NTSB Most Wanted

Every year the National Transportation Safety Board releases what is called the NTSB most wanted list.  The NTSB most wanted list is a list of issues that the NTSB believe need to change the most in order to increase safety in various modes of transportation in the United States.  This year for commercial aviation, the NTSB is advocating for strengthening procedural compliance.  For general aviation, the NTSB is advocating for preventing loss of control in flight.

I believe that it is undeniable that these two issues are in fact significant problems.  According to NTSB data, over 40 percent of the general aviation fatal accidents between 2001 and 2010 were due to loss of control (Namowtz, 2013).  The loss of control can be due to a variety of reasons such as spatial disorientation, improper stall/spin recovery procedures, and many others.

In the commercial aviation industry, procedural compliance is at the top of the NTSB’s most wanted list. Again, I do believe that this is for a good reason and that it is a significant problem today.  In order to consistently conduct flights as safely as possible, it is important for pilots to follow procedures proven procedures that have been set in place such as running checklists, making call-outs, and monitoring flight instruments. Every airline has standard operating procedures set in place for various different circumstances.  Theses are procedures that pilots are required to follow in order to keep all flights as uniform as possible.  Skipping a procedure or improperly running a checklist item can result in a fatal accident. One example that is listed in the by the NTSB is the crash of Asiana Airlines flight 214 when the pilots improperly conducted the approach procedure and failed to monitor their instruments properly resulting in the accident (Croft, 2013).  I believe that the failure to follow procedures is the greatest negative factor impacting commercial aviation today.  

I believe that the greatest factor that is negatively impacting general aviation right now is poor aeronautical decision-making (ADM) and lack of judgment by pilots. More than 75 percent of general aviation accidents are the result of pilot error (Ison, 2005).  A prime example of this is recently made national news when a pilot in a Cessna 150 crashed in Colorado.  The pilot was allegedly taking pictures while conducting night time take off and landings at an airport was reporting Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC) (Cutler, 2015).  This flight should have never happened.  Unfortunately, examples of poor decision-making can be found in the majority of general aviation accidents. 

The recommendations that the NTSB provides in the most wanted list, in my opinions seem reasonable but almost impossible to implement with the exception of aircraft owners installing angle of attack indicators on their airplanes.  The recommendations require the pilots to be proactive and make the changes within themselves.  For examples, the NTSB stated that pilots should be honest with themselves about their knowledge level of stall, and their ability to recognize and handle them.  This is not something that the FAA can implement; pilots must do it themselves. Some things that I believe might work in combating this loss of control issue would be to implement more strict currency requirements and increase unusual attitude and instrument training in private and recreational pilot certification training.  This added training could increase situational awareness in situations when pilots become spatially disoriented.

The NTSB’s recommendations in stopping the procedural compliance issues that have been a problem in commercial aviation, I believe, are fair but incomplete.  One thing that they recommend is that the FAA requires pilot training programs that emphasize in monitoring skills.  I think that this is a good idea but that they should also require more automation training.  In the accident of Asiana Airlines flight 214, the pilots failed to properly monitor their airspeed but they were also confused about the automation in the cockpit.

Since the NTSB is not a regulatory agency, it is up to the FAA, air carriers, and pilots to implement the NTSB’s recommendations.  The FAA and air carriers are responsible for the training of crewmembers and holding them to higher standards must come from them.  In general aviation, much of the problems involve pilots making poor choices. This is more difficult for any rule change to stop from happening since pilots are ultimately responsible for making good decisions, and conducting a safe flight.

References

Croft, J. (2013, July 22). Ending Automation Addiction. Aviation Week & Space Technology, 58.

Cutler, C. (2015, February 04). Did A Pilot Selfie Really Cause This Accident? Retrieved February 04, 2015, from http://www.boldmethod.com/blog/lists/2015/02/did-pilot-selfie-really-cause-this-accident/

Federal Aviation Administration. (2013, July 30). Fact Sheet – General Aviation Safety. Retrieved February 04, 2015, from http://www.faa.gov/news/fact_sheets/news_story.cfm?newsId=16774

Ison, D. (2005, August 01). Top 10 Pilot Errors. Retrieved February 04, 2015, from http%3A%2F%2Fwww.planeandpilotmag.com%2Fproficiency%2Fpilot-skills%2Ftop-10-pilot-errors.html%23.VNgPm2TF98s

Namowitz, D. (2013, March 27). Safety committee’s report focuses on loss-of-control accidents. Retrieved February 05, 2015, from http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All-News/2013/March/27/Safety-committees-report-focuses-on-loss-of-control-accidents

 Prevent Loss of Control in Flight in General Aviation. (n.d.). Retrieved February 04, 2015, from http://www.ntsb.gov/safety/mwl/Pages/mwl7_2015.aspx

 Strengthen Procedural Compliance. (n.d.). Retrieved February 04, 2015, from http://www.ntsb.gov/safety/mwl/Pages/mwl10_2015.aspx

Tennyson, E. A. (2015, January 13). GA safety improving as NTSB targets loss of control. Retrieved February 05, 2015, from http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All-News/2015/January/13/GA-safety-improving-as-NTSB-targets-loss-of-control