Airline pilots returning to the sky after months of blockage make “mistakes”

Dozens of US airline pilots have reported making “mistakes” because they are “rusty” after returning to the sky after a few months of blockage due to the pandemic, a NASA watchdog reported.

Air travel has been in the lowest demand in decades, with COVID-19 shutting down many international flights as countries have tried to reduce the virus.

Now, pilots returning to the captain’s seat have told NASA’s NASA aviation safety reporting system that they have made dozens of “mistakes” since May because they are no longer in practice.

Errors include forgetting to disable the parking break on take-off, performing three attempts to land the aircraft on a windy day, choosing the wrong runway, and forgetting to turn on the anti-freeze mechanism that prevents freezing of altitude and air speed sensors.

To date, no incidents of pilots have been reported outside the practice that have caused accidents that have injured passengers.

While aviation experts say they are confident in flight safety, they warn of the need for pilots to return to work after months to receive additional training, with some US airlines starting to offer them.

An officer, who did not start his defrost system, told NASA’s watchdog: “Because I hadn’t flown in a few months, I was rusty. I felt that my memory was strong enough, but in reality I should have taken some time to review “standard operating procedures, as reported by The Los Angeles Times.

Another pilot accidentally lined up to land on the wrong runway, while a different pilot accidentally disengaged the autopilot and a first officer made an unusually steep turn after misreading the instruments in the cockpit.

In each case, the pilots and first officers blamed the errors for not being in practice.

In September, a senior officer on a commercial plane reported that he misjudged the distance to the runway during the landing and caused the plane to descend too low. Instead of interrupting the landing and surrounding the airport for another attempt – the safest option – the first officer made last-minute adjustments on landing.

“Contributing factors included slight turbulence that required constant power adjustments,” said the first officer.

They added: “Also, the lack of recent flight time due to taking leave – this was my first approach / landing in a few weeks, in addition to the very limited flight time of the last six months.”

During an incident in October, when a pilot forgot to take a parking break, they said that “40 days have passed since my last flight”.

They added: “We fly less, so we have to be even more careful. Better attention to detail.

NASA’s aviation safety reporting system has been developed so that pilots and other airline crew members can report mechanical and human errors anonymously without fear of reprisals from aircraft manufacturers or airline management.

Airline experts have long recognized that when pilots are inactive for long periods of time, their abilities decline rapidly and they are prone to make mistakes, such as flying too fast or too high during landing or forgetting to get free space from the air traffic control tower before descending to a lower altitude.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) prohibits pilots from flying a commercial aircraft unless they have made three takeoffs and three landings – either in an airplane or in a simulator – in the last 90 days.

But the FAA changed that requirement twice last year, giving pilots more freedom, though so far no US airline has reported that a pilot should use it.

In April and May, the number of daily takeoffs in the US fell to about 75% below pre-pandemic levels.

In recent months, the number of takeoffs has risen to 43% below pre-pandemic periods, according to industry data.

As a result, some pilots were returned to work after leaving for up to four months.

Last week Delta Air Lines announced that it intends to bring back about 400 pilots by the summer in the hope that the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines will increase the demand for travel.

Aviation experts say there are enough backup systems in modern passenger planes to prevent minor negligence from becoming serious accidents.

Richard G. McSpadden Jr., senior vice president of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association’s Air Safety Institute, said: “The key to safe flight is frequency. You’re not as sharp if you haven’t flown in a while.

However, the International Air Transport Association, a trade group for airlines around the world, reported a sharp rise last spring in the rate of “unstable” aircraft, which usually occurs when pilots try to land at high speeds. too much or without enough traction and has to make adjustments at the last minute.

The group of airlines reported that the rate of “unstable approaches” increased from about 13 or 14 per 1,000 pre-pandemic flights to over 35 to 1,000 in May.

The issue of unstable approaches has grown at airports around the world in the spring and summer of 2020, the group said, but the rate has returned to pre-pandemic levels in recent months.

But many experts say they are not concerned. Kenneth P. Byrnes, president of the Flight Preparation Department at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, said commercial passenger planes always fly with a pilot and a co-pilot to reduce the pilot’s chances of error.

He said: “I am comfortable with safety requirements. I don’t think there’s an imminent danger.

Mark Searle, global director of safety at the International Air Transport Association, said he was confident pilots were on top of their need for more training.

“If they follow the standard operating procedures we practice, I don’t think there’s a big problem,” he said.

The Association of Aircraft Owners and Pilots recently posted a series of videos on its website to help pilots who have no practice improve their flying skills.

The series includes tutorials on using the radio to communicate with an air traffic control tower and tips for making a smoother landing.

American Airlines, one of the world’s largest carriers, was also worried that pilots would no longer operate, so it began more frequent reviews of its data on pilot performance.

Data on the 2020 pilot showed no loss of competence, said Kimball Stone, senior vice president of flight operations for American Airlines.

“There was no degradation of skills,” he said.