The tipping point

The captain noted that the wings held “more ice than he had seen on the leading edges in a long time,” while he and the co-pilot continued a casual conversation about company assignments and upgrades. But the ice continued to build as they descended toward the Buffalo Niagara International Airport ILS 23 approach. As they intercepted the localizer, the captain apparently failed to notice a low airspeed cue. Within seconds of lowering the landing gear, he ignored the stick shaker mechanism that warns of an imminent stall and encourages a pilot to push forward on the control column. With such a high angle of attack, roll control became especially difficult. Incredibly, when the left wing dropped, the captain fought the stick pusher by pulling back on the yoke as the airplane spun into a neighborhood, killing all on board as well as one on the ground.

In the final accident report, the NTSB cited the captain’s improper response to the stick shaker as causal for the accident and the crew’s non-sterile cockpit as a contributing factor. While reports for similar accidents had recommended increased pilot training, this accident provided a tipping point for FAA action. After all, failing to push forward on the yoke to recover from a stall demonstrates a profound lack of airmanship and is grounds for a private pilot checkride disapproval.

Several years ago, the FAA, acting on a Congressional mandate, fundamentally changed the requirements for an airline transport pilot certificate by raising the minimum hours from 250 to 1,500 and by making the ATP Certificate Training Program (CTP) a prerequisite for the ATP knowledge test. The ATP CTP course involves a minimum of 30 hours of classroom instruction and 10 hours of simulator time, of which six hours concentrates on recovery techniques for emergency and upset situations in a full-motion simulator.

As someone who is interested in upset recovery training, the ATP CTP course has been on my bucket list for some time. But the associated fee was initially too expensive for someone who never intends to fly for an air carrier. Recently prices dropped to a range that worked to satisfy my curiosity, so I scheduled the training with ATP Jets in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas. I headed to the Arlington Airport (GKY) where the kind folks at Harrison Aviation tucked away my Bonanza, Niky, safely in their hangar.

As I pulled up to the ATP Jets facility, I braced myself as I knew the course begins with four eight-hour days in the classroom. I’ve never been fond of sitting for extended periods, and a shiver went up my spine as I saw the PowerPoint logo painted on the video screen. Soon my concerns dissolved when I saw our instructor Steve Howard’s commitment to creating an interactive classroom. As a retired airline captain, he generously included several of his own experiences that reinforced the message and engaged his audience.

The Colgan Air 3407 tragedy was one of many accidents discussed during ground school. The probable cause for each accident contained several of the following issues: inadequate airmanship, poor decision-making, improper crew resource management, failure to maintain a sterile cockpit during critical phases of flight, and failure to properly use a checklist. Witnessing the same causal factors showing up again and again made clear the necessity of an FAA mandate for initial and recurrent training for air carrier personnel.

With ground school complete, it was on to the fun part, and the ATP Jets simulator facility did not disappoint. The new ATP CTP course required training devices that faithfully represent flying characteristics of transport category aircraft at high and low speeds or even upset attitudes. The industry developed a new set of simulators especially for the FAA mandate, so it’s easy to see why the course was initially so expensive. I felt fortunate to train with such amazing equipment and dedicated instructors.

My training partner and I started with the Airbus A320 where we learned what my role as captain and his as first officer entailed. Halfway through, we swapped seats and it was my turn to provide information for the captain as he made the decisions. There were no big surprises as we adjusted to the flight management system while flying instrument approaches around Memphis, Tennessee.

With airline procedures under our belt, my partner and I switched to the Boeing 777 under the guidance of retired B777 Captain Mike Howe. In the ground briefing, we discussed abnormal and emergency situations we would face and proper recovery techniques for a transport category aircraft. In the simulator, we practiced rejected takeoffs as well as those for which a pilot should continue and address the anomaly as an in-flight problem. We landed on slushy runways where directional control as well as braking ability were compromised. My partner and I learned how the nature of stalls can differ in the flight levels where altitude loss during recovery can be profound. Our time in the Boeing was eye-opening and just plain fun.

By far, my favorite aspect of the course wasn’t listed on the course syllabus. Despite having taught the course many times, our instructors brought passion to the sessions. Howe invited us to ask questions at any time and emphasized that he would gladly stop the sim if necessary to discuss. Our sessions ran long as we were especially inquisitive, but he graciously gave us his time. Howe also asked us to share with him ways he could improve as an instructor. While the captain makes the key decisions, a smart one does so with information and advice of others on the flight deck. Such professionalism can serve as an antidote for the lapses detailed in many accident reports, and Howe not only encourages it but exemplifies it.

As I departed the Arlington airport and pointed Niky’s nose back toward Tennessee, I had a few hours to reflect on my time at ATP Jets. I was the only pilot there with no plans to fly for an air carrier, so I felt a bit like an interloper at first and outside my comfort zone. But I quickly saw that problems on those flight decks are just like those in general aviation, and they can be prevented the same way by continued education and the right mindset.

If you’re due for a flight review or just feel like you haven’t learned anything new lately, I encourage you to identify a flight scenario with which you’re uncomfortable and find a training opportunity in a safe, controlled environment. You’ll be glad you did.