MY 2 CENTS By Randy Rowles FIND COMMON GROUND
A key concept in the development of early relationships is finding common ground; elements within each of our lives where we share interest and experience. It is through these shared perspectives that we gain trust and confidence that our communications with each other have meaning and understanding. At times, identifying common ground can seem like an impossible task. As the vertical-lift industry becomes more diverse, the people, aircraft, and even operating methodologies look very different. However, the importance of working together has never been more critical than it is today.
In the ‘90s, I was an instructor pilot with FlightSafety International at its Sikorsky Learning Center in West Palm Beach, Florida. Early in my employment, I was assigned to an S-76 initial pilot training course that only one student pilot would be attending. I did not complete this pilot’s ground training, as I was scheduled for only the simulation portion of the course. As often occurred, the simulator schedule for initial training had us starting our briefing at 2 a.m. The learning center was secured at night, so we would instruct those students training outside of normal business hours to ring a doorbell at the front door and we would meet them for entry.
As expected, the doorbell rang and I proceeded to the door to meet my student to welcome him into the center. Over a cup of coffee, he advised that he was “voluntold” to be there and had no interest in the training he was to receive. I listened to everything he had to say and engaged respectfully to garner some insight into his disdain for this training event.
It became clear that this pilot was simply nervous about learning a new, complex aircraft so late in his career. In his opinion, the mere fact that all his experience may be wasted and not relevant to this new aircraft caused him deep concern.
My first opportunity to find common ground was relating his previous experience and knowledge of a Bell 222 and Bell 230 to that of the Sikorsky S-76 we would be training on. As I also had previous experience in these Bell models, I was able to align topics and describe the system similarities and differences in a manner that was understandable and respectful of his background and experience.
The remainder of his training was quite enjoyable. It was only because he was honest with his feelings, combined with our ability to find common ground, that we were able to make the most out of this training event.
10 Mar/Apr 2023
What happens when you don’t have similar experience or knowledge?
A somewhat common issue is having a generator come offline in- flight. Oftentimes this may be a simple reset scenario; however, this isn’t always the case. Understanding the health of your battery and the amperage utilization of the electrical system may allow limited flight solely on the battery, to recover the aircraft to a maintenance facility or location that is safer for both the pilot and aircraft. Within the plethora of varied pilots with different experiences in the industry today, how do we find common ground on such flight decisions and experiences? Knowledge enhances safety; experience facilitates complacency.
The offline generator situation occurred in our company not long ago. My initial action was to engage the pilot to see if he was aware of the ability to operate the helicopter without the generator and get the aircraft back home. We engaged. He clearly described the way to make this decision and said flying on battery power was a possibility, but his opinion was that the battery wasn’t healthy enough to do so. He then asked me a question: Why would we even attempt such a flight if we didn’t have to? The pilot and aircraft were safe. No issues existed.
I’m sad to say that my initial reaction wasn’t supportive of the pilot’s good decision. I questioned his action and decision to not just continue back to our home airport. It was during our after-action that the pilot spoke up and said he felt that I treated the situation as though he did something wrong. He was right! Although not my intent, my actions spoke volumes.
Our company culture supports very honest communication. This event became a mentoring opportunity for me on my behavior, but his next comment is what provided the path to the common ground we needed on this subject. With this pilot, who is also a flight instructor, was another less experienced flight instructor building flight time. When the generator failure occurred, our pilot not only engaged the aircraft to make the right decision for safety, but also knew that the event would influence the flight instructor in attendance solely to learn.
As a career flight instructor and aviation educator myself, this fact when brought to my attention resonated with me. Where I often provide the experience to mentor and educate our staff due to my expected role with our organization, I am very proud to say that I was schooled by a less experienced pilot who wasn’t afraid to stand his ground and respectfully engage
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