Safety

Making the evaluation that Parson suggests
starts with getting solid weather information. To
get tips on that critical process, I contacted Monica
Bradford, the Flight Service Safety and Operations
Manager of the FAA’s Flight Service Directorate. This
office manages the contract with Leidos (formerly
known as Lockheed Martin).
The world has changed since the days when
a telephone call to Flight Service was your only
option for a weather briefing. You can now visit a
number of government and commercial websites
to get a briefing. “Our data shows pilots primarily
use web-based tools to obtain flight services, with
95-percent of FAA-provided preflight briefings done
via web services,” Bradford explained. “Regardless
of what website they use, pilots should verify
the weather sources. It is helpful to ensure that the
website logs briefing activity and that it can provide
an alert when the data is no longer valid. Pilots are
not required to use FAA-contracted websites, but
www.1800wxbrief.com and www.duats.com both
have FAA oversight.” She also urges pilots to take
advantage of the expertise Flight Service can offer:
“If you are unsure about things you see online, contact
a Flight Service specialist.”
More Than Just a Map
The terrain, or lack thereof in the case of water,
is more than just a pretty scene to enjoy from aloft. It
may or may not impact your thinking and planning.
Is the terrain rough or flat? Is it wooded or open? Is
it densely populated or uninhabited? All of these
things play a role in safely traversing the environment
of your flight. They also potentially impact
factors in other areas of the PAVE checklist, like
equipment or pilot skills. These impacts may be regulatory
in nature, like supplemental oxygen requirements
to get over high terrain. Or they may be more
practical, like ensuring that you have survival gear
when flying over desolate areas or floatation
gear when crossing large bodies of water.
Terrain can also put your piloting skills to the
test. Mountain and bush flying are skills generally
not taught at most flight schools. Along the east
coast, mountains can generally be avoided by simply
flying over them — not a problem
for most GA aircraft. The western
part of the country, though, even the best-equipped airplane
When it comes to weather flying,
boasts peaks that are beyond
cannot make up for a pilot with
the operating capability of most
deficient knowledge or skill,
GA aircraft.
and even the world’s best pilot
Clearly, these factors create
additional risk if you don’t have
cannot overcome the performance
the appropriate training or experience,
not to mention currency and proficiency.
limitations of a given airplane.
Obstacles are another potential hazard in the
flight environment. Most of us have seen thickets
of “airplane stickers,” aka antennas and cell phone
towers which can appear anywhere — including
near airports. When flying in an unfamiliar airport
environment, be sure to study a current chart to note
the location of these obstacles.
The Regulatory Rainbow
Another aspect of the GA operating environment
is airspace and ATC. Here in the nation’s capital, we
have a rainbow of restricted and controlled airspace.
Between Mode C, Class B, Restricted, and Prohibited
airspace combined with a Special Flight Rules Area
(SFRA) and Flight Restricted Zone (FRZ), flying
in the nation’s capital may have you thinking our
Terminal Area Chart (TAC) is something out of an
Onion story.
Another example of complex airspace
is the area surrounding
New York City.
January/February 2017 FAA Safety Briefing 21