Safety Tip: Ahead of the Airplane

In conjunction with all skills involved with aviation, time management is one of the more important. Time management is one skill that is involved with every phase of flight. Research has shown being rushed for time is the second leading contributing factor to human error. Ask yourself, "have I ever made a rushed decision that ended up being a bad one?"

From the time you start planning your first cross country throughout your flying career learn and develop time management skills. If your instructor is not (on a regular basis) teaching cock pit management as well as flying skills, speak up and make it known you would like to get familiar with time management. Spend the low work load phases of flight preparing for the high workload. When the cock pit is calm check the organization of charts, review checklists, ATIS information, setting up communications and nav-aids. Allow your skills to develop a process to focus on the right information at the right time. Managing attention also means managing distractions. During the low workload phase ask yourself "what if "scenarios. Don't try and go into everyone you can think of, just one or two each time you take a trip. Before engaging in a conversation with someone aboard make sure you have completed all tasks at hand including the ones for the next phase.

You will be a more confident and safety oriented pilot learning and developing time management skills. Staying ahead of the airplane is staying ahead of the accident curve.

Reference: Aviation Safety October 2003 Pat Veillette Will Rogers: "If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin"

These safety tips are provided by the WCFC Safety Committee. They are intended to stimulate thought and discussion about flight safety and do not necessarily represent club policy nor are they intended to replace instruction from a qualified instructor.