Thank you for the warm welcome to the network. Itıs a top operation.
My book is called ŒFit to Flyı (yeah, not original, but I didnıt know
that at the time), and soon to be available through Amazon.com. While
following the well-worn tracks in crm, it offers an unconventional
analysis of them and offers some innovative safety prescriptions.
Obviously, thereıs an Australian cultural bias, as well. The following
essay on Œprofessionalismı will give you an idea of all of that.
When asked, how to achieve excellence in flying? ŒBe a professional,ı
was my response, squaring my shoulders. This was back when I belatedly
got serious about it. I mean, before that, every parrot at the base
pet shop had been squawking professionalism slogans for a decade or
more. Now, I was going to do it. But what is it?
ŒCheck with a real professional,ı mutters the parrot , with snide
contempt.
She wasnıt home, Thelma, my first choice, business assignment no
doubt, so I go around to see my buddy the heart surgeon. ŒFollow me
for a week,ı he says. ŒIıll show you professionalism in action. And
here are some tranquilisers for the operating theatre sessions.ı
He operates three days a week, sometimes for a 12 hour day, on four or
five patients a day. I reflect on his skills. The really tough ones
were engaged for 90% of the operation. He was doing extraordinary
things. Apart from incisions, any error in which would mean the end
for the patient, he had to make these incredibly tiny stitches, tying
them off using only the fingers of one hand. And then there was,
throughout, his quiet control of the entire surgical team and all of
its complex logistics.
I came-to in the recovery room. The tranquillisers canıt have been the
right strength.
Hmmm. Food for thought, though, that awesome display of high-level
skills. For me, on a normal flight, the maximum skill demand ‹
take-off, approach/circuit, landing ‹ would occupy about 1% of the
total flight time. To be frank, for the rest of the time, Iım a couch
potato.
And as for the really tough skills, the life-saving stuff, well,
technological reliability being what it is nowadays, I can be pretty
sure Iıll never to have to use them (except in the occasional
simulator ride, but thatıs different).
Iım sorry I asked this bloke for advice now. He turns up at my home at
7.00 AM, next day, ŒCımon,ı he says brightly, ŒWe have to do rounds.ı
Thatıs where he goes around the three hospitals he works in, and
checks the fifty or so patients heıs operated on in recent weeks, sees
how theyıre doing, 7 days a week. I go along.
Itıs a long day, no operations, but patient after patient seen in the
consulting rooms. Going on 6.00 PM the magnetic attraction of Rosieıs
gin palace is palpable. The doctor unexpectedly announces, ŒTime for
evening rounds.ı
ŒSure,ı I enthuse, ŒLove to. Iım coping well with this influenza bug I
picked up in Cairo. I canıt believe that some experts think it could
be fatal for patients in hospital.ı
I thought that had shaken loose this ferocious over-achiever. But he
springs me in Rosieıs, at 7.30. ŒNo thanks,ı to my offer of a drink,
ŒWe have to get to a continuing professional education (CPE) seminar.ı
This ŒWeı stuff is getting tedious, but the ginıs doing a better job
than his drug had. The surgeon explains along the way that his
Œlicenceı is dependent on his demonstrating continuing familiarity
with all emerging knowledge. CPE seminars occur weekly. They take
about two hours each. He is required to attend two a month, 24 a year.
Thereıs a point score, like, if you do four in one month, you can take
the next month off. But you canıt count holidays as Œdown-timeı. You
have to have enough points Œin the bankı before you take a break. Drop
too far behind ‹ hand in your licence.
Refreshed by an hour or so of light sleep, I suggest a brief stopover
at Rosieıs on the way home. No no, he canıt, to-dayıs the day the
Medical Journal arrives in his post box. Heıs got to read it. It would
be heresy not to be fully on top of the leading articles by coffee
break the next day. All the surgeons subtly test each other out. Gotta
know your stuff, keep up, it all moves so fast. ŒTell you what,
though,ı he says, ŒIım going out for a light jog before rounds in the
morning, an hour should be enough. Care to join me?ı
ŒThe Cairo Œflu, Doctor, my little children . . .ı . . . OK, enough,
you get the picture.
Doctors, lawyers, architects, engineers, every form of professional
you can think of, submit to the most rigorous regime of, in the first
place, qualification, and then maintenance of their high-level
professional skills. The common factors that produce this imperative
are public safety and vicarious responsibility for othersı lives
and/or livelihoods. Pilots are clearly in the same category. However,
in my experience, while we replicate the tough entry
training/qualification criteria, we donıt mirror the rigour of
on-going professional training and CPE.
Why not is pretty plain to see. Even for military pilots, there arenıt
enough training hours to get anything like sufficient stick time
actually practising the full gamut of physical skills, to compare
with, say, the lead violinist in the orchestra. And for pilots like me
who pay for their flying, well, forget it.
Simulators? Nope, not enough of them either (and none for me and my
lot).
Give up? Well, no. There are in fact a host of opportunities for
professional training for pilots, they just donıt happen to look like
flying.
The manipulative and eye-hand-co-ordination skills used in many sports
have direct cross-over with the physical skills of flying. Itıs not
100%, but itıs enough ‹ and far better than nothing. Tennis, squash
and golf are examples. So are juggling, and any activity requiring
balance, like skiing, riding a unicycle or 'balance board'.
Flight simulators on PCs are also valuable, provided they are Œflownı
with a stick or mouse. Whacking keys on the keyboard is (not yet)
equivalent to flying.
Cognitive skills can also be Œworked upı for flying without actually
doing it. In a general sense, you can keep your mind in good shape by
exercising it, with complex games like bridge or chess, or learn a
foreign language. In addition, specific flying exercises and checklist
responses, using Œvisualisationı are clearly beneficial, if done
seriously, and with plenty of repetition.
Accident analysis (and real-life experience as a pilot) confirms that
a serious emergency, say, an engine failure, will bring with it a
certain measure of emotional stress. Itıs important that pilots can
withstand the potentially debilitating effects of gross apprehension.
Well, you can if you practise, like by abseilling or parachuting. This
is how you can assure yourself that you will be able to follow the
checklist despite the pressure of the event. In other words, if you
want to be sure you can function when scared, you have to practise
functioning while scared.
Indeed, thatıs the message in summary. Skills are only honed by
practise. You canıt do it by reading a book. This applies to all
skills, inter-personal, cognitive, physical. And you don't have to be
in the 'plane or simulator.
And how? Well, thereıs enough here for you to get the general
principles. Once youıve accepted them, thereıs no limit to the
innovative training routines you can devise for yourself and fellow
aircrew (all crew, not just the pilots). Like, there are lots of
activities you could imagine that will enable you to exercise your
crew co-operation habits. Iıll bet thereıs a lot of time in most
pilotıs lives when they could do some more towards maintaining their
critical skills.
To go back to my mate, the doctor (itıs a true story, by the way),
folk like him offer us benchmarks. If we aviators want to be regarded
as professionals, then we need to put just as much effort into
achieving standards of excellence in practice as do other
professionals. Have a close look at one yourself, doctor, lawyer,
whatever. Then ask if you are putting that amount of real work and
training into honing your skill base.
I hope this provokes some useful thought.
Regards
Doug