increased the quality of IIMC training in recent years. Like any tools, though, they need to be employed properly. IIMC training should always include a
scenario-based course of action for the pilot to work through that reflects the conditions or missions that the pilot would be likely to encounter. Simply slapping a hood on a pilot and telling him or her to recover from an unusual attitude or to shoot an instrument approach isn’t good IIMC training. Te scenario
should involve the whole process, from the decision to accept the flight to the recovery from an inadvertent encounter. Many pilots in training are permitted to set
avionics for an approach while still sitting on the ground. While a pilot in a real-world sce- nario should be encouraged to prepare ahead as much as possible, it’s important in training to allow the pilot to build the skills to handle the whole process in flight. Tis should also include emphasis on gaining positive control
before even thinking about setting up an approach. (Any pilot in a real-world situation who feels the need to set up an instrument approach while still on the ground “just in case” should reconsider their decision to launch in the first place.) Training in simulators and ATD allows pilots
HAI@Work Webinars
rotor.org/webinar Thursdays at 4 PM eastern time (UTC-4)*
Information You Need, From Experts You Trust
HAI@Work webinars bring you up-to-date information about market conditions, regulations, training, and careers in the vertical fl ight industry, including:
• Interviews with industry leaders
• Mil2Civ Transition: Finding a Job in the Civil Helicopter Industry
* HAI@Work webinars may occasionally be rescheduled. Visit
rotor.org/webinar for the latest schedule.
• Advanced air mobility • Regaining pilot profi ciency
• Maintenance and training compliance
• Elevating vertical fl ight through mentoring
Visit
rotor.org/webinar to register for this week’s webinar— or catch up on one that you missed in our archive.
to play out a scenario to its likely conclusion. Te moment you pause the simulation and remove the weather to reveal the aircraft is inverted and pointing toward the ground can have a great impact on the training pilot. Spatial disorientation is insidious precisely because it can trick pilots into “knowing” that their instruments are wrong. Sometimes a person needs to see to believe. View-limiting devices that allow an instructor
to slowly decrease visibility can lull a pilot into staying visual just long enough to be extremely disoriented when he or she finally commits to instruments. What the pilot thought was the horizon was actually a road, and the pilot’s head and aircraft instruments disagree. Doing this exercise in actual flight involves the vestibular system and is the only way to get the pilot truly, physically, spatially disoriented. Experiencing this sensation might just convince a pilot to turn around a little sooner next time or decline to take off in the first place.
Next Steps It’s now obvious that our industry needs to provide pilots and operators with a 360-degree approach to IIMC prevention and recovery, including procedures, tools, and recurrent, effective, realistic training. Tis will be an ongoing process, requiring the input and buy-in of the whole industry—including everyone reading this article. You can become part of the IIMC solution
by implementing the steps discussed in this article (see p. 71 for a convenient one-page summary). Tanks to our industry’s dedicated volunteers and safety professionals, there are resources—many of them free—that you can use to improve your ability to avoid or recover from IIMC. Visit
rotor.org/safety to get started, and spend at least 56 seconds committing to a plan to increase your skills in IIMC pre- vention and recovery.
MARCH 2021 ROTOR 73
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92
