What briefing or debriefing techniques do you use with your students that might be helpful to other instructors? Robert Meder, NAFI Chairman, wrote in a recent issue of eMentor that “if people are willing to complain or criticize, that means that they care about helping you improve.” Initially, this sounds pretty negative but Bob explained why it isn’t. [...]

Aircraft all over the world operate under the same basic laws of physics. No matter the Country, Language, or Culture, the same physical laws apply. Aircraft just respond to the inputs of a particular pilot at that particular time. The complications involved when flying are the pilot’s impression of the situation and his reactions at the time. The aircraft doesn’t know. It just keeps going and it is the pilot’s responsibility to stay ahead. So why do we need to understand the effects of cultural differences? [...]

On June 23, 2011, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced its new list of the most critical transportation issues that need to be addressed to improve safety and save lives. The NTSB believes that the aviation industry needs to make dramatic improvements in pilot and air traffic controller professionalism through training, monitoring, and a focus on best practices and personal responsibility. Dr. Tony Kern, (Chief Executive Officer, Convergent Performance) one of the world’s leading authorities on human performance, responds with the first in a series of posts about professionalism: “Aren’t we all professionals? The cult of self-esteem is getting people killed.” [...]

One year ago at the Royal Aeronautical Society’s (RAeS) annual Flight Crew Training Conference in London interest was growing in finding ways to share pilot training best practices. An obvious need existed for an international forum that would enable all flight training professionals to participate in the identification, recognition, and sharing of their personal pilot training best practices. That forum now exists and RAeS has invited IAFTP to present a paper that describes both how it works and to share some of the lessons that have been learned thus far in its development process. [...]

Growing up, I dreamed of being an airline pilot. Like many other kids, I admired professional pilots and longed for the chance to fly with all the responsibilities and privileges that came with this occupation. Back then, I was motivated to do whatever it took to earn my place in this prestigious and exciting profession. Unfortunately, the glamour and appeal of being an airline pilot today seems to be lost on most of our young people. What can be done to bring back that desire? [...]

IAFTP is an international professional association and we would like to see all organizations involved in pilot training join us in a collective effort to help improve global pilot training. However, each organization that does so must meet certain basic criteria. In addition, they shall agree to uphold IAFTP’s Standards of Flight Training Professionalism. [...]

“Your best thinking got you here,” is a phrase used in Alcoholics Anonymous. In other words, a change in thinking is required to get changed results. Along these same lines, APCO Insight, in a study performed for AOPA (“Flight Training Experience”), found 11 factors to improve student flight training – good observations all – but, in my opinion, there are underlying factors to be more directly addressed. [...]

Sharing expertise and seeking better ways of training will be a recurring theme of IAFTP during 2012—not just amongst aviation training professionals but across industries when appropriate. During 2011, we heard a variety of reasons from the aviation training community why training practices couldn’t or shouldn’t be shared. However, none of these reasons is valid when discussing professional responsibility – true professionals share their expertise. Why is this important and how is it accomplished in a competitive environment? [...]

On 4 November 2010, a Qantas A380 flight from Singapore to Sydney came very close to becoming one of the world’s worst air disasters. What happened? How did it avoid becoming another AF447? Neil Armstrong described it as “A gripping tale of overcoming seemingly unsurmountable odds … a hair-raising story of responsibility and complexity as [the Captain] brings 469 passengers and crew safely to Earth after encountering one of the most catastrophic in-flight disasters in aviation history.” What can we learn from this crew’s success? [...]

It has taken more than three years of total time, but really a little less than four-and-a-half minutes, to put aircrew training, management styles, regulators, and aircraft manufacturers under the spotlight again. The ‘singularity’ that achieved this, rightly or wrongly, was the crash of Air France Flight AF447, an Airbus A330-200, in the South Atlantic on June 1, 2009, with the loss of 228 lives. The repercussions of the accident investigation have had ramifications worldwide, and have already touched operators and regulators in Asia as well as in Europe and the U.S. While today’s management-speak contains many terms such as ‘risk management’ and ‘risk mitigation,’ there is no such thing as risk elimination. That is why accepting responsibility for people’s lives inevitably means that airline flying is always going to be more than just a job: It is a matter of trust. [...]