1-FAA’s Oversight of Pilot Training

Sheffield School of Aeronautics reports that according to the Department of Transportation (DOT), Office of the Inspector General, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has yet to implement a process that assesses if an airline pilot has adequately monitored automated systems on the flight deck, or that they are maintaining flying skills. The FAA should be doing more to ensure that airlines are sufficiently training their pilots in such skills.

In January audit reports, Sheffield, a school for flight dispatchers, noted that the inspection general recommended that the FAA defined “pilot monitoring metrics” that airlines use to train and evaluate pilots’ use of automated systems, as a set of standards to determine if pilots are receiving the training that they need to manually fly an aircraft. Recent accidents have shown that pilots who choose to fly with automation make errors when confronted with unexpected events or in the transition to manual flying.

The FAA is constantly working to modernize the airspace system and expect deployment and use of advanced procedures for using flight deck automation.  Aircraft dispatcher schools realize that as a result, career air pilots are faced with less opportunities during live operations to maintain proficiency and skills in automated flight, which are likely to further diminish if not practicing in manual flight every so often.

In a response to the evidence supporting these findings, the FAA explained that it shares the inspector general’s concerns about an over-reliance on automation, and that it is crucial to train pilots to handle unexpected events and manually fly the aircraft. Sheffield School of Aeronautics is a school for aircraft dispatchers and has announced that the FAA added an implementation date of the pilot training provisions for November 30, 2018.

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