MY 2 CENTS
management, but it also reveals something deeper. We often manage operations assuming the aircraft will not fail because, statistically, it probably will not.
That assumption becomes the safety strategy, and most of the time it works. Until it does not.
The flying public, however, assumes something very different. Passengers believe the pilot has been trained to confidently handle emergencies at any moment, on any day, in any condition. They do not know about “the first one.” They do not realize that many pilots require several practice repetitions before returning to peak proficiency. Frankly, most would be shocked to learn that.
Compare this to the airline world. Airline training environments measured,
are heavily standardized, and
proceduralized, continuously
reinforced. Every phase of flight is evaluated against defined operational expectations. Risk mitigation strategies are deeply embedded into daily operations. Training and real-world execution closely mirror one another.
In much of the VFR helicopter industry, however, the standards are far looser. The minimum acceptable performance standard
frequently allows substantial deviation from perfection. A 70% passing standard is still passing.
As the old joke goes, what do they call the person who graduated last in medical school? Answer: Doctor.
Patients rarely ask where their surgeon ranked academically. We simply assume competence and trust the system worked. Aviation is no different.
Soon, our Helicopter Institute intends to host something unique. Some may call it a competition, but we view it as a data-collection exercise. We plan to invite 10 industry pilots from segments such as law enforcement, air medical, utility, and corporate operations. No instructors. No test pilots, but working line pilots.
Using both Airbus and Bell helicopters common to industry operations, each pilot will perform emergency procedures at approximately six months removed from recurrent training. No warm up. No practice. No second attempt.
Just “the first one.”
There will be autorotations, tail-rotor malfunctions, and hydraulic failures that all require an immediate response. Performance will be measured not by perfection, but by survivability.
Survivability is the metric that actually matters.
Perhaps the results will validate the industry’s current approach. Perhaps they will reveal uncomfortable truths. Either way, the data will speak louder than assumptions.
And maybe, just maybe, we will finally start discussing
the autorotation that matters
most—the one you perform before you knew it was coming.
Randy Rowles has been an FAA pilot examiner for 20 years for all helicopter certificates and ratings. He holds an FAA Gold Seal Flight Instructor Certificate, NAFI Master Flight Instructor designation, and was the 2013 recipient of the HAI Flight Instructor of the Year Award. Rowles is currently the owner of the Helicopter Institute. He can be reached at randyrowlesdpe@
gmail.com
rotorpro.com
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