We often hear pilots making references to “the good old days.” One tend to reminisce about what had happened in the past, reliving the fond memories of flying in the good old days where things were less complicated and then making comparisons with what is happening in the present. Of course we can see a lot of differences and changes. If one were to ask which is the better era, can we form judgments and make our own conclusions? Would it be fair then? What I will do is not to make my own judgments, but to highlight the differences in the work culture that I observe over the years. My views could be controversial and I welcome any comments from anyone who views it differently.

I believe that the differences between the older generation and the younger generation of pilots are as a result of the social changes that we go through, the technological advancement in the aviation industry as well as the once rapid expansion in the airline business.

I see some changes in the attitude and values and therefore behaviour of some of the young pilots. These observations are validated by a vast majority of instructor as well as line pilots. Some pilots have become very calculative in their dealings and are more concerned with their own benefits rather than for the good of the majority. I would like to think that in the old days we were more of a collectivist group of pilots rather than individualists.

Some young pilots give the impression that they are not very serious about their work. This is evidenced from their preparation before the flight, even during training flights, where some just put in minimal efforts. This undesired behaviour shown very early in his career will not benefit him in the long run and could be detrimental to his progress.

I subscribe to the saying that “knowledge is power.” Not only that, knowledge gives you flexibility and flexibility gives you more options. This is very necessary in aviation when it comes to problem solving. The feedback I received from instructor pilots state that quite a number of young pilots under training lack not only systems knowledge but also knowledge about aviation in general. Whilst it might not be that obvious when flying domestically, this lack of knowledge is glaringly noticeable when he starts to fly long haul, where it involves strategic thinking on his part and good flight management skills. This perception of requiring only a superficial knowledge of the aircraft systems is perhaps exacerbated by the manufacturer’s emphasis of only the need to know information during the conversion phase of their training.

The rapid expansion in the airline business resulted in rapid movement of pilots from one fleet to another. Depending on the expansion phase and the requirements, the younger pilots do not stay on one fleet for a long time. Although this is perfectly safe and within the criteria set by the airlines, rapid movement could result in lesser experience based of pilots on the fleet and thus lesser opportunity for the younger pilots to learn from his more experienced colleagues.

I am not saying that the above observation amongst some of the younger pilots is in any way jeopardizing flight safety. They are perfectly safe as they meet the requirements set by the regulators and the airlines. Training will also ensure that they have achieved the required standard of performance.

However, if one were to strive to improve oneself and rise to be above the mediocre, then one has to do more to improve one’s skills, knowledge and a change of attitude. The motivation to do better have to be intrinsic and a “great” pilot does not depend on others or his airline for this.

In life one should strive for continuous improvement in whatever that one does. This concept is also applicable in flying and it is even more important for a pilot to continuously improve himself; his skills, knowledge and to learn from his own and other pilot’s experiences.

How many of us consciously and habitually review what we went through at the end of each day? The objective here is to learn from the day’s experiences. If it was something good, we would want to know what was it that we did well and why. On the other hand, we too would want to know and learn from our mistakes; lessons learned so that we will not repeat the same mistakes when faced with a similar situation.

You will notice that modern aircrafts are so safe and the systems are so reliable that most pilots will hardly encounter any serious problems throughout their career. Only a handful will face such problems. Does it mean that pilots who encounter more problems throughout his career are better pilots compared to someone who encounters little or no problems at all? Not necessarily so if he does not learn anything from his experiences and therefore will repeat the same mistakes again and again when faced with similar problems.

How can we improve ourselves and be better pilots if we do not encounter any problems throughout our career? Well the answer is simple, we can learn from other people’s experience. This can be achieved by talking with them during flight or over a cup of coffee. What we do is to collect all their experiences, problems and solutions and deposit them in our “experience” file that can be used when we are faced with a similar situation in future.

From my own experience, I notice that pilots who do not mix around socially and keep to themselves all the time are the ones who have problems with flying as well as problems interacting with other team members. Because they are “loners,” they do not get any feedback about their performance and therefore cannot make any comparisons with other pilots. Since they do not exchange views and ideas, their experience bank is rather limited and therefore cannot easily adapt to the various situations that he encounters during flight and in life. It will be very difficult for him to learn and thus improve himself.

In order for anyone to continuously improve himself he has to learn from his and other people’s experiences and I find the following model to be useful to achieve this:

Step 1 – The Experience

At the end of each flight I make it a point to mentally replay the flight, from take-off to landing, taking note of areas or sections of the flight that I did well and those that I was not happy with. After that I will pick and choose a particular area that I feel I could have done better and this will be the experience that I will use for the learning process. This step is merely to identify and prioritise which of the many experiences that I will use.

As an example on a particular flight from Kuala Lumpur to London Heathrow, I am not happy with the “descent” phase of the flight, resulting in being high on my descent profile, resulting in a rushed approach and I feel that I could have done it better. I will then use this phase of the flight and proceed to the next step.

Step 2 – Review

This step involves data collection. What I will do is to replay that particular phase of the flight in greater detail and collect as much information as possible such as the descent speed, the weather, the distance from the airport when the descent was initiated, the workload during this period, the number of aircrafts in the vicinity, any distraction from the cabin crew, the air traffic control and any relevant information that I could use for the next step. Remember this phase is purely to collect as much information as you possibly can remember. Do not form any conclusions yet at this stage.

Step 3 – Concluding

Based on the information gathered from step 2 and my previous experience, I could then conclude why I ended up high on the descent profile – the cause or causes. During this phase, the more experience you are the better you will be at coming up with conclusions. If you think that you lack experience, you can always refer to or consult someone who is more experienced. If you are operating in a multi crew environment, talk to the captain. He is ever willing to volunteer information. In this way you are also learning from him.

Step 4 – Planning for next step

This last step is merely to come up with action plans, that is, the steps that I would use to ensure I will better manage my flight if I were to end up in a similar situation in future. What I am doing is to find solutions and remedial actions needed for that particular problem.

I have been using the above process and have been encouraged with the result. I am also using it during my training flights to help my trainees learn from their flying experience to further improve themselves. Just imagine what it will do to ourselves if we are to discipline ourselves to continuously learn from our experiences daily and as pilots after every flight.

After a rather long absence, I am back writing my blog again about life lessons from cockpit, thanks to Muhammad Nazri who is currently undergoing his flying training. Nazri posed the following questions and rather than answering directly to him, I thought of posting the answers in the blog so that the others could read them as well. The following are his questions:

a) What does it take to be a great pilot and what attitude should a pilot possess?

b) What kind of habit that a pilot has to instill in ourselves so that it will become a

routine and discipline that can make us to be a better pilot?

c) Compared to yourself in the old days and young pilot nowadays, do you notice if

there is any gap or lack in skill, knowledge and discipline in fresh pilots and if

there is any ,can you describe why and how to encounter it?

Q a) What does it take to be a great pilot and what attitude should a pilot possess?

The above are powerful questions and very subjective. If I were to ask different pilots I would probably get different answers. One can solicit views from different people, and the answer would again be different. A passenger’s view of a good or great pilot would be different from the ground staff’s view, another different view from someone who works closely with pilots compared to someone who is not directly involved with pilots. I guess that it is in everyone’s mind that a good pilot is someone who is cool, calm, collected and confident under pressure and they are absolutely right with the above views.

I too agree with the above view plus a few more of my own perceptions that are based on my own experience after being in the profession for over 30 years as a management pilot, instructor, trainer and line pilot. The following are my views:

1) State of mind. If one were to ask me the difference between a great pilot and an average one, I would dare to say that it is in his “state of mind.” The first thing a great pilot must have is a good, positive mental attitude. He must be disciplined, confident, relax and focus in what he is doing. There is no substitute for a strong discipline. When he is flying, he is on his own and if he is in command of the airplane, there is no one to tell him what to do or what not to do. He therefore has to be disciplined and follow a set of rules, which is the “standard operating procedures.” Discipline will also make him knowledgeable, meticulous in his work and has the attitude to continuously learn from his experiences.

2) Beliefs. Next is in his beliefs. It is basically a guiding principle, what pilots think to be true; his feeling about what is certainty in life. It is assumptions he has about himself, other people, his work, and the world. His beliefs could be limiting or they could be empowering to him. In flying we are faced with challenges all the time, perhaps much more compared to someone working on the ground. If we believe that we cannot do something, chances that we will behave in such a way that will cause us to fail, by not trying hard enough (give up), or by doing things to sabotage himself in some way. It is therefore necessary to have beliefs that will empower him to carry out his tasks well, and for him to be able to overcome all obstacles that he is faced with.

3) Skills. A great pilot has to be skillful. This is his bread and butter. He should be able to fly the aircraft well. By flying the aircraft well I mean with great accuracy and precision. He should not settle for a mediocre performance. He should strive for perfection and this takes a lot of hard work, practice and discipline.

The above to me are qualities of a great pilot. The following diagram will illustrate these qualities.

From the above diagram which one is more important of the three? Well to me all are important and necessary. However before one could acquire the skills, one has to have the right mental state and empowering beliefs. With these two qualities acquiring the necessary skills becomes easier. By having the above qualities he will also become more confident of himself. However he has to always remind himself and be careful of the tendency of becoming over-confidence. I have seen people who become so over confident of himself to the point of being obnoxious in his behaviour. To prevent this from happening, another quality that a great pilot must have is “humility.” This comes from knowing oneself, your strengths and weaknesses and respect for others, be they your working colleagues or any man on the street.

If you are a great pilot and you know about it and you are humble about it, you can walk tall and gain respect from your working colleagues and whoever that you are dealing with. You will truly enjoy this profession and will be forever remembered.

Each day when we go through life we will encounter events. Some of them could be new to us whereas some others could be the same events that we routinely faced before. These events could be problems, hardships or pleasant encounters. At the end of the day we go back to our home, take our well deserved rest and wake up the next morning to face another day. We will do this day in and day out, years after years going through life’s experiences. But, do we learn anything from these experiences? And how many of us will take the trouble to reflect on the day’s experiences that we went through and make an attempt to learn something from them? If only we were to discipline ourselves and learn from all of our experiences we will definitely develop to be a better person than what we are now.

The following is my four step process that I use to learn from my experience in flying that we can also use to learn from our daily life experiences:

Step 1 – The Experience

At the end of each flight I make it a point to mentally replay the flight, from take-off to landing, taking note of areas or sections of the flight that I did well and those that I was not happy with. After that I will pick and choose a particular area that I feel I could have done better and this will be the experience that I will use for the learning process. This step is merely to identify and prioritise which of the many experiences that I will use.

As an example on a particular flight from Kuala Lumpur to London Heathrow, I am not happy with the “descent” phase of the flight, resulting in being high on my descent profile, resulting in a rushed approach and I feel that I could have done it better. I will then use this phase of the flight and proceed to the next step.

Step 2 – Review

This step involves data collection. What I will do is to replay that particular phase of the flight in greater detail and collect as much information as possible such as the descent speed, the weather, the distance from the airport when the descent was initiated, the workload during this period, the number of aircrafts in the vicinity, any distraction from the cabin crew, the air traffic control and any relevant information that I could use for the next step.

Step 3 – Concluding

Based on the information gathered from step 2 and my previous experience, I could then conclude why I ended up high on the descent profile – the cause or causes.

Step 4 – Planning for next step

This last step is merely to come up with action plans, that is, the steps that I would use to ensure I will not end up in the same situation on my next flight to the same destination.

I have been using the above process and have been encouraged with the result. I am also using it during my training flights to help my trainees learn from their flying experience to further improve themselves.

Written by Azharuddin Osman

Job stress comes in many different forms and affects our body in various ways. Although flying can be fun and therapeutic to some, however to us pilots flying is a profession and therefore we cannot run away from job stress. The sources of job stress and the stressors could be the same as any other jobs; they could be people related or equipment related.

Stress can lead to burnout, causing people to become unhappy and less productive in their work. Job stress will not only affect our health it will also affect our home life as well. Low levels of stress may not be noticeable; slightly higher levels can be good for us to enable us to function at our peak level of performance; whereas high levels of stress can be harmful, contributing to chronic disease.

Flying is a stressful profession. As pilots it is therefore important and crucial for us to carefully manage our stress level in order for us to perform at our peak and at the same time to have some available space and reserve to manage the increased stress level during non-normal situations.

Let us take a look at the diagram below. Assuming that a pilot starts work at a stress level at point “A.” Throughout the flight his stress level will vary according to the situation in the cockpit. Now assuming that he has a non-normal situation and his stress level is now increased. Since his stress level when he started work was relatively low, he still has some “reserve” left during the non-normal situation (his stress level is still below his tolerance or coping level).

If however he were to start work with a rather higher stress level of “B” and assuming the same conditions exist, now during a non-normal situation, his stress level will be above his tolerance (coping) level. This can be dangerous as his performance will be affected. He might exhibit stress symptoms that could affect his thoughts, feelings and behaviour and that could be detrimental to the flight.

Written by Azharuddin Osman

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In this lesson from the cockpit I would like to share with you how pilots minimize communication errors in the cockpit.

• Different words mean different things. We interpret words based on our own experiences and sometimes our culture. Take the work “sex” as an example. My interpretation and understanding of the word would definitely be different from yours. There are many other words that could be misinterpreted and therefore to eliminate this during flights, pilots and air traffic controllers use a “standard phraseology” for their communication. What they need to do is to learn them and use them for communication during all phases of the flight.
• Clarify. Besides flying the aircraft, pilots have other responsibilities as well in the cockpit. They have to carry out other tasks such as managing the aircraft systems, monitoring the weather enroute as well as monitoring the enroute charts and maps. During a non-normal situation their workload will be increased further. All the above will have to be accomplished whilst communicating with the air traffic controllers (ATC) and because of the distraction, they could easily misinterpret the ATC instructions. To eliminate miscommunication and misinterpretation of ATC instructions, the procedure calls for both pilots to listen out to the communication and whenever in doubt, they have to clarify with the other pilot as well as with the controllers.
• Good command of English. English is the medium used in aviation. As such it is a requirement for all pilots and air traffic controllers (ATC) to have a good command of the English language. It is now a mandatory requirement for all pilots and controllers to sit for a periodic “aviation English” test. Unsuccessful candidates will have to be retested or to attend a crash course in English before the retest, if required.
• Proper workload management. Normally the pilot who is not manipulating the flight control is responsible for communicating with the controllers and the other pilot monitoring. The pilot tasked with the communicating with the controllers is also responsible for carrying out other tasks to provide support to the flying pilot. As such it is important for the Captain to ensure that the pilot doing the communication is not overly stressed and overloaded with other unrelated tasks.

Witten by Azharuddin Osman

During flight pilots communicate all the time. This goes on until the airplane arrives at the destination, engines shut down and all passengers and crew disembark from the airplane. In fact communication is one of the critical elements, or components of a flight. Studies have shown that a lot of incidents or accidents happened during flights due to a breakdown in communication in the cockpit amongst the pilots as well as miscommunication between pilots and others such as air traffic controllers and engineers.

In our daily life, we too are continuously communicating. It is often said that “we cannot not communicate.” Think about that for a moment. Since we are doing it all the time we become unconscious about it. Yet how many times have we misinterpreted when someone was talking to us or we have been misunderstood when we were talking or saying something to another person.

Oftentimes we underestimate the importance of good communication skills. One can learn to be a good communicator from books or by attending courses. Learning is one thing, we also need to practice this newly learned skill and be aware and be conscious of the response that we get whenever we communicate.

Just how important is good communication in the cockpit? Well, from my own experience I know for sure that it is very, very important. In fact it is crucial for the safety of the flight. Take a typical long haul flight as an example. It flies not only over long periods of time; it also flies across many countries. Although everyone speaks English, however each of them speaks English with a different accent.

Another area that could be of concern is the altitude that an aircraft flies at. Some countries use feet as the unit of measurement whereas some use meters. At most airports the surface wind is reported in knots whereas some other airports report surface wind in meters per second. Apart from the above, different countries could have different air traffic control procedures. All the above could be confusing and if not properly clarified while communicating, it could be a safety hazard.

In my next post I will explain how communication errors are minimized in the cockpit.

Written by Azharuddin Osman

All of us are leaders to some extend and in our own way. We could be a leader at our workplace, a leader at home, a leader in our own neighbourhood or our community. So what is a leader, what are the qualities of a leader, and what do leaders do? How do we see ourselves as a leader?

Perhaps we can learn something from the cockpit discipline at how the commander of the flight, who is the captain, conducts himself during flight, as the team leader in charge of a multi million dollar asset that includes the lives of a few hundred people. The following are some of his roles and responsibilities that I have learned during my years as a captain:

• During flight, the captain is the designated leader. This role is bestowed upon him not only by the company, but also by the regulatory body. He therefore has wide ranging powers.
• He sets the tone for the flight. His crew members will react to his moods and idiosyncrasies. It is therefore important for him to be in a state that fosters teamwork and encourages the crew to be motivated to perform at their best.
• Workload management. Although all his team members have their own roles and responsibilities, the captain will distribute the workload accordingly especially during non-normal situations. He should be able to detect whenever any of his team members is overloaded with tasks.
• Leadership style. A captain will be scheduled to fly with crew members of various experience levels, ranging from a few months experience to a few years. He should therefore be able to use the most suitable leadership style depending on the experience level of his team members. The worst case would be to delegate tasks to an inexperienced crew member or to direct a very experienced crew member.
• Crew members briefing. If his mental state and behaviour sets the tone for the flight, briefing will ensure that all team members are “on the same page.” To work well as a team, it is important for the captain to conduct a briefing. This will address and resolve any differences in expectation amongst crew members. It will also allow crew members to clarify any issues or misunderstandings.
• Debriefing. In the aviation industry, experience is an invaluable asset. It is the captain’s responsibility to ensure that the inexperienced crew members learn something from the flight. Being the most experienced, he could guide them to discover lessons learned from the flight.

Written by Azharuddin Osman

If you have been in the cockpit of an airplane or if you have seen pictures of an airplane cockpit, you would have noticed a myriad of switches, buttons and dials to control the various systems and as an indication of systems status. The bigger the aircraft, the more complex is the system. These switches and buttons would have to be manipulated during each phase of the flight with different buttons or switches for different phases. Correct and timely switching of the switches and buttons is critical to the safety of the flight. Have you therefore wondered how could pilots possibly remember and not miss a single step of the procedure as dictated? The answer is the use of checklist.

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Sample of a checklist

The airplane checklist has long been regarded as a foundation of pilot standardization and safety. Studies have indicated that the non-use or the improper use of the checklist is one of the major contributing factors to aircraft incidents and accidents. Learning from the strict cockpit discipline and the effectiveness of the checklist, a lot of high-risk and critical industries such as medical care, space flight, maritime and power production have adopted the use of checklist as part of their procedures. The following are reasons why checklists are widely used in the above industries including aviation:

• Offers standardization. With the use of checklists there is no ambiguity with the various procedures. Everyone knows exactly what to expect and what to do during all phases of flight.
• Provides added safety. During a non-normal situation the checklist allows one pilot to manipulate the various switches and buttons on his own without much supervision and frees the other pilot to concentrate on flying the airplane.
• Reduces workload. Checklist reduces pilots’ workload since they do not have to memorise some of the procedures as these procedures are referenced to the checklists.
• Aligns expectations. All modern airplanes are manned by two pilots. Most airlines would have a few hundred pilots flying the same aircraft type. Checklist allows pilots to fly with any of them as whomever that they fly with, will know what to expect.
• Manages workload better. Pilots have to carry out certain procedures during different phases of the flight. By using checklist, their workload would be evenly distributed. One pilot can concentrate in flying the plane while the other pilot can carry out other required tasks.

Learning from the pilots we can use checklists in many of our daily activities. As an example we can create a checklist to plan and arrange our activities for the day. By doing so we will be able to plan our life better, reduces our workload and helps us to distribute our workload better. It ensures that we do not miss anything of importance.

Written by Azharuddin Osman

When pilots fly, they could be exposed to environment and situations beyond their control that could test their knowledge and skills to the limit. This is where their experience could play a part in dealing with adverse situations. Whilst experience is necessary what is more important is the type of training that a pilot goes through, throught his career.

In the old days all training were conducted in the actual aircraft. As such the type of training that pilots went through was limited due to safety concern and aircraft limitations. With technological advancement pilots training could now be conducted in flight “simulators.” A simulator is a training device, a replica of the airplane cockpit that simulates the experience of flying an aircraft. It has a realistic motion, sound as well as visual to display the outside world to pilots. It is so realistic, that once inside the simulator pilots will easily be immersed in the realm of a flight.

Outside view of a flight simulator

In the simulator, the flight instructor will be able to simulate all types of malfunctions that one could possibly think of. A typical pilot’s training is a flight from point A to point B, subjecting him to various malfunctions and adverse environmental conditions enroute. In a way, the training is similar to training in scenario planning in the corporate world where executives generate strategic plans to cope with future changes in the business world.

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Flight Instructor’s Station

What the simulator training does is to create an experience data base for the various scenarios that pilots could use when faced with actual conditions. That is why the more experienced he is, the more data and scenarios he will have in his “experience file.”

A typical training session - approach and landing

Lessons learned from the strict pilots discipline is the type of training that they have to go through before they could take charge of the multi million dollar airplane. A pilot is considered as the CEO and he should be able to lead and react to the changes to the environment and to make decisions affecting the flight. Perhaps we should do this too in the corporate world where executives are subject to similar simulated training before they could be at the helm of the corporation.

Written by Azharuddin Osman