Don't Do Anything Dumb, Dangerous, or Different

As I reflect on world events and how they effect the world of pilots, I am reminded of the words said to me by my first instructor as a student pilot in the Air Force in 1989. Flight instructors have the heavy burden of determining when a student is ready to solo a jet for the first time. They must know know in their heart that the student is capable of handling anything that they may encounter--there is no free pass on engine failures or engine fires just because it is your first time as pilot in command.

I was headed out to the tarmac in my flight suit/parachute combo with helmet in hand. I was about to solo "The Mighty Tweet" T-37 for the first time. My instructor said to me: "OK Champ (his nickname for all of his students), promise me you won't do anything dumb, dangerous, or different."

Dumb as in: Slow down and think before you do something.

Dangerous as in: Make sure you are conservative and are not reaching beyond your ability.

Different as in: Do what you have been trained to do, and don't start changing things now.

Here I am some 31 years later and those words come to mind as I operate my B777 for my airline in this strange, new Covid-19 world. We are all creatures of habit and we all know what those habits are for each of us on a personal level. For a pilot, I can assure you, habit patterns are everything. Pilots make hundreds of decisions on how to operate their jet before they've even pushed back from the gate and the plane has started flying. It is their training and the (good) habit patterns they have developed that permit them to handle the incredibly dynamic environment in which they operate.

Like other industries, many things are different now in the airline industry. But you should rest assured that pilots are absolutely trained to adapt accordingly. And they accomplish that by not doing anything "dumb, dangerous, or different." At this stage in our careers as airline pilots, distractions alone are the reasons we would do something D/D/D.

We all have our concerns about how the Corona virus will effect each of us and our families and friends. Pilots have the added burden of wondering how the virus will effect them should they contract it. Not withstanding the most serious of consequences, are there long term health issues such as permanent lung damage that have been reported? Unknown to many non-aviators is that pilots have to receive a medical exam every 6 months in order to keep their medical license that allows them to operate a commercial airliner. Not passing that medical exam destroys a pilot's ability to earn a living. Some seemingly innocuous medical issues for a non-pilot, can be career ending for a pilot. There is not a pilot chat room out there of late that has not had that subject discussed and this may be the biggest distraction of all.

Pilots leave on a trip with the understanding that they will layover in Chicago, and they will fly to New York and Raleigh with a layover there the next day. Instead, as this has been a rapidly evolving environment, the pilot ends up in Seattle with no plan on how or when he or she is headed home. Is this as big a problem as being ill with the virus? Certainly no. But it can lead to distractions, and distractions are not good for an extended period for anyone, especially a pilot.

The pilot chat rooms are all abuzz with the talk of the economic fallout from this for the airline industry. How will the industry handle this? As pilots, we are grateful that the US Govt is stepping in to provide a backstop for the industry, while at the same time, concerned as American citizens as to what the massive size of the stimulus plan will do to us as a country in the long term. In no way do pilots have a monopoly on the anxiety associated with any of this. The whole world is worried about it, appropriately so. It's the distracting nature of this buzz that concerns pilots.

Yesterday, I participated in a 90-minute conference call organized by the director of one of the safety programs at my airline. In addition to my role as a line pilot, I am an Observer in the Line Oriented Safety Audit (LOSA) program where my role is to collect safety related data first-hand by sitting in the cockpit during flights being operated by our pilots. My job is to help ferret out the smallest of potential problems that could result in a safety issue in the future. The airline expends a ton of money and human resources on these safety programs, and for that I have always been grateful. The topic of the call was--you guessed it --distractions. The senior leadership of the company is well aware of how this extraordinarily challenging time in our history can effect every one of us. As LOSA Observers, we are being tasked to help the airline put a finger on the pulse of our pilot corps so problems can be addressed without delay. The leadership of the airline sees distractions for what they are--a cancer that needs to be removed immediately. The industry can never "afford" an accident or incident, but especially at this time.

I returned from London earlier this week and the Captain with whom I was flying was operating his last flight as an airline pilot. His pre-departure briefing to the crew was, "gang, this is my last flight, and I've got a long retirement in front of me planned, please let's have some fun and let's not do anything dumb, dangerous, or different."