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Aviation History
1976
1976 - 0037.PDF
© IPC Business Press Ltd 1973 Dorset House, Stamford Street, London SE1 9LU Subscriptions: B. J. F. Nason, Oakfleld House, Perrymounl Road, Haywards Heath, Sussex RH16 3DH; Tel 0444 53281 A subscription form is at the back of this issue 2nd-class postage paid at New York; USA news-stand distribu tion by Eastern News Distributors, 155 W 15th St New York10011 US Direct Air Mail, $62-20 p.a. W/e 10 January 1976 Number 3487 Volume 109 Founded in 1909 First aeronautical weekly in the world Official organ of the Royal Aero Club Telephone: 01-261 8070 (Editorial) 01-261 8081 (Advertisement Sales) 01-261 8392 (Advertisement Production) Telegrams/Telex: Bisnespres Ldn, 25137 Publishing Director Dennis Hotman Editorial Director IPC Transport Preis Maurice A. Smith, DFC Group Advertisement Manager David Holmes Assistant Advertisement Jeremy Miller Manager (Europe) International Business Press Associates Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulations Editor J. M. Ramsden Assistant Editor Hugh Field International Editor Mark Lambert Technical Editor Michael Wilson BSc. CEng, FBIS. MRAeS Editorial Staff Cliff Barnett John Belson Stephen R. Broadbent, BTech Brendan Gallagher Charles M. Gilson Ian R. Goold Mark Hewish Nigel H. Moll Stephen Piercey Bill Sweetman John Wilkinson Air Photography Tom Hamill Decisions at any height For five years now an improving air line safety trend has been marred by a definite worsening in the rate of approach and landing accidents. Dr R. R. Shaw, Iata's assistant director- general technical, says that in 90 per cent of the approach and landing hull losses there is a failure by the crew. Iata's recent Istanbul conference fully discussed the human-factor problems; and action must be taken soon. Outdated flight-documentation pro cedures, requiring the captain's sig nature on flight plan and load sheet, for example, need urgent review. Computer flight-planning techniques are welcome but should not be used as a short cut to "instant" flight. Pilots often find themselves rushed through the flight-planning stage and subjected to pressures best handled by the ground organisation. This period provides an opportunity for the crew to prepare mentally for the forthcoming flight, to consider air craft performance and, as in the safest airlines, probably to give the "takeoff brief" within the quiet of the dispatch office. To alleviate the pressures often present during take-off, the possibility of a runway change should not only be anticipated but fully planned for —Dan-Air's take-off incident at Luton might have been avoided in this way. Route changes are generally foresee able if the crew themselves are thinking ahead. Automatic checklists are now available; they work well and significantly ease the workload when —as always in practice—checks are interrupted. Little has so far been done to re lieve boredom during the cruise on long legs. Some airlines favour the use of one operating pilot, with his colleague acting as an assistant to handle communications. Simulator training is an ideal means of teaching pilots how to deal with icing, wind- shear and turbulence, and it also allows pilots to train for the unex pected and to respond correctly to situations which rarely occur. By the time the approach and land ing has to be faced, especially on long- haul flights, the crew have already done a good day's work. The hardest part is yet to come. Is all the informa tion needed for the arrival to be found on one approach plate? Can the ATIS (Automatic Terminal Informa tion Service) be received at a useful range? Can the approach be planned and discussed before a high workload and ATC chatter make this impos sible? Accidents have occurred, it is thought, as a result of weak recep tion of radio aids. Are a;ll the avail able aids ready for use? Is the monitoring pilot checking aircraft position as well as flight parameters? Are the crew aware of their true height? And when decision height is passed will the monitoring pilot con tinue to monitor on instruments to touchdown? In planning the letdown, the crew should spend time reviewing all the possible variations that might arise, and avoid dependence on any one landing aid. A topographical map is often conspicuously absent from the flight deck these days (from sight at least) yet accidents still occur because aircraft fail to find the airfield. The highest risk of accident is at night and in poor weather, so should we not consider a minimum aid standard for landing at night? There is a wealth of guidance available from approach and runway lighting patterns but some pilots remain unaware of its value. Painted lines on the runway are also vitally important and never fail the pilot, even at night. Towards the end of the approach comes the problem of whether to continue or, if any aspect leaves some thing to be desired, to carry out a missed approach. Pilots often prefer to continue, hoping to sort it all out. But the conditions in which a pilot can cope safely with deteriorating speed control, line-up or glidepath, let ailone power failure, are severely limited. The missed approach is the easy way out, but the consequences of this action—having to join the end of the landing queue or a fuel short age—can often sway a pilot's judges Bient. A way must be found of en couraging the missed approach, where necessary, without penalising the pilot for his action. It may be that a non-precision approach on a wide-body or an SST represents the reasonable limit to the skills demanded of a pilot. New tech niques can be evolved to improve the safety level. A successful conference is but the first step. Let us hope that lata members continue to lead the world in the implementation of im proved pilot techniques. IN THIS ISSUE World News Air Transport Light Commercial Defence Avionics Private Flight VFW-Fokker 614 in Letters Industry service World's expendable launch Straight & Level 50 53 57 58 61 67 73 77 79 vehicles 80 84 Front cover: The first of two VFW 614s for Cimber Air seen crossing Niagara Falls during the sales tour of North America last month. A report on the progress and prospects of the type begins on page 73.
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