“HOT AIR, WINGS AND FLYING THINGS”
Crash Course 2008: TAA Safety and Training by James E. Ellis
AOPA Air Safety Foundation (ASF) Executive Director Bruce Landsberg was the featured speaker at the annual Aero Club of New England (ACONE) “Crash Course 2008” safety seminar held at the Newton, MA Marriott on March 18. The ACONE seminar, which began with a focus on learning from the mistakes of pilots who crashed their airplanes, regrettably has been “watered down” and has become a showcase for the latest AOPA ASF multimedia materials. There is nothing wrong with the AOPA ASF programs, but the old Crash Course focus used to be unique and it is a loss to the aviation community that it has changed. Published materials promised a “Review of Local Accidents”, but not even five minutes were given to the subject. There were fewer pilots in attendance, with less than half of the advertised “Expanded Seating for 600” seats filled.
Massachusetts Aeronautics Commission (MAC) Chairman Arthur Allen had some good news, briefing that Gov. Patrick has proposed increasing the MAC budget from $5 million to $40 million per year. Allen indicated that MAC is looking for projects for “local airports that are not up to standard.” He specifically mentioned runway rebuilding (noting that Beverly Airport’s runway has apparently been redone recently) and new terminal projects (noting the new one at Barnes Westfield). More good news was his introduction of new MAC commission member Bob Cooper, an active Piper Cub pilot who flies out of Marlborough’s short strip.
Allen said that bad news was that some taxes would have to increase, including the annual Mass. aircraft registration which will increase by 15%, and a likely reinstatement of sales taxes on aircraft sales and services. Landsberg gave the main presentation on “Technologically Advanced Aircraft- Safety and Training.” He noted that, “you can’t buy a new Mooney, Piper, or Beechcraft with steam gauges,” let alone really new aircraft like the Cirrus, Lancair Columbia (now Cessna), or Diamond. While a pilot must now be a “systems manager,” stick and rudder skills remain essential. He noted that one obvious improvement is in fuel mismanagement accidents, which have declined from three per week to two per week. TAAs also all have autopilots, and Landsberg recommended using the autopilots as an integral part of flying them. He claimed that a review of NTSB accidents shows NO accidents blamed on autopilots. (I would challenge this. I have read articles in AOPA Pilot and Flying about runaway trim accidents where a pilot fought a failing autopilot and ended up with the trim at extreme limits when the autopilot was finally shut off, causing an accident.)
The new glass cockpits are complex, and require multitasking. They also require a new generation of instructors. As for foolproof, “To design something foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of fools.” Landsberg also noted that aircraft like the Cirrus and Columbia are optimized for long distance cruise. Landing distances are longer, with a Beech A36 requiring 1520 feet and a Cirrus SR22 2300 feet, for example. Legacy airplanes are landed “full stall,” while with the new ones you “fly it on.”
TAAs have contributed to a decrease in total and fatal accidents. They do better in takeoff, climb, and maneuvering flight than older aircraft. They have had NO fuel mismanagement accidents. But they have more landing accidents, and are much worse in weather-related accidents. Low-time pilots in TAAs have a much worse record. Cirrus pilots have an accident rate four times the fleet average for go-around accidents, with 15% for Cirrus versus 10% for all TAAs and only 4% for the overall fleet. (TAA pilots may be putting too much reliance on the autopilots. They switch them on after takeoff and let them fly the plane to the destination. But autopilots do not have “autoland.” Apparently TAA pilots lacking stick and rudder skills can’t land the plane when the autopilot is switched off.)
Concerning “Leading Edge Avionics” like the G1000 and the tendency to include an incredible number of features, Landsberg had a couple of surprising pronouncements: “More isn’t better, better is better,” and “Time, speed, altitude, distance, and bearing… anything else is just Entertainment.”
Cirrus has produced 3000 of the 5700 TAA aircraft now flying. Between 2003 and 2008, they have been involved in 29 accidents with 13 fatalities. (Approximately 1000 non-parachute equipped Diamond DA40s have been involved in only three accidents and three fatalities in the same period, according to an NTSB database search!) So there may be some truth to the suspicion that the Cirrus parachute may be leading Cirrus pilots to fly in conditions they should avoid. Cirrus has an especially bad record in weather-related accidents. 61.5% of Cirrus fatalities are from weather-related accidents, compared with 44.4% for all TAAs and only 16.4% for the overall fleet.
Landsberg showed a video screenshot of aircraft flying over the southeastern US on a day when it was randomly covered with thunderstorms. 15 Cirrus aircraft had been identified, and incredibly, several of them were heading right into thunderstorm active areas! (Despite all likely having XM weather and some having Stormscopes!)
Cirrus is very concerned and is trying to do something about it. The last speaker was Bill King, Vice President of Business Administration for Cirrus Design. Cirrus is reaching out with the Cirrus Programmatic Safety Initiative. Every seminar participant had received a Cirrus Pilot Flight Operations Manual. King said that while it was written for Cirrus pilots, it contained recommended personal safety guidelines that could be tailored to any aircraft. The back cover, for example, contains a matrix of flight conditions versus pilot qualifications with recommended limits that would be good for anyone flying anything. (Curiously, the manual recommends a Minimum Runway Length of 2500 feet for Cirrus pilots. Cirruses land obviously differently than my Cherokee 180, which I have flown safely into the 1600 foot Marlboro, MA airport.)
King also said that Cirrus is pushing a Lifelong Learning Plan for Pilots. New Cirrus owners receive a 90-day Post Purchase Transition training course; a six-month Post Purchase Transition course; and Annual Proficiency Training. Cirrus company and flying club pilots MUST take a six-month recurrency training course, even demo pilots with a lot of flying experience. Cirrus is also expanding Cirrus Standardized Training Centers
Cirrus has also started a “Pilots World” website with free online training courses available to all pilots, not just Cirrus owners. King said the site is updated with new material every month. 10,000 pilots have registered on the site, and there are only 4000 Cirrus owners. Cirrus strongly recommends training for ALL pilots every six months. King said Cirrus recommends getting back to basics (a great idea for Cirrus pilots who have a lot of landing and go-around accidents). Cirrus strongly recommends carrying paper charts in all airplanes, even TAAs that have on-screen charts available.
In summary, King said that Cirrus believes that, “We have to set the stage to promote fundamental change in pilot behavior.” Just about everyone concerned with aviation safety can agree with that.