United Airlines warning letter to Pilots about safety
 

wondering why this story isn't being followed on pprune. someone else might post the story, reported in the USA on major networks.

United letter to pilots.
 

This letter could apply to all operations.

What?!!!!! How can that be?

The best airlines, the bestest pilots. This must be a joke!:=

Good on them. From an education perspective, it'd be good to get the details on the obviously serious incidents.

Spot on Captn Bloggs.


Shouldn't everybody be doing this?

It's what SMS and flight data monitoring is all about - very likely they saw these events in their data and they did something about it. It's a superb response. Having done this work for a long time now, I know that no carrier can reasonably believe that some of this doesn't apply to them. There are no such things as "skygods", (but there may be some pilots that believe in their own propaganda...).

When the cost is so enormous, UAL's actions come under the heading of "Lesson's for free" for all flight crews and not just UAL's.

I'm at a loss what I should do with this action. Obviously it sells good when brought into the light of the public. Was that part of the plan, was it the plan or was it what is written down, a wake up call from the top to the bottom?

Next question is, shouldn't unsafe happenings, incident and accident reports be available to all the crews all over the industry and be part of a mandatory regualar briefing through the training and supervising departments? Shouldn't those departments make sure, that each crew member has been informed in reasonable time about those flight safety items to prevent such happenings in the future operations?

If I take this letter honest, do I have to conclude that such a system does not even exist about such happenings within an airline for their own happenings or does not work sufficiently or is not taken serious enough, that it has to be supplemented by some top notch guy to make his point clear via public adress?

Good for UA. What they're doing looks sensible and all airlines should follow, provided that what they do is not simply to publicise mistakes or actions that are "not in compliance" followed by downgrading or "re-training" the pilots involved, but to analyse why the incidents occurred and show how procedures or mind-sets can be changed so that others can avoid similar mistakes. Most of us, except of course the "sky-gods" (and their counterparts, the "ground-gods"?) will admit that we make mistakes sometimes and want to understand how we can avert them.

The UA memo mentions "the recent CFIT accident in Birmingham [in which] the approach and landing appeared normal to the pilots until right before impact." I suppose they mean the UPS crash in 2013? (at Birmingham, Alabama, not Birmingham, England.) In that case the NTSB said that the crew continued an unstabilized approach ... failed to monitor the altitude ... failed to properly configure the FMC ... FO's failure to make required call-outs ... captain's decision to change the approach strategy without communicating his change to the first officer ... and [yes, yes] flight crew fatigue.* Did that approach really appear normal to the pilots?

* Caveat: This is from the NTSB's press release, I haven't read its actual report.

Here is the full memo:

Date: January 9, 2015

SAFETY ALERT: Significant safety concerns

Recent events in our operation have dictated that we communicate with all of you immediately. Over the past few weeks, our airline has experienced what we would categorize as major safety events and near-misses.

In Flight Operations we have seen two events in close proximity to terrain (one resulting in a GPWS pull-up maneuver), an Undesired Aircraft State on departure and a low fuel state on arrival after a deviation from a Sabre Flight Plan routing.

The common thread with all of these is that they are preventable. We must ask ourselves, “Do we have our priorities in line every time we put on our uniforms and strap into the airplane?” While the airline industry always seems to be in a state of flux, the one constant for all of us is that we are professional aviators with the common goal of flying our passengers and crew from point A to point B SAFELY.

Another common thread to some of these events is a lack of attention to disciplined Crew Resource Management. Every time we enter the cockpit with the intention of performing our pilot duties, we evaluate risk. Every pilot must be willing to speak up if safety is in question. In the same vein, every pilot must also accept the input of their fellow crewmembers on the flight deck. In most cases, one of the pilots recognizes an unsafe situation. In some cases, a pilot’s input is ignored. This is unacceptable.

The recent CFIT accident in Birmingham involving another carrier underscores how quickly things can unravel. The approach and landing appeared normal to the pilots until right before impact. Let’s not for a moment think something like that could not happen at United.

We are currently seeing a lot of movement in the pilot group, such as retirements, seat movements and new hires, that -- while welcome -- introduces significant risk to the operation. While no one ever shows up to work with the goal of intentionally making a mistake, we are human and mistakes happen. What we can control is how we conduct ourselves on each and every flight. If you have ever used the term “Standard Brief” before departure, you have not complied with an SOP. If you have ever exceeded Stabilized Approach Criteria intentionally and not executed a go-around, you are not in compliance.

We know this is a brutally honest message and the tendency may be to rationalize why compliance is not occurring in some areas. Bottom line: United is at a critical juncture in its history and we as aviators must adhere to the policies and procedures outlined in the Flight Manuals, FOM, WOM and ALPA Code of Ethics. Reviewing, understanding, and complying with the guidance in company manuals is imperative to returning ourselves, our fellow crewmembers and passengers to their families safely. This is our top priority and greatest responsibility, and we appreciate in advance your continued commitment and cooperation.

Fly safe.

Howard Attarian, Sr. Vice President Flight Operations

Michael Quiello, Vice President Corporate Safety

I see nothing wrong in that memo and in fact I give it a :ok:

OldLurker:

Exactly. UAL glossed over the multiple errors of commission and omission during that UPS crash approaching Runway 18 at KBHM.

We get a memo like that about once every two years at my carrier.

FOQA has lifted the veil on just how dangerous our profession can be.

well, to me, this means:

someone had a very high rate of descent on approach and a gpws alert, in other words a very unstablized approach.

it also sounds like someone took off with the flaps improperly set.

and IF SOMEONE WAS SMART AT A MAJOR TV NETWORK THEY WOULD FILE A FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT REQUEST and get the straight dope.

No one has mentioned that United and Continental merger may have ruffled some feathers in terms of seniority integration. IF anyone knows the method they finally used, maybe they can post it. But as many of you know, Continental used Scabs at one time. ( United used mgmt pilots to just fly a 747 round and round the pattern at ORD to make things look normal at one mid 80's strike)

I can also imagine that if seniority allowed United pilots to fly Continental MD80s there might be some less familiarity with this type .

I saw tom foreman on CNN try to explain a standard go around and he made it sound like a death defying catastrophic maneuver and Erin Burnett, the host like a dear caught in the headlights. It was awful. You can look it up on their website.

While it is important to reaffirm the CRM concept (which was needed at United many years ago, they coined the term I think), I think the tricks of commuter airlines have been brought to the big lines all in the name of money and it ain't pretty

HERE is a link to the CNN piece, I really ask the pilots here to comment on the piece.http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/25/politi...ing/index.html

LOL... US media at its best!

I did not know a "Go Around" could be so devastating to other traffic in the area. )-:

skyhallfallguy said:

File a FOIA with whom? FOIA is an "open government" law - and nothing whatsoever to do with private industry. Are you suggesting the media submit FOIA requests to the airlines?

Retired F4;
Re your middle paragraph, yes we should be able to learn from others' errors, incidents and accidents.

So here in EASA controlled Britain, we still await the Accident Report on the HULL LOSS ACCIDENT, suffered by Ryr at Fiumicino, too many years ago, due multiple birdstrike and the May 2013 ACCIDENT to the cowling shedding Airbus out of Heathrow.

But answer came there none.

Maybe I'll get to read them before shuffling off this mortal coil due to excess inhalation of Organo-Phosphate vapours? Or a wayward bus will get me as my reactions get even slower? :)

@ oldlurker - well, let's just say the Birmingham approach looked normal enough to the pilots that they did not do anything to question it, correct it, or initiate a go-around.

As to the UA memo - I agree with its prime message. No flight is ever "just another day in the office." And it is dangerous, in and of itself, to slip into that mind-set.

That includes management, of course. Pay, rest, training, and "on-time" pressures also need to reflect the fact that it isn't just another job. If you invest for "just good enough, most of the time" - that's what you'll get.

This sums it up:
 

Inspector:

Dear WILLFLYFORCHEESE:

IF a pilot screwed up and had to do a GPWS escape maneuver he might have filed a report with the FAA or NASA OR other agency and received some protection/immunity. IF it was observed by ATC visually or on RADAR other documents might be available too!

SO, you might want to check out such things. I didn ' t think another pilot would have to understand the enormous amount of paperwork filed with one govt agency or another that has to happen to run an airline.

JETJOCKEYA4: thanks for confirming what I thought. ROTTEN work ON the ERIN BURNETT CNN SHOW and TOM FOREMAN really over did it.

IF he summed up brushing your teeth, he would have shown us how we could all poke our eyes out with deadly toothbrush induced eye surgery.

Well I think the management should be applauded for "going out there" period.

[don't you just hate being the first guy on a new page]

Same, same in Air Traffic Control, especially Just replace "pilot group" to "air traffic control group". From my experience this significant risk isn't always acknowledged and managed.

A nicely balanced, yet brutally honest reminder from management.

The halfwit who leaked it should be sacked and banned from the industry :ugh:

Leaking
 

I see nothing wrong with the letter becoming public. Perhaps it will act as a wakeup call for other carriers.

Are United Pilots not following their SOP's or is their an issue with their SOP's ?

SOP
 

Well, you can bet your last dollar that somewhere there is a pilot who thinks they know or have a better way to do it:mad: I suspect that all of these procedures have been vetted by the Mfg, FAA, ALPA Safety and the combined training and standards organizations of both CAL and UAL. At the end of the day it doesn't matter if you have one pilot that thinks these new SOPs don't apply to them:ugh:

Leaking...

I see something very wrong with the leak - that is, the author may think twice about issuing a similar memo in the future. It is a serious threat to a safety management system if management can't communicate with staff about safety related issues without confidentiality.

Would you self-report an incident if you thought your report would be leaked by management to the press?

It goes both ways.

If internal safety memos continue to be leaked, they will get the PR department to write them rather than the safety department.

Yep, these 'come to Jesus' letters are pretty common in the business in recent years. The usual FOQA complaints are that we do too many rejects and not enough go arounds.

As mentioned on other threads, I fly with some folks who seem to be doing everything but flying the plane while in the seat. They text while I'm taxiing and play games on the iPhone while descending though Chinese metric RVSM airspace as PF. And, if I say something about it, they pout and play 'I've got a secret' for the rest of the trip. :{

Illegal personal electronic devices are proliferating once more in the cockpit. Tablets play movies off of wifi hard drives with Bluetooth headphones and speakers. Unapproved GPS receivers are hacked to work with company tablets. Non-TSO headsets play tunes off the iPhone. NW 188 overflying MSP seemed to cut down on this unauthorized electronic stuff for a while but now it's back.

If we don't clean up our act and be more professional, the feds will do it for us after the next crash. := The NTSB has for years wanted airlines to audit non-accident CVR recordings to ensure SOP compliance. And cockpit cameras. Strictly confidential, non-disciplinary, for safety only etc., etc., etc...

Spot on Bubba. I've experienced the same. It's disheartening.

Yup Airbubba

I some times wonder if I am becoming an old fart like what I used to fly with 30 yrs ago -
No you can't text while taxying
No you can't make a call while taxying
No you can't watch a video in flight
No you can't have one ear plugged into your Itunes
Clearing the runway please don't lean down, get your phone turn it on.

Airbubba...oops, that's like Korean Air pilots in the 80-90s! Eventhough the electronic gizmos ain't that advanced then but there were walkmans, colorful mags and Japanese mangas.:ugh:

"recent"...my post must be at least 10 characters.

In any accident, a full report on the use and timings during the flight of all electronic devices belonging to the crew is standard procedure.

Our rule is - we turn the phones off when we get off the bus.

I haven't seen any gross violations in a while....

Airbubba and Trista_dvr. I assume you're both FOs, in which case you have my sympathy. Is there not a confidential reporting system you can use? Captains behaving like you say are not only unprofessional; they're dangerous.

I assume you're not a pilot if you don't know who taxis the aircraft at most airlines. ;)

airbubba , not for a minute did I think you were the FO. Herod, airbubba has been around longer than danny.

Air bubba

First Officers taxying the aircraft? Next they'll be wanting landings too. Outrageous :E

Actually in my experience, in the UK, FOs taxying is SOP when it's their sector. Perhaps in your company and/or location it's different. It's all part of this wacky idea of developing the next generation of aviators. Role reversal I've heard it called.

As for the memo that started this thread I cannot fault it. I know nothing of the politics at United but I read it as an impassioned plea to the flight crew to do their jobs professionally. A former trainer said to me that "Fate is the hunter" should be required reading on a conversion course and I believe he was making a valid point about never letting your guard down. Be safe out there 'cos someone or something is going to try and spoil your day.

I read it as a plea to "straighten up and fly right even though we have failed to establish a positive safety culture and have allowed you to bust SOP's for years, failed to reign in the outlying cowboys, failed to empower the disciplined amongst you, and watched as human nature did it's thing and a large majority of you bowed to the pressure exerted to get the job done"

You just described the management culture of the majority of american airlines....