Safety Spotlight: A ladder of priorities

Walking the parking apron and reflecting, I realized my priorities had been misplaced. Focusing on the fast-paced, precise timing we so loved to achieve had to be earned. As flight lead, I could not afford to put precision in front of more important concerns. I needed a ladder of priorities, which I could work up and down as performance and conditions allowed.

The initial two steps of the ladder would ensure fundamental safety. I would do whatever it took to keep the formation safe. This first meant proper airspeed to allow maneuvering within the envelope. Second, minimum altitude limits that would ensure ground clearance.

The third step up the ladder is predictability. Wingmen value the ability to predict a flight lead’s movement—and the closer the formation, the more important that is. Fourth, smoothness: measured, methodical movements trending to the correct position. Finally, the fifth and top step on the priority ladder: precision. Flight leads are measured on—and the entire team took pride in—our precision, but we had to earn that payoff by mastering more fundamental priorities first. As flight lead, I had to work my way up the ladder of priorities to precision. It sounds simple in retrospect, but at the time, it was a profound shift in my flying mindset.

Misplaced priorities are especially a problem in today’s data-rich cockpits, where so much information is just a tap away—if we can only remember how to get to the right screen.More than 75 percent of general aviation accidents are caused by pilot error. Often, misplaced priorities are at the root of the error. Pilots focusing on things that prove to be not so important. Or pilots worrying about what controllers may think or how the FAA may respond, when they actually are in serious peril. Misplaced priorities are especially a problem in today’s data-rich cockpits, where so much information is just a tap away—if we can only remember how to get to the right screen, all the while head-down while we work through the swipes and clicks. Perhaps we should establish our own priority ladder for GA flying.

Any list of flying priorities should start with airspeed. To lose flying airspeed is to lose control. Without control, it won’t matter what other decisions you make; you won’t have the ability to act upon them. Some 92 percent of off-airport landings do not end in a fatality. When one does, it’s often because the pilot is so distracted by an engine loss, he or she loses airspeed and loses control.

Second, ensure a clear flight path. This requires looking outside the cockpit to ensure the aircraft is not aiming at the ground, an object, or another airplane. During my college days when I suddenly looked up and saw a large radio tower, my flight instructor said sarcastically, “How about that. It’s amazing the things you see when you look outside the window.”

Third, fly to the correct position: airspace, pattern position, altitude. With flying airspeed and a clear flight path, the next priority is to process the relative location of the airplane and maneuver to the correct position.

Fourth, communicate. Tune in the correct frequency, listen to enhance situational awareness, and then make the proper calls. I cannot recall a single accident caused by a pilot failing to make a radio call, yet we seem to give it high priority.

Fifth, work the avionics. The right to go head-down and work a GPS, or swipe an iPad, to assess groundspeed, update a navigational point, or check fuel prices has to be earned. Accessing that data can be helpful at the right time, and treacherous at the wrong time.

Learning to compartmentalize, to set priorities, and to work up and down those priorities as skill and conditions dictate is an important skill. Like anything else in flying, it takes some thought, perhaps even a little “chair flying.”

So, give it some thought, then share your “priority ladder” with us online in the AOPA Hangar (www.aopahangar.com), “chair fly” them, and then, go fly!