Insights

You'll have FITS

The new FAA Industry Training Standards (FITS) is a joint project between the FAA, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, University of North Dakota, and the general aviation industry. It was developed to ensure that pilots learn to "safely, competently, and efficiently operate technically advanced aircraft (TAA)."

These aircraft -- whether piston-powered or light jets -- have high-quality autopilots and so-called glass cockpits in which a primary flight display (PFD) replaces conventional flight instruments. A multifunction display (MFD) serves as a moving map with optional displays for air traffic, weather, terrain, and aircraft systems and checklists.

Some FITS terms are of interest:

• "Scenario based training (SBT) -- a training system that uses a highly structured script of real-world experiences to address flight training objectives in an operational environment." This means, "posing a situation or question that engages students in some form of decision-making activity."
• "Aircraft automation management -- the demonstrated ability to control and navigate an aircraft by means of the automated systems installed in the aircraft."
• "Automated navigation leg -- a flight of 30 minutes or more conducted between two airports in which the aircraft is controlled primarily by the autopilot and the on-board navigation systems."
• "Automation competence -- the demonstrated ability to understand and operate the automated systems installed in the aircraft." This requires considerable study and continual hands-on operation. You must use it or lose it, just like basic flight proficiency.
• "Automation surprise -- the ability of automated systems to provide different cues to pilots when compared to the analog systems they replace, especially in time-critical situations." My 5,000-plus hours flying glass cockpits validate this one. If I had a dollar for every time my copilot or I said, "Why'd it do that?" I'd be filthy rich.
• "Automation bias -- the relative willingness of the pilot to trust and utilize automated systems." That's very misleading. Yes, you must be willing to use it, but as I've said before, a good pilot is a pessimist when flying and trusts nothing (see "Insights: Falaba," June AOPA Flight Training).

Chips is the British publication that's similar to NASA's Callback publication for the FAA's aviation safety reporting program. Several years after airline glass cockpits became commonplace, the British surveyed their glass-cockpit crews and reported the following: "In a low-workload situation, the glass cockpit reduces pilot workload below that encountered in a conventional cockpit. In a high-workload situation, the glass cockpit increases the workload. Many glass-cockpit features are included because the engineers had that capability, not because those features would help the pilots' performance or reduce the workload."

The conclusion is a great example of British humor: "The best glass-cockpit pilots would have an airline transport pilot certificate, 20,000 hours pilot-in-command time, and be 17 years old."

With the advent of glass cockpits, airline training placed total reliance on this technology in order to reduce training costs and enhance standardization and flight efficiency. Unfortunately, accidents and incidents continued, so smart pilots reverted to maintaining "three-level proficiency": basic hand-flying, knob-flying (using direct autopilot inputs), and computer-flying (using the full-function glass cockpit for autopilot input).

Automation surprise, mentioned previously, mandates hand-flying proficiency. When a system fault, pushing the wrong button, or pushing the correct button at the wrong time causes a high-workload, in-flight situation to degrade, you seldom have time to resolve it using automation. Your first priority -- as it has been for ages -- is to fly the airplane. This may require hand-flying using basic navigation information and standby instrumentation.

When you do hand-fly a glass-cockpit airplane, a new hazard exists because of the preponderance of information that's displayed. Much of this information becomes a distraction that generates pilot errors. Here's the trick: When hand-flying, use only the flight information that's displayed on the PFD and the MFD's moving map. If your quest for information increases beyond that, use the autopilot -- a mandatory standard operating procedure for anyone who flies a technically advanced single-pilot aircraft.

Ralph Butcher, a retired United Airlines captain, is the chief flight instructor at a California flight school. He has been flying since 1959 and has 25,000 hours in fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft. Visit his Web site.

Read more about FITS at the FAA Web site.