Active Safety

It's a fact of flight that "safety" is one of the first words we learn in training, and it quickly becomes apparent to new pilots that safety is not a spectator sport. It's a hands-on, mental and physical process I call "active safety." Active safety requires pilots to gather information, make decisions based on that information, and take a course of action. Passive safety represents features, such as an airplane's inherent stability, that function automatically, without the pilot's input, to correct (forgive) mistakes.

There's no better illustration of the need for active safety than the procedures required for a pilot to operate at a nontower airport. Several federal aviation regulations govern flight in traffic areas near other aircraft. Specifically, FAR 91.111(a) says, "No person may operate an aircraft so close to another aircraft as to create a collision hazard."

FAR 91.113, Right-of-way Rules, goes on to say in subpart (b), "When weather conditions permit, regardless of whether an operation is conducted under instrument flight rules or visual flight rules, vigilance shall be maintained by each person operating an aircraft so as to see and avoid other aircraft."

See-and-avoid is an important part of active safety. Just ask the student and instructor whose lesson at a nontower airport was interrupted by a visiting solo student pilot. What transpired, and the actions the two took to avoid the offending pilot, was a lesson itself - an important lesson in see and avoid.

Flying a Piper Warrior, the student and instructor were on the downwind leg at a nontower airport when the solo student, flying a Cessna 172, entered the traffic pattern on a long final approach - without a position report on the common traffic advisory frequency (CTAF). The training duo saw the Cessna and extended their downwind leg to give the other aircraft time to land and clear the runway. After landing, the Cessna turned around and back-taxied on the active runway instead of using the adjacent taxiway. The Warrior student made the predictable - and appropriate - decision - he aborted his approach and went around.

After the Cessna student took off, the Warrior made its touch and go safely. The student and instructor encountered the Cessna several more times as the solo student landed, took off, departed from, and re-entered the traffic pattern. With each operation the Cessna pilot made confusing or improper position reports on CTAF, entered the pattern improperly, and "changed" the active runway arbitrarily, seemingly ignoring the windsock and other traffic.

The two airplanes last encountered each other when the Cessna entered the pattern on the base leg, nearly cutting off the Warrior, which also was on the base leg and conducting a simulated engine-out approach. The Warrior turned base to final immediately, and at the last safe moment the Cessna turned away to extend its base leg.

The Warrior landed safely and taxied back to the taxiway's hold short line, where the student and instructor watched the Cessna make its approach. The Cessna pilot was coming in high and fast, and he drifted well beyond a normal touchdown point on the 2,300-foot runway. The Warrior's occupants watched nervously as the Cessna pilot's hope for salvaging the landing dwindled. The solo student was heading for tall grass, bumpy terrain, trees, and a fence!

At the last moment, the student made his first good decision of the day - go around! This last incident must have unnerved him so such that he quietly flew out of the traffic area. The student and instructor made one more trip around the pattern and then returned to the FBO, noting that the visitor's unpredictable flying had added an extra hour to the lesson.

The student and instructor agreed that the extra hour was not a waste of time. It was a lesson in itself, and the student learned the importance of see and avoid, also that he should be ever cautious in the pattern because other pilots might not fly predictably. The instructor praised his student for handling the situation calmly and safely.

What started out as a routine lesson to practice maneuvers became a lesson that should be taught more widely. From this experience the student learned four important points (items 1 through 4, below) and thought seriously about the need to do two things (items 5 and 6).

1. First and foremost - fly the airplane! Usually, accidents result from a series or a chain of events. Retaining control of the aircraft can break this chain.

2. Do whatever it takes to avoid the other aircraft. Whether you call it avoidance, evasive maneuvers, or defensive flying makes no difference - the result is what counts. Regardless of who has the right of way, no one wins in a midair collision.

3. Make the appropriate position reports on CTAF. Perhaps the unpredictable pilot will hear them and respond accordingly. Also, more than one aircraft may be in or entering the pattern, and your "evasion reports" will spread the word to the other pilots, so they will know that you're not being unpredictable. One errant pilot is enough for others to contend with! Don't become part of the problem by not communicating.

4. Don't get mad, and don't even get even! Accosting the offending pilot on the radio solves nothing, and it ties up CTAF, making the situation worse. If you feel the need to speak with the other pilot, wait until you're on the ground.

5. After landing, document the incident and record as much information as you can such as location, time, aircraft N-number, weather conditions, events, etc. You might want this information for future reference and actions.

6. Report the incident. Depending on its severity, you may just report it to someone at the FBO, or you might want to make a full report to the FAA. But before doing anything, talk to instructors, the FBO manager, and others about the incident. If someone can identify the unpredictable pilot by the aircraft, you may wish to contact the pilot or someone at the aircraft's home base. If you discuss the matter with the pilot, don't be confrontational - it solves nothing. Merely present the facts that you recorded and remind the other pilot that unpredictable flying in the traffic pattern affects his safety as well as yours.

Avoiding an unpredictable pilot in the traffic pattern can be a significant lesson, as the example showed. Perhaps more important in our scenario is that a flight instructor had endorsed the unpredictable student for a solo cross-country flight when he, obviously, needed some more training in flying traffic patterns - and active safety.