Premium on Safety - Issue 37, 2020 - 3

BEST PRACTICES

Watch how the crew of United 342 handled multiple diversions due to bad weather,
which lead to a low fuel situation. Courtesy VASAviation.

your way up. This empowers the more junior crewmember to
say what they really think and not just agree with the more
senior crew.
D-Decide
Pilots make "everyday" mission-related decisions all the time
with relatively little effort, but arguably the hardest part of a
diversion is to make a final decision and commit to it. Given the
limited amount of time we have, we won't always have all the
answers or information we need to make the perfect decision,
but we can make a suitable one. The order of priority when
deciding on any option is 1) safety, 2) compliance with rules,
and then 3) passenger comfort. While the need to keep our
passengers happy is important for our business, we cannot
allow that to detract from safety.
Tip: An unplanned diversion can generate a certain amount
of anxiety amongst passengers. While the need to divert may
be due to reasons beyond our control, we also don't want to
seem as though we aren't in control. Be professional, calm,
and confident in delivering your message and use facts (not
technical jargon) to explain the circumstances.
For a refresher on the fundamentals of aeronautical decision
making (ADM), take this free online course that the AOPA Air
Safety Institute created, titled "Do the Right Thing".

In our case, we ultimately decided to divert to an alternate
airport that offered good weather, customs and immigration,
a long runway, and 24-hour FBO services. The only drawback
was that it was more than 90 miles away from our original
destination. Although it wasn't the most convenient option
for our passengers, it was the safest, closest option that also
complied with all of our operational requirements. Nevertheless,
we were able to quickly arrange plane-side customs and
transportation, enabling a seamless exit after we landed.
Diverts are unanticipated, but that doesn't mean they should
come as a total surprise. NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt once
stated that "Safety [is] properly anticipating things that can go
wrong and then taking the proper measures to mitigate those
risks to make sure nobody gets hurt." With that in mind, using
our spare time in cruise to think ahead about contingencies
gives us every opportunity to get it right, should a diversion
situation arise.

- Claire Ealding is a professional pilot with a Master's Degree
in Human Factors in aviation and Co-Founder of Clearway
Aviation Services, Inc.

E-Execute and Evaluate (Beware of plan continuation bias
In the real world, circumstances always change. After making
your decision and executing the plan, make sure to regularly
re-evaluate it. Accident data has shown that the tendency of
pilots to ignore warning signs and continue on their original
plan of action has been a factor in a number of accidents.

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https://www.aopa.org/training-and-safety/online-learning/online-courses/do-the-right-thing
Premium on Safety - Issue 37, 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Premium on Safety - Issue 37, 2020
