BAYFLIGHT MULTI CREW CO-OPERATION COURSE

Introduction
For many GA pilots, this course will be their first exposure to operations involving more
than one pilot. A two pilot operation requires the pilot to learn a new set of skills,
including:

 monitoring – actively gathering relevant information even when not actually

manipulating the aircraft.

 teamwork

 communication – keeping everyone in the loop by verbalising intentions and

encouraging feedback

 workload distribution – each crew member has assigned tasks

 delegation – utilising other crew members to keep workload manageable

It is sometimes difficult to make the shift from being responsible for everything to being
the subordinate part of a team that has to jointly manage the day. The philosophy
behind Bay Flight’s training is that one pilot will be designated the pilot in command, and
that pilot is responsible for the decisions. However, both pilots are responsible for
managing the flight path of the aircraft. This is reflected in the roles and responsibilities
of the “pilot flying” (PF) and the “pilot monitoring” (PM). It is essential that both pilots are
“in the loop”. All pilots, and especially students under training, must ask for advice or
guidance if they are unsure of anything.

Role of a captain
The role of captain is in essence that of a manager. A captain is required to manage the
immediate crew as well as liaising with the various other staff that they come in contact
with during the course of their day. To manage effectively requires leadership, which
includes the following:

 setting the right tone for the day so that an environment for open communication
is established and maintained, whilst making it clear who is in charge

 demonstrating a professional attitude with high levels of skill and knowledge

 being consistent in the application of SOPs and communication style

 effective decision making.

Captains are often called upon to make on the spot decisions or judgement calls. In
doing so, they must consider whether the decision is safe, and if so whether it is in the
best interests of their employer.
First officers have an opportunity to observe and learn from captains. It is important that
they take some time to think about the type of captain they aspire to be.

The Roles of the Pilot Flying and Pilot Monitoring

The philosophy here is that BOTH pilots are responsible for the flight path of the aircraft.
If the aircraft gets into an “undesired aircraft state”, it is a failure of the crew as an
effective unit, not of one individual from within that crew. When deciding whether to
speak up, or when given advice regarding the flight path by the PM, the key thing to
remember is: Good communication between crew members is key to ensuring that the
PM provides the right level of support. The Pilot Monitoring must anticipate the needs of
the Pilot Flying and where necessary provide appropriate prompting.

Some examples of this may be:

 “we are well above profile, you need to increase the rate of descent”

 “there may be weather ahead, let’s turn on the weather radar”

 “you need to configure now”

There will be times when it is necessary for the PF to explain what his specific needs
are. For example, when flying a circuit when the PF is on the “non runway” side of the
aircraft, he may ask the PM to give verbal instructions regarding when to commence a
turn or descent. The primary role of the Pilot Flying (PF) is to fly the aircraft and manage
the use of the aircraft systems. The primary role of the Pilot Monitoring (PM) is to
monitor the flight path for deviations from the expected norms and to ensure that any
deviation is corrected.

The PF must manage workload by requesting that the PM make selections where
necessary, such as flight guidance inputs, heading, and course bar changes. Likewise,
the PM must be proactive and offer help when it can be seen a task needs to be
completed. In critical abnormal situations the PM must anticipate the requirements of
the PF, and if necessary guide the PF through a procedure. This is particularly true if
the PF's workload is high. At times the PM will need to be assertive and offer
encouragement if the PF is struggling.

Monitoring is a CORE SKILL. It is as important as your manipulative skills, and

must be practised at all times.

Automation
The Tecnam has a high level of automation, and the use of these functions is
recommended to reduce workload and enhance safety. Pilots need to be aware that it is
natural for the use of automation to reduce the level of monitoring by the pilot. At critical
phases of flight, both pilots must discipline themselves to monitor the flight path,
instruments and systems as if they were operating them manually. For example, during
an autocoupled ILS, both pilots must scan the flight instruments as if they were flying
the approach manually.

Because it is important that both pilots are aware of what guidance modes are active, it
is expected that any change to these will be verbalised and acknowledged by the two
pilots.

Airmanship
Airmanship is defined by ICAO as “The consistent use of good judgment and well
developed knowledge, skills and attitudes to accomplish flight objectives”

It is expected that pilots practise good airmanship at all times. The Standard Operating
Procedures are there to ensure that pilots carry out their tasks in a way that has been
proven to be safe and efficient, and that allows each crew member to know how the
other crew members are going to carry out those tasks. There are many things that are
not actually written down, but which fall into the category of airmanship. For example,
first officers must always check and verbalise that it is “clear right” prior to the captain
manoeuvring off the gate, and captains must not commence taxiing until this has been
done. Keeping a good lookout during the taxi must be prioritised above filling out the
flight log.

Threat and Error Management

A threat is defined as an event that may occur, outside the influence of the crew, that
increases the operational complexity of a flight and requires crew attention and
management if safety margins are to be maintained.

An error is defined as an action or inaction that leads to a deviation from crew or

organisational intentions or expectations. To ensure a safe operation, always be on the
lookout for threats and errors that may endanger the aircraft. Examples of significant
threats may be:

 presence of significant terrain

 hazardous weather
 technical problems
 distractions
 poor crew discipline or SOP adherence
 other aircraft in the vicinity

Examples of significant errors may be:

 wrong mode selections

 intentional or non intentional non compliance with SOPs
 forgetting to carry out a routine task
For example, Cb reported close to route are a threat that can be mitigated by being
prepared to deviate off track. Another example is that the threat of reported wind shear
on approach could be mitigated by verbalising intent to go around if certain parameters
are exceeded.

Departure (ADFIT) and arrival (AGNISFT) briefings both include the requirement to
identify significant threats and to state how they are to be mitigated.

Departure (ADFIT) carried out before engine start

ATC route clearance

Departure clearance (may need to be conducted later if not received)
FMS loaded (and checked against nav log and source document)
Instruments (course bar, heading set)
Take-off briefing, (NOTAM/AIP SUP), threats (escape plan)

Before Top of Descent (ANIF)

ATIS/Wx
NOTAM/AIP SUP
Intentions
FMS/VNAV loaded and checked

Approach (AGNISFTT)

Approach brief
Go-around procedure
Navaids
Inbound course
Speeds
Fuel
Terrain
Threats/ Escape

Threat and error countermeasures

These are techniques that are used to anticipate threats, avoid errors and detect and
mitigate errors that do occur. The following tables are borrowed from research
performed at the University of Texas, and show some examples of threat and error
countermeasures:
ABNORMAL SITUATION MANAGEMENT
This section gives guidance on how to manage emergency and abnormal situations. A
thorough knowledge of memory items, emergency procedures and of the QRH is
essential. Abnormal situations will demand the use of a large part of working memory,
and this basic knowledge must be able to be recalled instantly in times of stress, so that
spare mental capacity is available to analyse the abnormality and make good decisions,
whilst all the time maintaining situational awareness. Crew members must be
sufficiently familiar with the QRH in order to be able to find the relevant procedure
quickly.

Any emergency or abnormal situation will require:

 dealing with the situation when it occurs

 dealing with any distractions – either routine or created as a result of the situation
 developing a plan of how to proceed
Management and decision making models
The following pages contain flow diagrams that can be used to help deal with
abnormal situations. An important facet of abnormal situation management is
to develop a plan. In doing so, bear in mind the following:

 prioritise – what is the most important thing to do first?

 an initial plan does not have to cover everything from now until landing.
 an initial plan might be simply to gather information to help formulate a further
plan.
 take one step at a time
 make time if necessary by getting radar vectors, extra track miles or a holding
pattern.
 remember, so long as you are the right way up, have sufficient altitude and
airspeed, are clear of terrain, and are not about to run out of fuel, there is no
rush!
Making a plan
When an abnormal situation occurs, the first actions will always be identification,
confirmation and memory items (if applicable). From here, your actions will depend on
where you are, and the nature of the abnormality. At this point, you must take the time
to formulate a plan of action.
An example of a simple plan could be:

“Lets recircuit to land, you put out a PAN call, and then we’ll do the recircuit to
land checks”

Another example might involve working some things out before deciding on
where to go:

“You fly the aircraft, I’m going to check the weathers.”

In such a case there will be a requirement to do some more planning, for example:

“Ok, Ops want us to go to C, but I think due to the weather conditions

and the nature of the problem we’d be better off going to D. Can you think of
anything we've forgotten?"

Once that decision is made, further planning is necessary:

“I’ll tell Ops we’re going to D, and then I’ll get a clearance from ATC. I’ll tell ATC
that we want vectors to hold somewhere safe while we get sorted.”

Note that in the above cases, the First Officer’s advice is sought where necessary, s/he
is kept in the loop by being told what the plan is, and s/he is given a clear task to
perform.

Pilot Flying and Pilot Monitoring duties

As part of the planning process in an abnormal situation, the Pilot in Command will have
to decide whether to act as PF or as PM. Normally the PIC will fly the aircraft. However,
this does not prevent the PIC, using best Crew Resource Management practices, from
nominating the other pilot in the crew to fly the aircraft. The following factors will affect
this decision:

 relative experience and ability of the first officer

 weather conditions
 nature of the abnormality
 difficulty of the approach and landing

It may be appropriate for the Pilot in Command to hand PF duties to the first officer
whilst dealing with the immediate situation, then to take over the PF duties for the
approach and landing.

Implementing the SADIE decision-making model

The SADIE model is an excellent tool and can be used to form the framework for any
abnormal situation.
The following example is designed to show how SADIE can be implemented.

En route from Aerodrome A to Aerodrome B, a fault occurs that renders the flaps
inoperative.

Share Information: PM alerts PF to the problem.

Analyse Information: PF and PM confirm that a problem exists. PM consults QRH. It

is found that Aerodrome B is too short for a flapless landing.

Develop Solution: Proceed to Aerodrome C, which has a long enough runway,

suitable weather, and engineering support.

Implement Decision: If priority handling is required, make a PAN call to ATC. In any
event, advise the nature of problem and request clearance to Aerodrome C.

Evaluate Performance: PF and PM continue to asses any factors that may affect the
merit of the initial plan and amend as required. It is important to remember that as well
as the problem at hand, all of the routine tasks associated with the flight need to be
accomplished in a timely manner. When evaluating performance, include considerations
such as, TOD, Arrival Brief, and creating more time to run checklists (if required) etc.

DISTRACTION MANAGEMENT MODEL

A distraction is an event which draws ones attention away from the task at hand.
Whether distractions occur during normal operations or whilst dealing with a problem,
distractions need to be managed. During an emergency, routine tasks can become
distractions as well as those created by the event itself. This distraction management
model is another great resource to keep in the ‘tool box’.