for the standard of pilot we see today.
Pilots are no longer beyond reproach. The crew that unlikevice refer need a kick in the pants and some further education.

Perhaps only one hind end needs kicking, Shy!

If one performs in a truly professional manner and demonstrates excellent "airmanship"....perhaps it will rub off on others.

Just as in religion...don't tell me you are a Christian....show me by the way you live your life. I will figure it out for myself by observation and perhaps decide to follow your lead.

I suspect the robust systems & procedures are in part due to a desire to learn lessons from past errors, not repeat them, and in very large part due to the blaim/claim culture in which we now live. It is not just pilots who are "no longer trusted" to make the right decisions. Police, medical staff, lawyers, accountants, etc all have their equivalent "operations manuals" which grow daily in volume and decrease daily in relevance and clarity. You can't be fired, sued or jailed for sticking to the rules; you can for interpreting them and being judged with the benefit of 20:20 hindesight.

You can write what you like in the company operations manual. The only thing that is good for is hanging someone out to dry when required.
It is the Company culture that mainly determines the action and behaviour and attitudes of the staff.
If it becomes normal for the pilot to delegate certain tasks that the pilot is clearly expected to personally carry out as directed by the operations manual, then that is what will and does happen.
If it becomes normal for pilots to skip certain tasks, then that is what will happen.
SASless is onto it. Good leadership is the answer. We are missing that. The senior pilot is a baby that thinks he knows, makes all the right noises, but is still just a pup. He has huge potential but I don’t know how he is going to reach his personal best without a good mentor. Our company does not seem to have such a mentor. We seem to have chosen staff that will fit in, rather than bring experience and standards of airmanship. We even psychologically test prospective employees to make sure they are ready to follow rather than lead.

"We?" By that, do you mean the company HR department?

Unvicelike. Welcome to Rororheads. I agree with your observations.

You only have to read some of the threads here that involve incidents clearly caused by lack of airmanship. Unfortunately there are also apologists here who will always disagree with observations such as yours. Just be warned that I have been ridiculed (as will you be) for suggesting that some recent examples of bad airmanship were simply that - bad airmanship.

I think part of the problem is that training today just not emphasise airmanship. A big part of airmanship is simply consideration for others and when society does not consider that important it is hardly surprising that it is a value that is disappearing generally.

unlikevice,
you could easily be an australian cricketer, if there is such a thing at the moment, describing something comprehensively short of mentors, leadership, fitness but this bit especially tickled me.

Quote:

---

The senior pilot is a baby that thinks he knows, makes all the right noises, but is still just a pup.

---

they're not short on body jewelry, ego or slothfulness, the other side have fitness, professionalism, some humility, team spirit and dedication aplenty, they deserve all the credit they have earnt.

what our /your guys need is a bit of Barassi and a few laps of the SCG every morning, why don't you suggest that to your bosses, get out there and lead 'em around.
cheers tet

Epiphany, it appears that without knowing anything about me, you refer to myself as an "apologist"?

I run a single pilot, single man flying operation. As in I do everything, from the initial flight request telephone call. I do all the aircraft inspections, I tow it out, do all the flying, put it back in the hangar after the job is done and do all the paperwork. I have no ops setup and no local engineering backup. The aircraft does not get looked at by an engineer in between 50 hour/3 monthly checks. No-one except me opens a cowling.

I am very much aware that if my personal standards slip, I have no safety net either in front or behind me. As I said, I intend to make my retirement (not too far over the horizon) safely, so I cannot let them slip.

I apologise for no-one else because I have no-one else to apologise for.

And you? Do you fly, or have a licence?

I don't believe that I mentioned your name old boy but if you believe that the cap fits...

I do actually but don't tell my parents as they would be devastated - they think that I am a pianist in a whore house.

If you read my post properly, even a pianist in a whorehouse would know my answer to that.

Earl - one of the reasons that I feel qualified to comment is that I have travelled. In fact I have flown helicopters on every continent over the past 30 odd years and in my opinion standards have generally dropped markedly over that time.

I trained in the Army and my instructor was a stickler for airmanship. He also carried a metal ruler in his nav bag which came out when I demonstrated a lack of airmanship so I learned quickly. He would probably find himself in big trouble in todays nanny state (he is probably turning in his grave) but he taught me some valuable lessons and I know bad airmanship when I see it.

Shyte talk - then why on earth do you think that I was referring to you?

Followers rather than leaders???

Now that is a concept designed to fail from the git go!

I assume those that pass jump straight to management rank.

Because when you posted:

myself, Spinwing and Bertie Thruster had disagreed with the observation here on this thread.

My you are a sensitive soul Shyte.

Unlikevice could have questioned the slow death many aspects of society - good manners, chivalry, good TV, tolerance, national identity, the media, self-responsibility - the list is endless - sadly.

Or perhaps my two score years and ten is simply turning me into a 'grumpy old man'? :*

One of the more insightful posts that will be found here in Pprune land.

What you refer to unlikevice is/was to be found in some very large organisations, and I've worked under those very conditions.

While I fully understand where you are coming from 212man when you lack the all important leadership who have the willingness to loosen the purse strings and spend cash on training and the provision of the necessary to do your job effectively (and legally I might add) then the lowly pilot is up against it. Particularly when they have a yearly assessment process to keep you in your place.

You called professional pilots "apologists" for challenging the OP's personal observation on a basic lack of airmanship. I regarded that post as inflammatory. No-one here apologised for the actions of other pilots, but three of us (four if you count SAS who I believe is now enjoying his retirement) merely disagreed with the observation, as far as we were concerned. In my case, I explained why.

What else the OP could have written is immaterial.

Maybe it is - perhaps you'll become even more grumpy when you get to my age. :*

;)

This has got to be a wind-up :D

Sometimes the whole website is total wind-up. :E

fogs got thicker and snow deeper. might go flying!

Shy boy, what are you suggesting? :E

I only bite so deep.

I know of a company where the pilots don’t do pre flight inspections. The Pilots are happy to sign the aircraft acceptance sight unseen. Someone else does a daily inspection and this is accepted by all as equivalent.
I know of another organization where the crewman does the preflight inspection every other day. If the Pilot was to then go and have another look before takeoff the crew would be very offended.
Equivalent safety maybe?? But from my point of view it shows a broad reduction in the standard of airmanship as unlikevice suggests.

We have a pilot that maintains it is his prerogative to do as much or as little of the preflight inspection as he sees fit on the day. The flight manual preflight check is a guide only.
If an individuals standards have never been high, I doubt they would know when their personal standards of airmanship have reached an all time low!!
Training, Training, Training. But where to find a trainer?

Having obtained the desired end result....retired and enjoying life after almost four decades flying helicopters accident/incident free.....I like to think I tripped upon the right combination of judgement, skill, training, mentoring, practice, professionalism, effort, and LUCK! Despite thinking myself a decent airman....I will freely admit LUCK trumps all the rest.

Perhaps one can fabricate a large portion of your LUCK....but that bit left out is the ultimate key ingredient to a successful career flying helicopters.

Well said. If you regularly put yourself in bad situations, then bad outcomes should not be called "bad luck". I've seen many such people in my life, complaining about their bad luck, when it should be expected, since they act the idiot part so well.

Conversely, if you preflight the aircraft, fly conservatively, mind the Ts and Ps, noises, and vibrations, it's not good luck when you catch a problem before it turns catastrophic. It's a result of doing your job properly.

I attend many pilot safety seminars in my area. I've come to recognize many of the same people over and over, and they seem to have pretty good "luck". On the other hand, there are many pilots that I never see at such a meeting, and they are the one who could use the most help. I think for the most part, we make our own "luck".

Sasless, how many times in your career did you find something amiss on your pre-flight??
I don’t mean” Maybe a bit more oil would be nice” I mean an engineering error, a crack or some overnight damage that was a complete mistery?

More than a few....some could have been killers!

On an ERA 212 in Alaska.....tail rotor p/c link dangling loose at one end after the tail rotor had been replaced, tracked, balanced, inspected and signed off, preflighted and flown by the Lead Pilot. (as duly noted in the logbook mind you!)

Bristow 212....a full complete bed sheet in the forward end of the tail rotor drive shaft.

Bristow S-58T.....Engineer's rubber torch found lying on the main drive shaft resulting in the drive shaft being scored almost in two. Later on found a very nice Torque Wrench which was duly donated to Mssr Davey Jones.

Chinook....US Army....control linkage missing a nutter and cotter pin.
Chinook....US Army....complete number two engine gone from the aircraft
Chinook....US Army....a full roll of locking wire, wire twisting pliers, various rags, and a can of lubriplate.

Those wee things still stand out in my mind.

Before-landing-check-list. I can see how my post may have seemed suspicious. But sorry no, nothing as interesting as a reporter on the prowl. Just a jaded old man disappointed by the observed changers to my beloved industry.

It’s all about training. Pilots need to have enough confidence in there own knowledge to be able to carry out certain tasks fully. It is complete lunacy for a Pilot to trust his preflight inspection to an Engineer, which he may not have even met. When asked, the Pilot replied, “well you know what you are looking at better than me”.

Is the Pilot being a nice guy by trusting the Engineer?
Is the Pilot lazy?
Is the Pilot loaded up with so much other procedural and reporting rubbish that some thing has to give somewhere?

There are no brownie points for doing a preflight inspection, it is a base requirement. There is no excuse. It is expected. It is standard good airmanship. It cannot be delegated!

Pilots in the company I work for routinely certify for inspections they either have not carried out at all or have carried out in some amended fashion that has become culturally normal. They don’t refer to technical documentation; they will ask another Pilot what he does.

Our pilots do some of the most sophisticated full motion flight simulator training at great expense but avoid doing a preflight inspection of their aircraft at every opportunity. Are we serious about safety? Or are we more interested in superficial progression and qualifications.

To do a job safely you must be able to do that job easily. In order to be able to complicated tasks easily you need your ducks in a row.
- Good training
- Required equipment.
- Continual practice at task.
- Be physically fit for task (Rested and well).
- The company culture must be supportive of the task being done well. It cannot be considered beneath an IFR Captains standing to spend the time to do a preflight inspection to the depth required by the flight manual.
- The Pilot must want it.
The Pilots I work with are all good men. The company culture is shot.
From my point of view my observations are clear. What is not clear to me is how to fix it!

You can't learn airmanship out of a book. When I grew up in the military, There was a basic framework of rules, big ones, which were good guidance and non negotiable and were there to hopefully stop you killing yourself. You then flew with an experienced commander or were well mentored by senior squadron members, who provided guidance and you learnt to make decisions when operating your aircraft, within that rule framework. This allowed you to use initiative, gain confidence in yourself, accept reponsibility for your actions and learn sound airmanship.

A few years ago I flew for an organisation where control was severe, so much so that I wouldn't have been surprised if an instruction came out telling you how to breathe in the cockpit. This was sadly driven by the litigeous world we live in, it was so Senior Officer Top Rung could claim no responsibility, it was Junior Officer Tooslow, who broke rule 4b,sub para 3d, footnote 1b, so it's all his fault. As such in a system like this you don't think, you have to follow the the million rules rule book to the letter. No wonder airmanship is gasping for air.

Hmmmm: Unlikevice - you waited 3 years before responding to a previous poster.....without blinking....or did you not notice?

Your patients develops as you age!

Ah! a Doctor.

Who cares what the OPS manual or company culture dictates, or what the last pilot did or didn't do.

Its an aircraft, you are about to get into it and send it skywards, preflight the bloody thing.