THE 'LUCKY 13' - HOW TO AVOID COCKPIT ERRORS

  • Published
  • By Retired Lt. Col. Edward H. Linch III
  • 12th Air Force at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz.
Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz. --  It's an unfortunate fact that mishaps are part of the fighter aircraft business, to include witnessing fireballs and having friends die along the way. It seems that many times our careers are dangling by a thin piece of string, and it's up to us to personally use the wisdom of time to prevent it from breaking.

I've avoided a lot of close encounters over the years by pure luck. But to some degree, planning, anticipating and sticking to some basic principles has filled in when luck didn't come my way. It's impossible to have a perfect flight, and we all make errors. So
I formulated the "Lucky 13" to help me keep the focus and discipline.

These proven techniques have helped me reduce and avoid cockpit errors while completing the mission in several different fighter aircraft; however, the "Lucky 13" can be applied to any aircraft. The focus of these 13 tips is avoiding and reducing common cockpit errors such as channelized attention, misprioritization and loss of situational awareness, the leading causes of fighter mishaps.

1. Planning -- A well-planned flight improves or eliminates many of the risks of flying, plus it equips you to overcome channelized attention and misprioritization. I've found that a hand-drawn map remains in my brain longer than one printed from the computer. And when we plan together as a flight, things flow smoother because everyone knows exactly what's going on and can anticipate my next move. Having a plan for takeoff emergencies prevents that one second of hesitation that has caused many mishaps in the past. On the ground and zero knots is the place to formulate your plan versus pulling it out of your bag of tricks once airborne because many situations require an immediate reaction to prevent a close encounter from fixating on one thing. I've always added an extra five minutes to ground ops to prevent rushing.

2. Simplifying and prioritizing -- Simple plans with realistic tactics have more of a chance of succeeding than complex plans with little or no contingencies. Interruptions and distractions such as an unnecessary radio call or someone not following the plan or being out of position can cause a snowball effect. This can result in the dominoes falling the wrong way and a flight filled with multiple "helmet fires" if a pilot can't compartmentalize and prioritize under pressure. Keeping it simple makes it easy to prioritize, and flying the jet is your number one priority! Don't let a radio call, threat reaction or other distraction force your attention into a corner with the ground or another aircraft. There are plenty of good pilots who smacked the ground or other aircraft for failing in this area.

3. Watching out for the dumb, dangerous or different -- If it falls into this category, skip it. Common sense prevails. Taking calculated risk is part of the business of flying fighters. So eliminating unnecessary risk is your personal responsibility to reduce the chances of cockpit errors. You have control over your fatigue, diet, lifestyle, proficiency and ability to adapt to change, to name a few things that could contribute to a mishap. You're also the one making the decisions when you crest a ridge line well below the minimum altitude or continue a cross country after excess beverages the night before at the bar.

4. Staying ahead of the aircraft -- You've got to be minutes ahead in your mind plus dealing with the present. If not, you're going to be jumping through hoops for the entire flight and not paying attention to what's important, such as that mountain, thunderstorm or aircraft off your nose. If your situational awareness is low and you're hanging onto the nozzle, climb away from the ground then call knock-it-off either in your cockpit or for the entire flight. Flexing to an alternate mission or returning to base may be the key to surviving the flight. Making a knock-it-off call because you're "tumbleweed" is one of the toughest challenges to flying fighters. The culture in your squadron significantly plays into this equation.

5. Keeping yourself honest -- Pushing the decision height or turning around after diverting because you have "get-home-itis" should never be in your thought processes. Target fixation is common when the pressure is on. Are you too fatigued to pull 9 Gs today? You've got to be the one who recognizes when things are "going to hell in a hand basket" and knock it off. After your flight, honestly assess yourself and the rest of your flight's performance. Identifying lessons learned and evaluating everyone's performance will reinforce skills, habit patterns, techniques and judgment for the next flight.

6. Maintaining proficiency and skill -- Currency doesn't mean you're proficient. It takes more than talent, effort and a love for tactical aviation to excel. It also takes a lot of repetition to keep your skill and proficiency level high to include correct habit patterns. Your Dash-One should have the important stuff highlighted to refresh your systems knowledge, so keep it close by your bed and reference it often. Flying realistic emergency procedure scenarios in the simulator keeps you focused on what's important. During an emergency is not the time to discover you're not as proficient on things as you need to be. Increased proficiency equates to faster reaction times with less probability of error because of distractions and unanticipated events. "Chair fly" your flight -- especially if you're getting ready for a complex mission or check ride -- to keep your thought processes sharp and fresh.

7. Backing yourself up -- There are many mishaps that could have been prevented if the pilot had referred to and complied with the checklist or used the wingman to help make a judgment call or decision. The human brain is prone to error, especially when habit patterns are disrupted, modified or rushed because of malfunctions, weather, radio calls or any unexpected situations you may encounter along the way. Being prepared for any contingency by having abbreviated checklists on your kneeboard -- including commonly referenced coordinates, frequencies, emergency airspeeds and backup approach plates for diverts -- are ways to keep your situational awareness high ... even when under pressure. Plus it keeps you from digging through and channelizing on your In-flight Guide/Pilot Aid when close to the rocks.

8. Not letting your guard down -- The mishap database is full of reports on mishaps that occur on the way home from a long mission -- most of the time because the intensity of the flight dropped significantly and the pilot was relaxed and not paying attention. It's easy to let your guard down and take a break. But you need to keep the focus. You can relax once you're back on the ground after the debrief. Complacency (subconscious and insidious) and overconfidence (conscious and pressing beyond the limit) will eventually reach out and touch you if you're not maintaining the focus and discipline to make well thought out decisions. Sensory inputs to the brain arrive via two paths. The shortest path is the emotional side that reacts prior and independently to the reasoning side, which is inquiring, evaluating and then making a sound decision. This is where flight discipline comes into play to block the "short circuit" so that you can focus and not let your guard down.

9. Communicating -- Listen to what's being said, anticipate radio frequency changes, communicate out turns, use hand signals, and use clear concise standardized communication. This will help prevent missing critical information and avoid task saturation. Communication breakdown is one of the key sources of cockpit error. If the check-ins are continuously missed or not in perfect timing, perhaps your wingmen are behind the power curve and not up to flying a demanding mission. Therefore, flex to an alternate mission or go home.

10. Knowing your limitations -- Learn your physical and mental limitations. Are you too fatigued today to deal with multiple distractions, weather decisions and or high Gs? Are you ready to deal with the haze on the low-level in the mountains? Are you ready to divert? If you're pressing your limits then be honest, back off and reassess. Pressing the weather, Gs, fuel and fatigue are errors we can personally control.

11. Having an out -- Always have a back-up option to execute for all aspects of the flight to include takeoff aborts, weather, unusual attitudes at night, simple distractions, fuel, alternate missions or a flameout landing. Having an out is the key to risk reduction. Don't get caught out of airspeed, altitude and ideas.

12. Exercising in-flight judgment -- Unfamiliar and unexpected situations require us to be ready with quick decisions to avoid disaster. Sometimes you've got to suppress the ego when faced with judgment challenges. It's not always the most popular thing to do. Taking the cable and forcing your wingman to divert is not optimum, but it's better than burning up the brakes and running off the end. Hesitation for a few seconds is all that's needed to force a bad decision. Chair fly, hangar fly and think through common scenarios and contingencies to aid you in your in-flight decisions. The wisdom of time should be a fighter pilot's proverb to learn from everyone's mishaps as well as yours.

13. See and avoid -- Clear your flight path, and anticipate where you'll encounter other military traffic, light aircraft, other airfields, terrain, weather and where your flight lead or wingman might hit you. I've found that the best scan pattern is to first clear your flight path and then clear in the direction of the nearest threat (a threat being either expected traffic or flight member, terrain, obstructions, weather or airspace, to name a few). Midair collisions, controlled flights into terrain and mishaps because of weather continue to haunt the fighter community when pilots channelize on something like the radar versus prioritizing their scan. Fly safe and check 6!
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Before his retirement, Lt. Col. "Ned" Linch was the chief of flight safety for 12th Air Force at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz. He has a passion for flight safety to include human factors and midair collision avoidance. He is a command pilot with more than 26 years of flying experience in the Air Force (F-16s and F-111s) and airlines (727s and MD-88s).