With 2011 officially under way, I believe it is a good time to point out some auspicious beginnings that deserve our attention during the year.
As 2010 wound down, I was very pleased by an Airbus briefing on recommended flight crew responses to ambiguous airspeed indications. It boiled down to this: If something funny seems to be going on when at altitude, set the pitch at 5 degrees nose up and put the power in the climb detent.
I loved hearing that. I have been saying we need the modern equivalent of the “dead foot, dead engine” quick guide to flying through an engine failure; this simple recommendation from Airbus sounds like a good start. I hope we develop a few more of these jewels so we can stop training as if we still fly aircraft with radial engines.
In a related development, we have seen the data from a four-year joint effort by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and its industry partners examining flight path management problems. In particular, the study looked at…
