indicators of a Safer pilot

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If you are a pilot who has flown often next to another pilot in a single/or mulit engine plane(you could be a professional co-pilot, or just a friend who is a licensed VFR pilot also ), what are some examples of tasks or behavior that you notice that the Pic does that makes him a safer than most other aviators? (above average in safety) IN THE AIR.


comments please
 
Use of checklists, sticking to the heading and altitude he plans, willingness to learn.
 
I would say excessively steep turns in the pattern makes the best and safest pilots. I read that on the interwebs one time.

Speaking clearly and slower than light speed on the radios always sounds like a guy has things under control. Also, rock solid altitude/heading is always impressive.
 
Not getting in too much of a hurry...
 
It's a fair question and one I ought to be able to answer well having flown with tons of pilots of all ages and experience level. So, I'll give it a shot.

When I think of the pilots that I have held the most esteem for over the years the one thing that distinguishes them is perfectionism. They aren't satisfied to be average. They don't fly for the glory, but the challenge.

They dissect every flight looking for ways to improve. They're serious about their business and judicious with their levity. Flying isn't "fun", but that doesn't mean it isn't pleasurable--it means it isn't a light-hearted frivolous endeavor. It's serious business and the stakes are high.

The best pilots are conservative, yet still manage a 99% dispatch rate, excluding mechanicals. They are confident without being foolhardy. They don't need to be schooled on ADM, CRM/SRM, CFIT, PAVE or any other FAA acronym because they already do those things intuitively.

They keep their eyes out of the cockpit and they slow down around airports.

They operate within the bounds considered "good practices", even if they personally don't feel it's necessary, out of consideration for their passengers.

They don't care what they're flying--they approach each flight the same. They could fly anything because their fundamentals are sound.

They don't trust ATC completely. They don't need radios to fly safely.

When they assume the controls, the needles stop moving.

dtuuri
 
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Not drinking booze in the cockpit.
 
Separating the trivial from the essential.

One example, I heard a mayday call, partial power failure, SEL. ATC started getting real, real chatty - the mayday pilot ignored the first few calls then said "Hush! I'm busy!" He separated the trivial from the essential. . .
 
That's a really good question. From a pure analyst's point of view it might be difficult to truly say. We might think (or at least; hope!) attribute a) or b) or c) "indicates" a safer pilot but there is not really any good statistical analysis to prove that doing a), b), or c) makes any difference that I have seen. There are plenty of stories and accident reports but no stats that I am aware of (it is going to be hard to show that Accident Pilot's failure to do a checklist does not have a corresponding Non Accident Pilot who does the checklist). I think you could use groups stats to infer some characteristics or activities favor safety in general (ie 121 has less accidents so possibly pilots who do what they do in the cockpit would make one safer....however even that has confounding factors such as equipment and type of flying).

It could be that the only way to accurately assess an individual pilot's safety is his/her record! "No crashes so he must be doing something right"!
 
Someone who uses common sense and actually thinks through the "how" and "why" aspects of flying. Plain ol' checklist usage means nothing to me.

Great situational awareness is another indicator.

Being professional on the radio is another.

Being able to combine everything seamlessly is the last one.

...being able to stay ahead of the airplane.

I have flown with a lot of people. Only a few have actually impressed me.
 
One has to ask if some of these items simply create a feel of safety or real safety to answer the question.

Real accident statistics say that fuel exhaustion and loss of control at low altitude are the accident causes.

Followed closely by weather mismanagement.

Or you could swap weather and control if you're looking for fatal causes and not just accidents.

The professionalism has to begin before you ever see them in a cockpit or their cockpit behavior to stop two of those three. And then it continues in flight.

There's a lot more to it than this, but these are the real killers.
 
Hard to verbalize but there is a quality of engagement for lack of a better term.

They are clearly processing information as it streams.
Their chatter to you is using muscle memory and not the focus of their attention.

There is almost a cadence to it. The whole "one with the plane" idea.
You can identify this quality in someone doing just about any complex task.

I see this in pilots that I am comfortable sleeping in their right seat.
Not that I have ever slept on a plane. But I would.
 
Judgment. You can teach someone to fly, you can teach someone to navigate, and you can teach someone to communicate. Teaching common sense and good judgment is much harder, if not impossible.

So, for me, a pilot who appears to exercise good judgment has a HUGE advantage in my view of his/her flying when compared to a pilot who appears to make bad judgment calls on a regular basis. Statistically, I think we can see bad judgment shining through in many aircraft accidents.
 
Cpt_Kirk said:
Someone who uses common sense and actually thinks through the "how" and "why" aspects of flying. Plain ol' checklist usage means nothing to me.

Great situational awareness is another indicator.

Being professional on the radio is another.

Being able to combine everything seamlessly is the last one.

...being able to stay ahead of the airplane.

I have flown with a lot of people. Only a few have actually impressed me.
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This sounds like a great answer.
 
MikeELP said:
Staying ahead of the airplane. :yes:
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Yes. :yes:

Also, I'd say staying busy in the plane. Systems checks, cross checking position off VORs, etc. expect a change in something, "what would I do if" in your head, always know where the closets field is.

Don't just ride long. Engage the flight.
 
I would add Planning ahead on things like:

1) Briefing instrument approaches in down time, not just when entering the IAF

2) Checking weather at Destinations well before getting there

3) Always having the next frequency on standby (or trying when traversing through centers) and setup APP/TWR /GND on remaining frequencies when approaching towered airports with 2 COMM's and STBY. (if you have them then use them)

4) Adjusting MP/Mixture/RPM by the seat of the pants for the cruise condition "after" they adjust to it at the know performance settings.
 
Epaulets. That's key. More is better. And a bomber jacket.
 
Sac Arrow said:
Epaulets. That's key. More is better. And a bomber jacket.
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Don't forget the lanyard with like, 3 IDs on them and some hash marked sleeves too. That's legit right there.
 
Attitude is everything. Google the Five Hazardous Attitudes.
 
Only banking 30 degrees or less, according to another thread on here...
 
Herve Marchadier said:
Only banking 30 degrees or less, according to another thread on here...
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Always? Seems a bit silly... then again some dude with a bunch of initials on his signature told me I should of demonstrated landing with a 19 knot direct crosswind before my PPL checkride.
 
OkieAviator said:
Always? Seems a bit silly... then again some dude with a bunch of initials on his signature told me I should of demonstrated landing with a 19 knot direct crosswind before my PPL checkride.
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Not exactly correct, Okie. You shouldn't have flown 40 miles out of the way to land into the wind instead of completing the checkride at the examiner's homebase while within the capability of the aircraft.

dtuuri
 
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OkieAviator said:
Always? Seems a bit silly... then again some dude with a bunch of initials on his signature told me I should of demonstrated landing with a 19 knot direct crosswind before my PPL checkride.
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Sarcasm doesn't come across that well online. That's on me. And no, I'm not serious at all.
 
Being able to do a roll while drinking out of a coffee cup and not spilling the rum and coke.
 
dtuuri said:
Well, I guess it depends on which kind of pro, crop duster? Certainly not a biz jet pilot.

dtuuri
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I am an aerial applicator. Not everyone wants to fly a Citation.

Granted, I wouldn't decline the opportunity out of hand, but it would have to be a VERY good offer for me to want to do it.
 
Citations and other business jets can bank more than 30 degrees safely. The reason most don't is an effort not to scare the passengers.
 
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