Story ID: 333SinglePilots
Single Pilot Groups Merge Expertise
By: AIN Staff
Caption: Single pilot group worked hard to create the safety standdown event held the day before NBAA 2015
Word Count: 489
The NBAA’s annual single-pilot safety standdown ran much of the day before this year’s convention opened in Las Vegas on November 17. Organized by the association’s Safety Committee, the standdown focused on a host of topics, including loss of control and how different that topic might appear to some pilots when viewed through the lens of a single-pilot operation. 
  
Standdown invitees ran the gamut, from Cirrus pilots and support staff to TBM and Pilatus operators and type-rated pilots now flying light jets such as the Eclipse 500/550, Phenom 100/300 or the CitationJet series, all capable of being flown routinely by just one pilot. Single-pilot working group chairman Jim Lara, principal of Gray Stone Advisors, said, “The standdown is focused on real-world scenarios that we all have to deal with. Every aviator owes it to himself to attend.”
  
While the most recent FAA and NTSB accident data doesn’t necessarily point to the operation of turbine airplanes with one pilot on board as any riskier than the operation of similar-size aircraft when flown with two pilots, the same cannot be said of lighter single-engine aircraft. The NTSB’s 2013 data showed that 1,224 accidents claimed 429 lives, and many of these involved aircraft flown by one pilot, often the owner.
  
A number of members of the association’s safety committee–called the single-pilot working group (SPWG)–decided to merge their collective expertise to try and make a dent in the accident numbers, regardless of the powerplant type. Many of the SPWG members are professional pilots or flight instructors.
  
In January, the team decided that a short video highlighting potential hazards for pilots flying alone might be a great vehicle to tell a story of how pilots can become overwhelmed when flying IFR. The video could then offer tips for how to exit such a hazardous situation. 
  
Aptly titled Alone in the Cockpit, the new video was created by the joint efforts of Embraer CAE Training, Gulfstream, Embraer, NBAA, FAA, Stage Front Productions and CommAvia. While some initially questioned the reality of a story with a pilot becoming overwhelmed and nearly losing control of the airplane when flying a light jet IFR into a busy hub like Miami, others thought it made for a perfect potential scenario, and the die was cast. The video debuted at the single-pilot standdown and will be placed on the NBAA website.
  
After months of debate, the SPWG decided the remainder of the nearly day-long standdown should include speakers with unique perspectives on single-pilot operations. Chosen to join the event were NTSB member Earl Weener, Tom Turner from the American Bonanza Society and BJ Ransbury of Aviation Performance Solutions. The standdown ended just after lunch, with a presentation by Garmin’s Noel Duerksen, speaking about current and future technologies that can be used to make IFR flying easier when there’s just one pilot aboard.