Automation Airmanship: Nine Principles for Operating Glass Cockpit Aircraft / Edition 1

by S. Ryan Swah, Christopher Lutat

Overview

The first practical guide that shows professional pilots how to safely transition to the automated flight deck

Today's remarkable aircraft require remarkable airmanship skills. Automation Airmanship is a breakthrough book that helps pilots master these skills by introducing Nine Principles for Operating Glass Cockpit Aircraft. The nine principles were derived from over a decade of fi eldwork with organizations worldwide that havesuccessfully transitioned to advanced aircraft fleets. Each principle provides a building block for a simplifi ed, straightforward, and disciplined approach to operating increasingly complex aircraft safely and effectively in demanding operational environments.

Written by experienced airline captains who have trained others through the glass cockpit transition, this book presents ideas useful to both veteran glass cockpit pilots and those new to the twenty-first century flight deck. More than a simple list of skills, this powerful resource draws on real-life examples, providing the roadmap you need to successfully transition from steam to glass—and maintain a performance edge for your entire career.

Features:

• In-flight experience of experts
• Success stories and lessons learned from across the industry
• Real-world accident investigations to underscore theimportance of these principles
• Powerful tools to avoid errors or to resolve them when issues arise
• A guide to fundamentals of automated flight deck architecture
• Principles and practices for all phases of flight operations

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780071815864
Publisher:	McGraw Hill LLC
Publication date:	05/24/2013
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Christopher J. Lutat, ATP [MD11, DA20], has been an airline pilot for a large global airline for more than 17 years and was a search and rescue pilot for the U.S. Coast Guard for eight years. He is a founding owner of Convergent Performance, LLC and serves as President, Government and Aerospace. Captain Lutat is also a Check Airman and has been an instructor in advanced technology, wide-body global transport aircraft since 2003.

S. Ryan Swah, ATP [MD11, LR Jet, CV A340, CV A440], is a retired U.S. Navy Captain with experience in attack, fighter, and transport aircraft. He currently flies the Boeing MD-11 for a major global airline and has held positions as a FAA Aircraft Program Designee, Line Check Airman, Proficiency Check Airman, Standards Check Airman, Aircraft Technical Pilot, Flight Standards Manager, and Senior Flight Standards Manager. Captain Swah is the glass cockpit, automation, checklist, procedures, and flight manual expert for Convergent Performance, LLC.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Acknowledgments xv

Part I The Call, the Concept, the Technology

1 The Call for a New Approach to Modern Airmanship 3

Airmanship, Error, and Automation: Air Inter 148 3

New Technology, Traditional Institutions 9

From Chaos and Complexity: Order and Excellence 13

Notes and References 16

2 Expert Performance on the Twenty-First-Century Flight Deck 17

Applying the Discipline of Expertise 17

Toward an Emphasis of the Best 19

Learning Mastery from All Experts 21

Notes and References 26

3 Fundamentals of Modern Aircraft Automation (for Pilots) 27

The Roots of the Modern Flight Deck 27

Why New Technology at All 31

A Contemporary Model of the FMS, for Pilots (and Mission Crews) 32

The Working Partners of the FMS 37

Automation Alone Is Not the Answer 43

Notes and References 45

Part II Organizing the Advanced Flight Deck for Optimum Crew Performance

4 The First Principle: Planning 49

Experience Alone Is Not Enough 49

How Experts Plan 51

Detailed Planning in Automated Aircraft 55

Notes and References 57

5 The Second Principle: Briefing and Debriefing 58

The Vital Role of the Briefing 61

The Importance of a Comprehensive Debriefing 66

Notes and References 70

6 The Third Principle: Data Entry 71

First, the Wetware 73

Expert Data Entry Protocols 78

Notes and References 84

Part III Harmonizing Essential Crew Capabilities with Flight Deck Automation

7 The Fourth Principle: Communicating 89

Communicating Intent, Crew to Aircraft 91

Communicating Intent, Aircraft to Crew 93

Crew-to-Crew Communications 96

Notes and References 102

8 The Fifth Principle: Monitoring 103

Failure to Remain Conscious of the Detail Work 104

Losing Touch with the Delegated Problem 104

Elevating Monitoring to a Front-Line Duty 105

What "Expert Monitoring" Really Means 107

When Things Change Quickly 114

The Monotony of Highly Reliable Systems 116

Monitoring and the Maintenance of Basic Airmanship Skills 117

Notes and References 119

9 The Sixth Principle: Situational and Mode Awareness 121

What Is a "Mode," Anyway? 122

Mode Awareness 124

Situational and Mode Awareness 125

Experts, Mental Models, and SMA 127

Assembling SMA on the Flight Deck 129

Notes and References 131

Part IV High-Level Automation Airmanship of Top-Tier Performers

10 The Seventh Principle: Workload Management 135

Out of Tragedy, a Clear Way Forward 136

A Natural Division of Labor between the Wetware and the Machine 138

The Human Operator as Ultimate Authority 139

Balancing Responsibilities between the Wetware and the Machine 140

Proficiency at Every Level 143

Notes and References 145

11 The Eighth Principle: Positive Flight Path Control 147

How the Wetware Responds to the Unexpected 149

The Pathway to Recovery from Failure and Surprise (the Wetware) 152

Hardware and Software under Failure 155

Fly First 158

Still the Best Buffer against Failure: a Resilient Crew 159

Notes and References 164

12 The Ninth Principle: Logic Knowledge 165

Unreliable Airspeed Redux 165

Two Kinds of Logic Knowledge 167

The Logic of the Automated Systems 167

Flight Control Laws 172

Procedural Logic 173

Notes and References 180

Part V Practical Applications for Automation Airmanship: A Decade of Experience from the Field

13 From Average to Excellent: Performance Benchmarks for Twenty-First-Century Flight Operations 183

The Five Levels of Automation Airmanship 185

The Royal Canadian Air Force: Raising the Human Performance Bar 191

Behavioral Markers for the Twenty-First-Century Flight Deck 193

Performance Evaluation for the Twenty-First-Century Flight Deck 195

Reaching beyond Normal Excellence 197

Notes and References 199

14 Automation Airmanship and Operations: Making Sense of the Technology 201

The Push for Procedures 203

The Pull of Design Thinking 206

The Foundations of Good Interface Design 211

The Role of a Prototype Interface 213

Notes and References 216

Appendix 219

Index 229