Capt. Pierre Wannaz
EBT During Line Operations: Flight Data Animation
Today, airlines are facing a triple issue: first, retraining qualified but somewhat “rusty pilots,” second, as a great number of pilots have left or has been retired, a significant number of upgrading and transitions take place and third, they are now or in a very near future confronted with a lack of staff.
There is a necessity to train all these pilots efficiently. It’s a potentially explosive mixture and measures need to be implemented to avoid mishaps.
For a few years, there is the possibility to use the data from the flight recorder to allow the pilots direct access to their data in the form of flight animations so they can analyze what happened and understand why something did not go exactly as planned.
Having now the first feedback from airlines using such equipment, we have seen positive returns such as a reduction of safety events and also a more efficient training for the cadets. Readiness for the final check could be achieved in a shorter time. Easier implementation of EBT during line operation is also a benefit as dedicated observation windows can be created from any portion of the flight for analysis.
On top of all, such an animation tool allows a real practical implementation for Safety-II when efficiently integrated with the safety environments. Sharing information, for self-improvement, for more efficient training, for creating de-identified informative animation to be distributed among the pilots are only a few of the many other potential uses.
The data are available; let’s use them in a much more efficient way. Flight training, flight operations, and flight safety departments will all see major benefits of this approach.
Knowledge is only usable when shared!
