mindFly Katha, From cockpit to culture — one podcast, many flight paths. – Details, episodes & analysis

Seat belts save lives; however, their purpose differs between aeroplanes and cars. Seat belts on aeroplanes are primarily designed to prevent injuries arising from in-flight turbulence, not sudden deceleration in the event of an accident.

Discover the impact of negative commands on pilot performance and aviation safety. Learn how cognitive biases like negativity bias contribute to real-life aviation incidents and how clear, positive communication can prevent disasters.

66% of pilots who participated in the survey responded that they have inadvertently dozed off in the cockpit without informing the other pilot.

Safety matters, a non governmental organisation based in India conducted a Safety Culture Survey beginning 16th Sept 2022 with the objective of assessing the prevailing safety culture in Indian aviation with the focus on pilot fatigue. The main aim of Safety Matters is to establish a generative safety culture. Fatigue poses an important safety risk to civil and military aviation. In addition to decreasing performance in-flight(chronic) fatigue has negative long term effects. Possible causes of fatigue include sleep loss, extended time awake, circadian phase irregularities and work load. A prescriptive flight and duty limitation does not address the effects of fatigue as well as a fatigue management system and countermeasures.

Advaita Katha In its simplest form, storytelling remains a powerful element of learning, with the narrative being equally as compelling as books and presentations. They humanize learning. It offers us the opportunity to connect to like-minded characters, or see the world literally from within someone else’s skin. Stories touch our emotions and help develop empathy.Plus, no matter how organized or detailed a textbook might be, there’s something about the shape of a narrative—the exposition, the problem, the quest for a solution, the resolution—that resonates with our mental makeup.Storytelling has been an integral part of Indian culture for generation, with each region developing its own unique style of narration.Let the worldly wise, who have seen the skies share and give others a short respite.On that note, let the words flow …..www.advaitakatha.com 

The fuselage of the Aloha Boeing failed, despite the fact that it was designed and built to well proven rules. Why? The whole industry had become complacent about maintenance and particularly about the durability of old aircraft. To put this in perspective the accident aircraft was nineteen years old, older no doubt than the cars driven by most of the passengers. The aircraft had operated for 35,496 hours, in other words it had actually been up in the air for a total of four years. The aircraft had taken off 89,680 times, that means each flight had averaged only about 25 minutes. Every 25 minutes the skin, the frames and the joints had been stretched as the fuselage had been pumped up to maximum pressure. How could the airlines and their mechanics have become complacent about their planes while treating them like this?

Boeing was concerned about its old aircraft in general terms, it too was complacent about the fuselage. This was because of a naive faith in a concept called the "lead crack". Boeing engineers believed that if the fuselage did crack anywhere, a single "lead crack" would grow along the skin until it reached a fuselage frame, then it would turn at right angles and a triangular shaped tear would blow out and safely dump fuselage pressure. Boeing is a close knit company and when an idea like this takes hold it becomes accepted as gospel. It went unchallenged by most of the FAA. The British and Australian authorities never accepted the concept but needed an accident to prove them right.(Lessons from Aloha: Martin Aubury)

I am a true believer that society and culture cannot be separated from work and training. However best the training may be, it is under a controlled environment and the performance indicators needed to be achieved are briefed before hand. The crew undergoing training works together to achieve their objective and they are driven by performance indicators required to be achieved to declare them competent. In the real world, the motivation, drive and targets are not briefed as well as they are in a training environment. There are a lot many distractions and personal cultures and behavioral influences are lot more active as compared to a training environment.

“Looking without seeing” is the most common error that most humans make daily. Our attention is distracted or preoccupied with other thoughts. The obvious in front of us is sometimes missed whereas the reaction to the situation or the call out is as per SOP. Pointing and Calling refreshes our attention to the specific point that we intend to look. This activity involves pointing at target objects by stretching your arm and stating out loud. Calling out “Such and such is OK” at important points in the work ensures work is carried out safely and correctly. Read the blog here SFnSq0DKQAKwtw2EFulc

Read the blog here

The Runway Overrun Protection System (ROPS) is designed to alert the flight crew in the case of potential runway overrun situation. The overrun warning (ROW) function automatically arms at 400ft AGL and works until start of braking. The Runway overrun protection (ROP) works from start of braking until the aircraft stops. The surprising part is that the ROW/ROP LOST fault which is triggered when the ROW/ROP is lost is inhibited below 800feet on the final approach till the aircraft decelerates to 80 kts speed. Effectively, the pilot is unaware of any fault in the system when the system is expected to be deployed and functioning. Isn't this giving the flight crew a false sense of safety whereas the system could be functioning or not functioning. I am sure that a lot of though must have gone behind the logic but definitely worth a discussion.

Listen to the congress sub-committee hearing on the 5G issue. The 5G mess in the USA has exposed the corporate culture in the USA where lobbies decide on the course of action. Is it the $81 billion which is shaping the policy or aviation safety? Safety is always a balance between production and protection. Too much of anything is bad.