Bombardier’s Safety Standdown seminar took place today in Geneva for the second year. Last year saw 92 aviators attend the European version and some 535 at the US Standdown.
The programme covered three key areas that affect corporate aviation – professional airmanship, advanced aerodynamics and fatigue countermeasures.
Dr Tony Kern, CEO of Convergent Knowledge Solutions, spoke about airmanship and the future of aviation human factors. He said: “There is a fatal flaw in our thinking. We learnt to the fly the same way that the Wright brothers taught Glenn Curtiss to fly and so on. We need to try and get our pilots like our aircraft – perfectly engineered.”
Sean Roberts, founder of the National Test Pilots’ School, said: “There is a big difference between how an aircraft is certified and how it is used. Business aviation pilots know their aircraft and its systems inside out. They also know the mission envelope – itself a small percentage of what the envelope is, but they are not knowledgeable enough about the limits. We know the limits and we show them these.”
Dr Mark Rosekind, president of Alertness Solutions, explained that the key to dealing with reduced sleep and that a lack of sleep can deliver a reduction in performance similar to that of alcohol. “If your eyes aren’t open you can’t be alert or able to do your job,” he said.
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Source: Flight Daily News
