Are You Properly Seated?
The best position for a pilot to fly is not left to chance. It is the result of detailed analysis and design that provides the optimum seating position for both the Pilot Flying (PF) and the Pilot Monitoring (PM) to safely and comfortably operate their aircraft.
Preventing Falls from Height
Falling from an aircraft can cause serious injuries to people.Specific safety equipment is installed on Airbus aircraft, and when used correctly, can prevent falls from height. This article describes the available safety equipment for Airbus aircraft and recalls the basic safety precautions that will help to avoid falling from height injuries to everyone on the […]
Troubleshooting Airframe Vibrations
As moveable structural components such as control surfaces and landing gear doors age, wear of hinges and actuators can sometimes lead to airframe vibrations. These vibrations can cause noise and physical discomfort in the passenger cabin.To prevent further deterioration of components, the cause of vibration should be quickly identified and removed. For this, maintenance personnel […]
Progress to Pinpoint an Aircraft’s Position
There are currently around 33 million commercial flights a year and this figure is expected to double in the next 15 years. An aircraft arriving safely at its destination, and within a predictable time, is an expectation of both its crew and passengers. A growing number of apps are also available to the public that […]
Control your Speed… During Descent, Approach and Landing
This article is the conclusion of our theme of speed management during a flight, which began in Safety first Issue #18. We are entering into the descent phase. Our objective is to cover descent from cruise altitude down toward the destination airport and prepare the aircraft for its approach and landing. This article aims to […]
Safely Flying Non-Precision Instrument Approaches
Historically the distinction between flying ILS/MLS and non-precision approaches was very clear. However, many new kinds of instrument approaches are now available and this makes the distinction less obvious. What remains true today for any approach is that disregarding basic flying techniques and procedures reduces safety margins.This article clarifies which technologies are available to perform […]
Preparing Flight Crews to Face Unexpected Events
During an approach at night-time into Glasgow Airport, the crew of an easyJet A319 experienced a strong cross-wind and turbulent conditions, which created a WINDSHEAR alert and led them to perform a go-around.As they did this, PFD information including Flight Modes Annunciator, Flight Director bars, and characteristic speeds all disappeared from both PFDs. In addition, […]
Introduction to the Soft Go-Around Function
The “all engines” go-around is a very dynamic procedure with high accelerations created by the application of TOGA thrust. Yet in-service experience has shown that as long as both engines are operating, a lower thrust can still be sufficient to perform a safe go-around.As a safety enhancement, Airbus has introduced the Soft Go-Around (SGA) function, […]
Pitot Probe Performance Covered On the Ground
Pitot probes inlet obstruction will affect accuracy of the air data parameters calculated from its measurements such as the aircraft airspeed and Mach number. Pitot probes inlet obstruction on the ground can be caused by unexpected sources such as sand, dirt, dust or insect nesting activity. This is why it is important to think about […]
Optimum use of weather radar
In recent years, there have been a number of flights where passengers or crew suffered injuries due to severe turbulence. In some other instances, the aircraft structure was substantially damaged following a hailstorm encounter. Clearly adverse weather can pose a threat to the safe and comfortable completion of a flight, thus it needs to be […]