AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2024 - 20

FLYING LIFE
Slaves to the
checklist
It's not always safe to follow standard
operating procedure
BY NATALIE BINGHAM HOOVER
PILOTS TEND TO be a logical bunch of black-and-white thinkers.
We appreciate airplanes because they are machines that act in
ways we expect. Flip this switch, the fuel pump comes on. Set the
throttle here, the engine burns 9.7 gallons per hour. We especially
love the fact that we have checklists for all phases of flight. Many
of us (guilty, yes that's me) like a laminated spare in every pocket.
And if we get distracted or realize we've gone out of order on the
checklist, we simply start over at the top and all is right again.
Neurotic? Maybe. Do we care? Not one bit. All of this contributes
to a joyful overall feeling that our worlds are stable and predictable-until
of course they're not. We have a hotter than usual day
and airplane performance changes. Or tower tells us to enter on a
long final instead of the usual downwind, base, final sequence we
have practiced. Or we pick up a little bit of ice or the wind speed
increases or....
In certain instances, we may have to adjust our rigid checklist
adherence. Yes, there are times when it's wise to delay a checklist
item or even skip it completely. Y'all put your pitchforks down for
a minute and hear me out.
Here's an account of an accident from the NTSB about a Piper
Lance in South Carolina. " The pilot stated he had an uneventful
cross-country flight and on the downwind leg of the destination
airport traffic pattern, he switched the fuel selector from the right
tank to the left tank and turned on the boost pump. While on short
final approach, the engine started losing power and... subsequently
impacted terrain about 600 feet short of the runway.... Examination
of the wreckage by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector
revealed damage to the wings, landing gear, and stabilator. The
inspector also noted that although adequate fuel remained in both
fuel tanks, the airplane fuel selector was in the 'off' position. "
A couple of things went wrong here. First, the pilot inadvertently
selected " off " when he intended to select the left tank. But
I'd argue that misstep could happen to anybody. It could certainly
happen to me. The really avoidable mistake here is the decision
to robotically follow the checklist and switch fuel tanks. Yes,
the approach and landing checklist says fuel should be on the
" proper " or fullest tank. However, if you are completing that
checklist in the traffic pattern (rather than at a nice, safe altitude),
the smartest choice would be to not touch the fuel selector
at all. I see this on checkrides all the time in the Piper Archer. The
20
AOPA PILOT / December 2024
applicant will have a timer set to go off every 30 minutes to remind
them to switch tanks. This is great if we're performing maneuvers
up at a cruise altitude. But, if the timer goes off on downwind, I
always ask the applicant to hold off until after we land. If something
is going to go wrong (a failed valve, accidentally switching
to off, and so on), I'd rather that happen when I have enough time
to troubleshoot safely.
I've noticed a similar phenomenon on multiengine checkrides. I
fly in and out of Olive Branch, Mississippi, where summers include
80 percent humidity and temperatures in the nineties, aka a density
altitude nightmare. Multiengine checkrides call for a single-engine
instrument approach. But what happens if you configure on profile,
dropping gear and flaps at the final approach fix when you only
have one functioning engine on an older airplane? You sink like a
rock or worse, your airspeed degrades to unsafe levels while you
attempt to maintain altitude. This is another case when you have to
exercise some critical thinking. Just because the standard operating
procedure calls for gear down when we intercept the glideslope, it
might not be safe to do so in certain situations.
Several times through the years, I've had students ask me what
power setting they should use in the traffic pattern or where they
should turn base. " Over the lake or the red barn? " Or they'll ask
when they should pull power to hit a certain spot on the runway.
" At the threshold or the five-hundred-foot mark? " I know they're
looking for that warm and fuzzy feeling definitive answers tend to
give us. But we have to fly the airplane in our hands. Power settings
change based on the performance we're getting that day. We can't
always turn base at a certain landmark because no two airports
are the same. We don't pull the power to idle at the threshold
every time either. What if we're at a different altitude or airspeed
than the last time? Decisions have to be made on the fly (pun
intended). As much as I hate to admit it, aviation is probably good
for those of us who gravitate
toward its predictability.
Airplanes teach us to adapt
to consider the variables
and realize when a change
is needed. We can't be slaves
to our checklists.
myaviation101.com
NATALIE BINGHAM HOOVER
began flying in 2004. After
corporate and airline work
she now serves as an FAAdesignated
examiner and chief
flight instructor of a flight
school in Mississippi.
http://www.myaviation101.com
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2024

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