It’s not how advanced your flight instrument is, size of your airplane, jet or propeller, but the “inner engine” if the very important tools to determine aviation safety.

In the past decades, we know that 98% accidents were caused by the human error. There is very complex variable on the human factor which could lead a beautiful and fun flight to a disaster.

I have learnt great stuffs that could shape us to be a safe pilot. I call this “Inner Engine”.

THE INNER ENGINE

Flying skill is easy to learn but to control our psychology and attitude is harder than flying your Cherokee or Skyline to Big Bear. Many crashes were happened in an advanced airplane caused by mostly human factor reason based on NTSB findings which we can learn more in AOPA Safety video. Why? Because they don’t really concern about a risk management.

What you need is the Inner Engine – and it is a P-A-V-E Checklist. PAVE is a part of Risk Management that has a strong contribution to aviation safety.

P FOR PILOT

Think about this, you are now a commercial pilot who want to fly your passenger from Napa to Lake Tahoe, California. What make you legal to fly with them?

With this check list, you will review:

a) Pilot Currency– Biennial Flight Review; Medical Certificate; 3 Take offs and Landings in 90 Days to carry passenger
b) Certificate Privilege– You must understand your certificate privilege. What you can fly and can’t. As a commercial pilot without 135 Certificate you can do:
– Flight Instruction

– Aerial Photo

– Flight Tour (25 Nm from the departure point)

– Banner Towing

– Pipeline control

But You can’t do:

– Advertise yourself to transport people or property for hire from one place to another.

c) The personal review with IM SAFE checklist.
– Illness

– Medication

– Stress

– Alcohol

– Fatigue

– Eat and Emotion

Before any flight you should ask yourself about to pass the IM SAFE checklist.

A FOR AIRPLANE

Now you might want to check your airplane airworthiness. As a commercial pilot, you must understand and could apply:

– Airworthiness inspection (AAV1ATE)

– Check the aircraft logbook

– The 91.205 equipment

– The AD compliance

– Check the ARROW document

Should your airplane must be flown for a maintenance a special flight permit must be issued. Make sure you understand the operation between Part 135 or Part 91. You could not fly without inoperative items in Part 135 unless you have a Minimum Equipment List (MEL).

V FOR ENVIRONMENT

Make sure you are really good on:

– Airspace Type and Limitation. Never violate the Bravo and know how to enter the Charlie. To enter the Bravo airspace, you need a clearance and must have a transponder with altitude encoding. In Charlie airspace, a two communication should be made prior to enter the border. The special use airspace must be monitored along the route. You must aware with all NOTAMS and TFR (Temporary Flight Restriction) before fly.

– Weather Minimum. As a commercial pilot you must understand the weather minimum of controlled and uncontrolled airspace. If you fly at or above 10,000 feet then the weather minimum will be 5 SM visibility, 1 SM horizontal distance from the cloud, 1,000 feet above the cloud, 1,000 feet below the cloud. When below 10,000 but still in the controlled space then the visibility will be 3 SM, 2,000 feet horizontal distance from the cloud, 1,000 feet above the cloud, and 500 feet below the cloud.

The ceiling must be above 1,000 feet to be a good day for a VFR flight. In Bravo airspace

– Brief your passenger. As a commercial pilot you must brief the passenger about their hobby. Scuba diver must pay attention for their flight. Any decompression scuba diver needs at least 24 hours if flying above 8,000. At the other hand, if the flight below 8,000 or the passenger is not under decompression scuba diving activity then 12 hours waiting time must be complied.

– Runway Incursion. Many accident is happened caused by the runway incursion. Therefore, as a commercial pilot you must understand Hot Spot location around the taxiway, LAHSO operation, and other aspect related to this issue. There are some suggestions and requirements to avoid the runway incursion such as:

Always have an airport diagram before taxi
Do a taxi briefing before moving the aircraft for taxi
Listen to the ATIS and make sure note every published NOTAM
Requrest a progressive taxi if not unfamiliar with the area
Always Readback The TAXI Clearance
– CFIT and Airplane Performance Analysis. Most accidents during the flight mostly caused by lack of terrain awareness. Scud running during the IFR condition makes the terrain issue even worse. Pilot must really aware about their minimum enroute altitude or any other safety altitude along the route. Understanding how the mountain weather is so unpredictable especially during the night time is the first step to a safer flight.

The pressure and density altitude are very important aspect to measure the airplane performance. Make sure that your airplane could landing or take off back at the destination which has a significant differential pressure and density altitude. Your airplane might need more runway distance to lift off or could not put all the baggage or full tank fuel. We will discuss this more in our Commercial Pilot Preparation Course program.

E  FOR EXTERNAL PRESSURE

 Flying as a pilot for hire must deal will non-technical issues from passenger, management, and personal problems. You must remember that the highest authority is under your hand as the pilot in command. Therefore, you must be responsible to all safety in that flight. Always follow your check list, follow the regulation, and don’t get anyone to rush you to fly.

This inner engine will help people to achieve a better aviation environment and bring the safety to the highest priority. We will have a deeper discussion in Commercial Pilot Preparation Course program. 14DAYPILOT Flight Academy will make you to be a great commercial pilot through our accelerated 5 Day Commercial Pilot Program.