ASI News: No time to rush

Charlie-Alpha-Juliet to Runway 29R? Easy. Bravo to fuel? No problem. It can all start to feel a little routine. But the comfort of a familiar taxi can make even the best pilots complacent during critical ground operations.

Compared to takeoff and landing, taxiing can feel easy. But being distracted during this part of the flight can have devastating consequences. Have you ever finished a checklist on a long parallel taxiway or taxied with high rpm to do a run-up on the go? Multitasking during taxi might save a few minutes and dollars, but is splitting your attention worth it? Watch the AOPA Air Safety Institute’s Pilot Safety Announcement Rundown Feeling for insight into what could happen if you aren’t vigilant.

So, how can we mitigate risk during ground operations?

• Avoid distraction during taxi, and the temptation to cut corners on your way to or from the runway, with planning and discipline.
• Before taxiing out, plan where you will complete your runup. If the airport doesn’t have a designated runup area, ask a local pilot where runups are typically performed. If there’s a tower, the controllers can also help you out. If you’re on your own, simply choose a place that allows maneuverability and won’t blow out a hangar or airplane with prop wash.
• When your flight’s over, commit to running your after-landing checklist at a full stop after clearing the runway.

A successful flight begins long before the hold short lines, and great pilots are always attentive. Respect the taxi and don’t become distracted during ground operations; the results could be dire.

www.airsafetyinstitute.org/psa/rundownfeeling

Training Tip

Dings and don’ts

Reporting incidents and accidents

By Dan Namowitz

You show up at the airport to fly on a cold winter morning and behold an airplane crumpled against a hangar and a dejected owner explaining to those present how he tried to hand-prop the reluctant airplane to life so he could taxi it over to the gas pumps.

It’s clear at a glance that the aircraft’s condition likely meets the definition of “substantial damage” that the National Transportation Safety Board requires for an aircraft accident report: Is the airplane’s structural strength affected? Yes. Would its flight characteristics be compromised? Certainly. Will it need major repair? No doubt.

Is this a reportable accident? No. If a mishap occurs when the pilot did not intend to fly the aircraft—for example while taxiing from the hangar to the fuel pumps—it isn’t subject to the NTSB notification and reporting regulations, explained Timothy LeBaron, the NTSB’s deputy director for regional operations, in a February 2018 presentation to AOPA staff. Under those regulations, an aircraft accident “means an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft which takes place between the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight and all such persons have disembarked, and in which any person suffers death or serious injury, or in which the aircraft receives substantial damage.”

The second takeaway is that as you prepare for your private pilot practical test, be sure to brush up on the NTSB’s accident reporting requirements—a mandatory aeronautical knowledge element listed for the pilot privileges you are seeking. Note that compliance is required not just for accidents, but also for “serious incidents” including flight control system malfunction or failure, an in-flight fire, a required flight crewmember’s inability “to perform normal flight duties as a result of injury or illness,” and several others listed.

Does the definition of an aircraft accident include unmanned aircraft? Answer: Yes. See the NTSB regulations for other definitions; initial notification requirements; details of report filing; and the preservation of aircraft wreckage, records, and other items that are the responsibility of the operator of the aircraft involved in an accident or incident.