Safety Spotlight: Training Paradigm

Icon Founder and CEO Kirk Hawkins is a driven Stanford University graduate with an impressive military flying background. He assembled a team with a mission to build the safest Light Sport aircraft in the world, and from my recent flight experience, it appears they achieved that and more—perhaps designing one of the safest aircraft in any category. Icon has been attacked for promoting an exciting type of flying, appealing to a new breed of adventurous pilots through low-altitude, fluid maneuvering. The criticism comes dominantly from either competitors or pilots who seem fixed on old aviation paradigms. The type of flying Icon is promoting can be done safely, but Icon will need to look at the training and culture of its instructor cadre.

Two Icon accidents within a year involved Icon instructors hitting the water at high sink rates, caused by excessive nose-low attitudes. Based on amateur video and eyewitness accounts, the Halladay accident seems similar. These accidents imply new Icon pilots aren’t developing a full understanding of low-altitude operations in GA airplanes, where thrust is limited and exaggerated nose-low attitudes and high sink rates are concerning.

The type of flying Icon is promoting can be done safely, but Icon will need to look at the training and culture of its instructor cadre.Most of the Icon instructors I met were former military pilots with impressive flying pedigrees who have the experience and training for low-altitude flying, and match the high-spirited, active personality that Icon’s marketing projects. They learned low-altitude awareness through extensive and frequent training and education in a funded environment, working as a full-time pilot. They trained in aircraft with strong, responsive engines that can overcome high sink rates. However, the Icon instructor cadre may lack a full appreciation for GA pilots, who come from a variety of training backgrounds and are constantly managing time and funding constraints to develop and maintain proficiency. Former military pilots may not fully understand the limited power available in most GA airplanes, including the Icon, to escape large pitch attitudes and high sink rates.

Low-altitude flying demands constant awareness of three important principles. First, time to impact, influenced by speed, altitude, and aircraft attitude. Minor distractions are exaggerated into significant risks because of reduced time for recognition and recovery before ground impact. The second principle, climb to cope, mitigates the risk of time to impact by instilling in pilots an immediate response to any distraction or anomaly by “climbing to cope.” See a warning light illuminate? Hear an unusual sound? The immediate response is to pull back on the stick or yoke, climb out of the low-altitude environment, and then investigate and assess the issue. Third, avoid burying the nose, meaning avoid excessive pitch attitudes and high sink rates. There is no margin for error: nowhere to escape and not enough power to recover once the nose gets too low and the sink rate too high.

These principles are essential instincts to develop when flying at low altitude. Icon requires transition training before aircraft delivery, although it is not required by regulation. The training includes some low-altitude training, and Icon published a well-thought-out document on low-altitude flying that partly addresses these principles. Whether or not the instructors are “walking the talk” in their flying and instruction is something Hawkins will have to assess.

About a decade ago, Cirrus Aircraft had a troubling accident rate. The reputation of the aircraft suffered despite significant safety enhancements. Cirrus redesigned training and worked with the Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association to change the Cirrus culture and help pilots adapt and take advantage of the aircraft’s safety features. Icon will need a similar response to learn from recent accidents and establish a culture that promotes the fun and excitement of flying in the low-altitude environment—while promoting respect for low altitude among an adventurous breed of GA pilots.

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