Fragile situational awareness crumbles in busy NYC airspace B Y R I C H A R D M C S PA D D E N | I L LU S T R AT I O N B Y A L E X W I L L I A M S O N EARLIER THIS YEAR, the National Transportation Safety Board released disturbing transcripts from the May 2017 cockpit audio of a Learjet that crashed at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey while circling to land in visual conditions. The transcripts reveal dysfunctional cockpit operations between an experienced captain and an inexperienced first officer flying a demanding airplane in one of the most intense airspace regions in the world. Their tragedy and the NTSB's reports provide sobering awareness of the importance of a focused cockpit; how quickly situational awareness can erode; and the devastating consequences when it does. www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 73http://www.aopa.org/pilot