The same concepts we use in defensive driving apply to flight operations to help us mitigate risks of violations, incidents, or accidents. A little attention to flying defensively may convert those thoughts into mitigation of potential risks in our flight operations.

If you maintain constant situational awareness and utilize all available resources, that’s conducive to safe general aviation operations. Unlike commercial flights with robust support systems, GA pilots rely on their skills and instruments. Vigilance, monitoring traffic, and staying attuned to changing weather conditions contribute significantly to safety.

Avoiding Distractions During Flight Operations

A distracted pilot turns into one that misses critical checklist items, ATC communications, or loses situational awareness. Any of these lead a pilot down a path that could result in further complications—or worse. Keep interaction with passengers, other tasks you might want to perform during your flight, or even management of the resources used in the flight deck—such as an electronic flight bag (EFB) device—to periods where the workload is minimal and you don’t sacrifice attention necessary to complete more critical tasks.

Keeping distractions to a minimum is especially important during critical phases of flight. Setting up for an approach, taxiing at a busy airfield with complicated diagrams, during the actual takeoff and landing, or receiving an updated weather briefing in flight are a few examples of this.

The sooner you can ascertain a risk is present, the earlier you can make a defensive flying decision and avoid…undesired conditions.

Predicting Risk Ahead and Mitigating It Sooner

More than ever before in aviation, we have the ability to try to predict potential hazards and mitigate them at earlier points in our flight operations. A key example is having onboard weather information continuously feeding us updates. We can use it to look further ahead for weather along our route or see updated climate conditions for our destinations that might hint at our need to initiate an alternate plan if minimums are becoming a concern for us in IFR or VFR conditions. When you do this, you can make a decision hundreds of miles away instead of just getting 20 to 30 miles from your destination and being surprised by an AWOS/ASOS/ATIS broadcast that now shows the weather has degraded significantly. The sooner you can ascertain a risk is present, the earlier you can make a defensive flying decision and avoid proceeding into undesired conditions.

Traffic information systems in our panels—or fed to our EFB—help us predict other traffic that may be nearby through awareness of its position. Taking this into consideration, we can receive clues regarding other traffic sequencing to fly the same approach we plan or help us avoid encountering traffic conflicts that might otherwise result in aircraft coming too close together.

Communication and Coordination

ATC services are generally available to IFR and VFR flight operations throughout most of the country—so use them for most flights. Certainly, most pilots understand they are using ATC services when operating in IFR or VFR conditions while on an IFR flight plan, and they must talk to ATC within certain airspace, typically Class A, B, C, and D. But too few pilots leverage air traffic control when outside of these requirement areas, though its services are broadly available.

• READ MORE: Communicate Like a Pro Pilot

A short cross-country in Class E or G airspace might not require the use of ATC services, but a quick request for flight following along the route can help them communicate with you and potentially other aircraft—and perhaps help you avoid other aircraft sharing the frequency. With ADS-B and transponder service over much of the airspace, it is a good practice to fly with a second layer of protection, helping you enhance awareness of potential risks.

I have a few flight training operations at which I provide tests regularly that will get flight following from local ATC when pilots head out to a practice area to train or test. A training flight introduces the risk of the instructor and pilot becoming distracted from their overall situational awareness while briefing and conducting specific maneuvers. Having ATC communication established can give you the chance to be warned about traffic in the area or if another aircraft is flying into the same practice area. You can then adjust position and altitude or even discontinue a maneuver and reposition if the traffic is going to provide a conflict.

If you are operating near an airport, monitor the local CTAF frequency for an idea of what other traffic is doing, including aircraft flying in or out of that airport. This is especially true if you’ll be flying in the traffic pattern and practicing takeoffs or landings. A good habit is to listen to the local frequency about 10 miles out as you approach so as to have enough time to hear other aircraft sequencing into the pattern. You may fly a few miles to the side of the airport to delay your approach instead of having two aircraft enter the downwind at the same time.

• READ MORE: Pro Tips: Situational Awareness For Private Pilots

Listen while on the ground also. Many times I will be listening to the CTAF, or at a towered field, the ground and tower frequencies as I do a run-up, while waiting in sequence, or as I approach a runway for takeoff. This can help build a mental picture of who might be in the pattern, whether they are likely to be ahead or behind you, or if there are other factors that might cause you to avoid unnecessary communications at a particular time.

For example, I was flying recently and listening to the tower frequency while we were doing our run-up and on the ground-control frequency. While monitoring, I overheard that the tower had an inbound aircraft that was having a gear indicator malfunction and that they were going to “roll services” for the aircraft in case it was needed on the landing. It was a great tip for me to just hang tight for a minute in our run-up area and let the situation play out instead of getting on tower frequency and asking for a takeoff clearance with a potential emergency developing.

The good news was that the aircraft landed without incident, and we were only hanging out for a few extra minutes. By listening in proactively, we avoided adding extra radio communications to the mix and allowed ATC to effectively manage its challenges without extra distraction.

Defensive Flying and Safety Culture

Thinking proactively and defensively—and acting as such—is part of a personal safety culture. It is a mindset for our operations that serves to help us identify, avoid, and mitigate risks before they cause problems. It is also one that we can espouse and allow to serve as an example for other pilots.

This is especially relevant when we are trying to foster a safety-centric environment within flying clubs, flight training operations, corporate flight operations, or even just among peers. The goal is to encourage open discussions, share experiences, and learn from each other’s mistakes to collectively enhance safety standards. We can all share ways we can be more proactive and defensive in our flying activities.

Developing the ability to recognize potential risks and being adaptable in handling unforeseen situations are essential traits of a defensive general aviation pilot.

• READ MORE: Best Pilot Kneeboard Options in 2024

Embracing and implementing principles of defensive flying significantly contribute to mitigating the risks inherent to flight operations. It is part of a commitment to safety and a mindset that helps ensure each flight, regardless of scale, remains a secure and enjoyable experience for pilots, passengers, and those within the airspace. Each pilot who operates in this manner helps elevate the safety standards within the overall aviation community. Defensive flying in GA is a fusion of skills, adaptability, and a proactive approach to safety. 

The post Risk Mitigation Through Defensive Flying appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

One of the things that separates the top military fighter pilots from the rest of us mere mortal aviators is the ability to process large volumes of often conflicting information and make good decisions in a short period of time. Oh, yes, while pulling 9 Gs upside down. This skill is learned through repetitive individual training at the famous Top Gun and Fighter Weapons Schools and the ultimate exercise, Red Flag.

During Red Flag, conducted on the Nellis Air Force ranges north of Las Vegas, over 100 aircraft practice the first two weeks of a wartime scenario, with complexity increasing each day. The goal is for each pilot to hone their skills at listening, seeing and using electronic aids to develop their situational awareness skills, and this at speeds over Mach one. So, let’s explore how we can improve our SA at 150 knots and 30 degrees of bank while entering Class Bravo Airspace.

LISTEN
The first step in cultivating good Situational Awareness is becoming a better listener. The ability to cut through all the noise generated by multiple radios, other aircraft, passengers and the alerts generated by our avionics and aircraft is an art. A good first step is to set up some sterile cockpit rules and passenger traffic detection procedures, so that you and your passengers are all focused on the task of avoiding traffic and navigating the airspace successfully.

If you want to see good SA at work, search YouTube for the “AirVenture Fisk Arrival.” Watch and listen to the videos of pilots on the edge of their seats maintaining strict radio silence, scanning the skies, and pointing out traffic, all the while listening intently to the amazing ATC controllers at Fisk and Oshkosh Tower. Year after year, pilots and controllers focus intently on safely sorting out this armada of planes and guide them safely to the runways. It’s simply not possible without the radio discipline and situational awareness displayed by the pilots entering AirVenture. Maybe these same listening skills might help as we enter busy GA airports like Daytona Beach, Florida; Deer Valley in Phoenix; or Grand Forks, North Dakota.

And don’t just listen to what the controller says but how they say it. ATC controllers have a tough job and do it well, so if the controller sounds a bit overworked and underpaid, help them out by being a good listener, speak when spoken to, and be concise. Listening not only for your own radio calls but also for where other aircraft are and what clearances are being given helps anticipate what is coming next. So, set up the noise-canceling headset the way you like it, ask the passengers to point out traffic, and then begin to form a picture of where all the other aircraft around you are maneuvering.

SEE
Developing a complete visual scan is critical to operations around uncontrolled airports and busy airspace. Good situational awareness often requires everyone doing their part. The recommended radio procedures and traffic patterns outlined in the AIM are designed to help everyone see the traffic and have a more complete “air picture.” Anticipate their radio calls on CTAF. And, of course, a bit of common courtesy, the kind those drivers during your morning commute fail to exhibit, pays dividends. Learning how to expertly position yourself in the visual pattern without disrupting others is a fine art and requires the best SA skills. As the fighter jocks say, “lose sight, lose fight.”

KNOW
Knowing the airspace cold is another key to great situational awareness. While the structure and expectations of Class Bravo, Charlie and Delta airspace are well understood, brush up on some of the lesser-used airspaces that impact our ability to maintain good SA. For example, the airspace between Jacksonville, Florida, and Vero Beach contains an Instrument Route, two Alert Areas 293 and a rocket launch site.

FOCUS
Looking west, there are more challenges for VFR pilots. While the complex Los Angeles airspace is controlled with skill and grace by the SoCal approach, there are traps for the unaware VFR pilot. In San Diego, the 2,400 feet of airspace between the top of Gillespie Field Class Delta and the bottom of the San Diego Class Bravo provides a tight space for multitudes of VFR aircraft simultaneously descending into and climbing out of Montgomery Field. The opportunity for an inadvertent head-on pass is increased in this crease in the airspace. Thorough flight planning helps the pilot anticipate the hazard this area imposes and increases the situational awareness required to safely transit.

GET THE BIG PICTURE
Okay, so you installed ADS-B Out because it was required. Well, consider going the extra mile and upgrading to ADS-B “In.” Just like the fighter pilots who have datalinked target information right in their cockpits, you, too, can see the “big picture” with ADS-B In. The reaction nearly every pilot has the first time flying with ADS-B in the cockpit is, “where did all that traffic come from?” It is often a shock on the system as they realize just how much traffic they have been missing over the years. And good news. ADS-B can be displayed on an increasingly wider set of cost-effective portables, tablets and installed avionics. The ability to see how busy your destination airport is, where the traffic is above, below and around you, and where you might best maneuver to enter the “furball” around your local airport is, as the old Mastercard commercials say, priceless.

Some final thoughts. Nearly all the fighter pilots of today started just where you are, in the left seat of a Cessna, Piper, Diamond or Cirrus. They learned, just like you, to hone their listening skills, manage the distractions in the cockpit, keep a strong visual scan for traffic and terrain, and develop a continually updated mental picture of where other aircraft are located, where they are going, and how they fit in this mosaic. And as they progressed into faster and more capable jets, they received better in-cockpit SA equipment, eerily similar to ADS-B in. Oh, yes, and they
also got afterburners and G suits!

However, if you take one of these folks for a ride with you as you enter busy Class B or C airspace, or the true test of SA skills, the Fisk arrival at AirVenture, they will be in awe of your skills as well. So, as you strap in your mighty Cessna 182 to make the annual pilgrimage to Wisconsin this summer, picture yourself in the cockpit of that F-22, turning inbound over Ripon headed toward Fisk, at 90 knots, of course, with a few thousand of your best aviation friends. You have the Notam memorized, are focused on the traffic ahead, listening intently to the controllers, marveling in your new ADS-B in capability, and demonstrating awesome situational awareness. You will be glad you did.

Hope to see you at AirVenture. Fly safe. PP

The post Pro Tips: Situational Awareness For Private Pilots appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.