Flight Dept 1.qxp_Finance 23/11/2021 09:54 Page 1
FLIGHT DEPARTMENT MANAGEMENT
Airworthiness: Be Diligent as Flying Demand Grows If you’re experiencing increased activity in your flight department, it’s time to sharpen your alertness, particularly where airworthiness is concerned. Andre Fodor shares anecdotes to illustrate why…
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egardless of how much professional experience you might have, a career in aviation always challenges flight department personnel with new learning opportunities. Aviation has a habit of providing rude awakenings for the complacent, the less proficient, or those who fail to follow Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). Not long ago, I learned a valuable lesson when called upon to crew an airplane after one of the operation’s regular pilots was ill. Although I already knew the captain, this was the first time that we had worked together on board an airplane. After a short briefing, I conducted a pre-flight inspection, connected the batteries, and verified that all covers and pins were removed. I proceeded to start the APU and prepare the airplane for its flight. The captain greeted passengers and settled the FBO bill. After our return to the home airport, I powered down the airplane again and cleared up the interior. Upon exiting the airplane, I noticed that all landing gear pins had been installed, and so assumed that the other pilot had conducted the post-flight check. Heading to the nose section of the airplane, I
78 Vol 25 Issue 12 2021 AVBUYER MAGAZINE
disconnected the main battery and installed the pitot and AOA covers, before walking over to the FBO. Two days later, I received a call from the chief pilot asking whether I’d noticed a broken piece of flap trim that was found missing on a subsequent pre-flight check. This had caused the airplane to miss its next trip. While I could truthfully have replied that I was not the one who conducted the post-flight check, I was truly embarrassed because I couldn’t even confirm whether the other pilot had conducted a post-flight check – and that put me at fault! Going by the evidence of the pins, I had assumed a post-flight check had been completed, but I didn’t ask any questions (the answers to which would surely have triggered a post-flight walk-around). Swallowing my pride, I shared this valuable lesson with everyone at my flight department’s weekly team meeting, and now I’m sharing it with you. I do so in the hope that none of us will ever repeat my mistake. If we fail to stay alert to situations within our flight operations, we may end up operating a non-airworthy aircraft. To help us all remain alert in this regard, let’s illustrate with some simple ‘gotchas’. www.AVBUYER.com
