Ten Commandments of Aviation Safety, The

Mobility Forum, Sep/Oct 2004 by Komich, J Norman

I Real Safety Doesn't Just Happen by Chance: It takes a pro-active effort of all involved. A catchy slogan for safety goes "Safety is no accident." The double meaning is cute but the message is rock solid and focuses on the fact that true safety requires a constant on-going endeavor by ALL who are involved in the operation and where safety is the primary objective.

II The Amount You Rush is Directly Proportional to the Amount of Risk You Will Incur: One of the primary reasons we fly is to save time. If circumstances force us to be delayed, it is understandable that we would attempt to catch up and get back "on schedule." The initial dilemma is that although a certain level of rushing can be exhilarating and rewarding as we snap through our procedures, there comes a point for all of us in which our rushing can task saturate us and leave us vulnerable to making errors. The final dilemma is that we are unaware of exactly what that point is and the only way we realize that we are beyond that point is AFTER we become aware that we have committed an error. Hopefully, it will not be a critical mistake and the sage crewmember will slow down before reaching that decreasing stage of effectiveness.

III Safety Has No Memory: No matter how safe your operation has been, it remains only as safe as the next flight. Just like flipping a coin 100 times and getting heads on all 100 does not alter the fact that on the 101st flip, the odds remain 50-50 it will be tails. Doing 1000 preflights and finding nothing wrong does NOT justify skipping or slacking off on the lOOlstpreflight.

IV Maintenance Cannot Fix What is Not Written Up: "Carrying" items to a station where maintenance is available or cheaper or more convenient is something that every crewmember is confronted with at one time or another in their career. In a perfect world, writing up an item would be the same at every airport we land. Unfortunately, we know that is not always true and extensive delays can result from getting parts or personnel to repair what is not functioning. The book answer is "Write it up!!" It should also be the real world answer, and crews should never be faulted for doing so. Every flight operation should have a contingency plan for an aircraft malfunction; remember the Iranian Hostage Raid.

V The Amo unt of Fuel You Arrive With is Far, Far More Important Than the Amount of Fuel You Leave With: All the regs focus on how much fuel to begin the trip with. There should be an equal amount of guidance on fuel management once you slip the bonds of earth. An interesting question is, "When is it authorized to burn into Reserve Fuel??" The book answer is "At the Aircraft Commander's discretion." The real world answer should be "Never PLAN to burn into reserve fuel; it is there ONLY for unplanned contingencies!!" This simple formula might serve you well. "How much fuel do you want to be on the ground with at your alternate?" That number becomes your base reference fuel. From that number, back up by adding the fuel for enroute and approach to the alternate, fuel for the approach and missed approach at the destination, and fuel to get to the IAF of the approach at destination from holding. That fuel becomes your BINGO fuel. Do not alter your plans for it even if it means you will arrive at the alternate with more than reserve fuel. Establish a game plan and stick with it. And remember, giving ATC a heads up call that "I will be 'min fuel' (no ATC priority) and have to go to my alternate in 15 minutes" will allow them some leeway to work you in if possible. "Emergency Fuel" gives you ATC priority but it should not be a result of YOUR fuel mismanagement.

VI The Amount You Rely on a Situation Improving is Directly Proportional to the Possibility of the Situation Deteriorating: This is a corollary of Murphy's Law, where if something can go wrong, it eventually will. Just like when you are five minutes late for check in, every traffic light is red and you get stuck behind a school bus making multiple stops. The more desperate you are for the weather to improve, the more likely it is that it will deteriorate. Or if you are low on fuel and praying for a straight in, that is exactly when ATC starts vectoring you all over the place. Your game plan should always avoid such reliance.

VII When You are Down to Just One Option, You Have Lost Your Status as a Professional Aviator and You Have Joined the Ranks of the Amateurs: This is a corollary to "Stay ahead of the aircraft." When you establish your game plan you should ALWAYS give yourself at least two (three or more is preferable) outs so when one does not work, you have a backup plan. I am not advocating paranoia here, but the reality of flying is that things do not always go as planned, and you need to have at least one back up plan. Put another way, "IT" doesn't just happen to the other guy; "IT" can (and just might) happen to YOU!

VIII Judgment and Decision Making Should Always Be Treated as if You had a Flight Examiner on Your Jump Seat: Put another way, justification for pushing the envelope never sounds quite as good at the hearing as it did just before you committed the offense. Unless there is a life at stake or we are at war, there are no medals for those who push the envelope. You'd be surprised how the simple self assessment of "How will this sound at the hearing?" can help you make the right decision.