Thunderstorms are mostly common in the spring and summer months. However, they can occur in the winter months on occasion. All thunderstorms need three basic ingredient in order to form: Moisture, rising unstable air, and inertia that causes the motion of air to rise like the sun's heating. A typical thunderstorm has three life cycles. First, is the developing stage which includes rising air that forms cumulus puffy shape clouds. Next, the cumulus cloud towers into a massive form called cumulonimbus or mature stage. The final stage is the dissipating which produces heavy rain, hail, icing, lightning and wind shear. The final stage is the most dangerous part of a storm. Pilots are well train to keep away from thunderstorms during approach and takeoff phase of flight. Pilots usually stay 15-20 miles away from storms by using their weather radar. Thunderstorms are also rated on a scale from 1 to 5. A level one storm is a quick moving storm that typically pops up in the summer and dissipates within 10 minutes of dropping rain. A level five storm is usually a squall line or monster storm that covers a large area. Level five storms usually produces winds in access of 58 mph.

                                     

Yesterday, there was an NTSB report release of an Air Canada International flight from Canada to Europe that had a flight disturbance. Eleven passengers were slightly hurt. However, this time it wasn't flight turbulence but rather pilot induce turbulence. What you may or may not know is that over the North Atlantic Ocean on a clear night it's easy to see the planet Venus from flight. It would be hard to pick up for the average passenger unless someone pointed it out. However, on this flight the pilot was on a routine nap which international flight crews are allow to do as long as one pilot is awake. When that pilot woke up he was slightly disorientated. He saw what looked like another aircraft on a collision course to his aircraft. He took quick evasive action diving the aircraft a couple hundred feet to avoid this pending collision. The only problem was that there was no other aircraft. It was just the planet Venus. At night the planet Venus can easily be mistaken for another aircraft because it has the same glow of lights like an aircraft flying at night. I could see how this could happen because it almost happen to me on my first flight over the Atlantic Ocean several years ago. Fortunately this was a minor incident with no serious injuries but it's worth pointing out to the public for aviation knowledge.

This week there was a remarkable story of a 80 year old woman who took over the controls of an advance twin engine turbo prop and landed safely. The plane was flown by her husband who was the pilot. He collapse and died in his seat. The woman had no formal flight training. She was helped by another pilot who heard her radio distress in the air. The other pilot was a flight instructor who flew beside her aircraft. The situation got worse when one engine quit because of a lack of fuel. However, she was still able to remain calm and stay focus. The flight instructor was able to determine her speed and help her navigate to the nearest airport and land safely. It is one thing for a person with no flying experience to land a single engine airplane but it is truely a miracle to be able to land a twin engine turbo prop on one engine with no flight experience.  This is a remarkable story of what a person could achieve if they have self-confidence in themselves. 

Today there was another incident of a flight crew member having a mental episode in flight. This makes the second incident in two weeks of a flight crew member becoming ill and acting erratic on a flight. In the latest incident it was a Jetblue captain who's erratic behavior in the cockpit cause the first officer/copilot to take decisive action and lock the captain out of the cockpit. Jetblue flight 191 took off out of JFK inbound to Las Vegas. The first officer notice the erratic behavior of the captain shortly after takeoff who was excessively pushing buttons in the cockpit. The first officer waited for a bathroom break before he decided to lock the captain out of the cockpit. The captain became more erratic by banging on the cockpit door before the passengers eventually subdued him. So, how could something like this happen? Don't airlines have a good screening process for pilots?  The answer is yes. Most major airlines do have a thorough screening process including a psychological evaluation before they hire a pilot. Some screening may include a personality test and a mental health evaluation. Besides that, the FAA requires self disclosure of any mental health illness such as bipolar on it's flight physical. All airline screening requires a 10 year FBI background check which is standard. In the case of this Jetblue pilot, it's possible he passed all initial screening and the illness developed after he became employed. What about firearms? Some pilots are trained to carry firearms. Well, in that situation those pilots go through a more advance vetting process and advanced psychological screening before being allowed to carry a firearms.

What is the most dangerous part of flight is often asked by the curious. I think most pilots would say takeoffs and landings are the most challenging. The main reason for this is that your close to the surface already. If you throw in another distraction like an engine failure on takeoff from an airport surrounded with mountains this could make things challenging. Fortunately, the airlines train pilots for this exact worse case scenario. We don't just train for a simple engine failures, but an engine failure in the middle of a winter blizzard while operating from anyone of the most challenging airports in the country. Similarly, landing phase of flight has it's hazards too. One is landing long or with a tailwind. Landing long is simply taking too long to land on the runway and using up too much runway. Pilots are told to guard against conditions that may pose a threat on landing such as tailwinds, being too fast on approach, or ice slick runways. One thing we do to improve safety on landing if the runway is slick or have a slight tailwind on approach we could use auto brakes. Auto brakes on an airplane allows the computer to automatically start applying brakes to the aircraft on landing. The airplane computers do a much better job of applying brakes to the aircraft then the pilot could. The passengers don't feel the auto brakes and it brings the aircraft to a full stop quicker then a pilot would.  Although takeoffs and landing will always be the most challenging part of flight, the airplane automation, technology ,and training have close the gap on improving safety.

Don't lose sleep over your next flight! Turbulence is a natural state of the atmosphere and, fear of turbulence can be managed. Since the birth of aviation, turbulence has been the thing that we just have to deal with when flying. You either love it, or hate it. Most people just get use to it. However, for fearful fliers they sometimes never get use to it. There are five tips you can take on your next flight to help make it a smooth one.

The first tip, is to get the idea that bigger is better out of you head. When it comes to airplanes & turbulence it's the climb performance of the airplane that matters. Why is this important? Well commercial aircraft travel within the troposphere which is our lowest atmospheric layer where all out weather occurs. Every aircraft has a service ceiling which is the maximum altitude that aircraft can climb to. Most commercial aircraft fly between an altitude, or flight level from 300-430. Flight level 300 is 30,000 feet. As the aircraft burns more fuel & becomes lighter it can climb to a higher altitude up to it's service ceiling, or maximum altitude. Sometimes all it takes is a change of altitude of a thousand feet to get out of a layer of turbulence. The aircraft with the higher service ceilings have more advantages when it comes to changing altitude. Older aircraft are limited in how high they can climb. This is the reason why the size of the aircraft don't matter. Some small 70 seat regional jets have better climb performances then older aircraft like the MD-80 that carries 150 passengers. To find out the service ceiling of your aircraft you can sometimes go to the airlines website, or to the back of the airline magazine were they have their aircraft fleet information. If you know the aircraft you will be flying already then you could also go online to research this information.

The second tip is to fly in the early morning, or late evening hours to avoid turbulence. This is because most turbulence is caused by the sun's radiation as it heats the earth's surface causing updrafts & clouds. This tip works most of the time, but not always. For example, if you have inclement weather in the morning such as thunderstorms, or a fast moving cold front.in the vicinity then you will still get some turbulence. In the summer time it's especially important to fly very early because most thunderstorm occurs in the afternoon.

Third tip is if you find yourself experiencing turbulence on a flight, it's a good idea to turn your air vents fully open. If you have a row to yourself use all the air vents as this will help you avoid sweating & reduce the effects of becoming dehydrated.

Fourth Tip is to use technology such as apps. There are a host of new apps out there for the iphone that can help with fear of turbulence, or fear of flying. Some apps such as, " Let Panic Go & Turbcast " do a wonderful job for fear of flying, & turbulence.

The fifth & final tip is try to sit over the wing root section of the airplane. The wing root area is just right before the wing & at the edge of it. If you look out the window you should be able to see the wing area. The wing root area is the center point of gravity of the aircraft & happens to dampens the effect of turbulence a little better. It is also common to see the wing flex & bend a little so don't worry if you see that. An airplane wing is built strong enough to handle a lot of stress.

Just recently, I reviewed an interesting fear of flying book called Dragons of thin air which is a self-help book for anyone who likes information delivered in a different way wrapped up in a little bit of fun and humor. Written by an airline pilot Doug Worrall and aviation educator in association with a Fear of Flying psychologist, Dragons of Thin Air is packed with good info that you need to know to combat your fear, presented in a sense of humor and words of encouragement. It's a great book for children or adults. It's packed with good tips like tornado techniques for dealing with panic attacks, deep breathing exercises and simple explanations about aerodynamics. It talks about the myths about flying that can cause false perceptions that lead to the fight or flight response. It teaches steps on how to have more control when you fly which is something I also advocate on my courses. This book is one of my favorites so far. For more information on this book you could visit his website at : www.dragonsofthinair.com.

                                                           

The aircraft dispatcher is considered to be an additional crew member. The only difference is they don't sit in the cockpit put instead behind a computer screen sitting at a desk. The dispatcher's job is to work with the captain of that flight and plan all the routing, fuel planing, provide forecast weather, & load manifest. Once the captain & dispatcher agree that a flight can be made safely, then it is release. The captain finalize that release by signing a dispatch release certifying that they agree to the terms of the release, flight planning, fuel, and are healthy to fly. Even after the flight is release the dispatcher is continuously checking up on the flight looking for any potential problems such as severe thunderstorms along the route. The dispatcher could plan ahead by checking for conflicts with weather & call the captain to change the route mid-flight to create a better and smooth flight path for the passengers. The dispatcher is a valuable crew member behind the scenes.

Airplane engines have become very reliable over the last several decades. Aircraft manufacturers test engines for one or two large bird strikes, and they are tested under extreme weather elements. If anyone has any doubt that an airplane could fly quite some distance with a lost of both engines then they need to look no further then the space shuttle. The shuttle glides from the earth's orbit back to Cape Canaveral in Florida. It is estimated that an airplane with dual engine flame out could glide around 100 miles at 35,000 ft. Making a glide from high altitude to an airport is called a dead stick landing. Their was a successful landing of a Airbus-330 over the Atlantic by Air Transit Airlines in 2001 that landed safely on the island of Azores which is a Portuguese air base. The cause of that dual engine flame out was caused by a fuel leak. Many airlines have revise their curriculum's to include that in many training scenarios. 
Today, engine failures remain rare. However, when it does happen pilots are well drilled in procedures to fly safely out of danger.

Early this week the FAA has come out with new rules for airline pilot crew duty rest. The new rules was created after a Colgan Airlines commuter crashed 3 years ago in Bufallo, NY. The aviation industry has been debating these changes for a long time. But because of the result of the colgan crash, strong lobbying from the victims families and NTSB recommendations, the FAA felt the pressure to change the rules. The NTSB in most post accident investigations has cited crew fatigue as a partial factor in most accidents that had occurred in the last several decades. Just to give you an idea of some of the FAA new changes include: flight duty times ranges from 9-14 hours, flight time limits of 8-9 hours, minimum crew rest periods increase from 8 to10 hours. One other thing coming is that pilots will have to sign paperwork ensuring they are fit for duty if they are commuting. It is estimated that around 20% of airline pilots commute to work.