The emergency exercise is something that every instructor should incorporate into every lesson. The way emergencies are handled always depend on what aircraft you are flying, single pilot or two crew operation, day/night, IFR/VFR…the list is endless. this article will primarly focus on dealing with simple emergencies single pilot, in a single engine aircraft during PPL training.
Reference Material
• FTM
• POH Emergency section, Any other supplemental POH information
• Any other reference that encourages you to be competent in dealing with emergencies
• Past experiences of others
Preparation
• You can always prepare for emergencies! Sit in the aircraft and rehearse memory drills to build muscle memory.
• Review the POH (chapter 7 aircraft systems) to develop a better understanding of how or why a malfunction would occur or to understand how different systems affect the aircraft’s instrument indications.
• Review human factors associated with dealing with emergencies.
1. What is the transponder code for an emergency situation?
2. What is your primary focus when dealing with an emergency?
• Write down your questions!
Tips/Rules of Thumb/Theory
• If any problem occurs in flight, the most essential task it to maintain flying speed and control the airplane flight path. The emergency must be handled in conjunction with this primary task.
• Preparation is not only about managing external risks, but about limiting the likelihood that you’ll unwittingly add to them. When you’re the author of your own fate, you don’t want to write a tragedy.
• Don’t learn emergency procedures for the sake of knowing them, learn them because in the event you’ll need to use them, you’ll be competent at dealing with the situation.
• In the event of multiple emergencies, prioritize risks, understand how it all interrelates and decide which ones must be dealt with immediately. Do this by understanding the theory and the basic interactions between systems.
• If you’re in the sim practicing, take the simulation seriously and engage as fully as you would in real life.
• Don’t expect the best but prepare for the worst – this is misleading. There is a whole spectrum of bad possibilities. The worst is not having a plan for how to cope.
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All of this information on pilot training and flight training in Canada is also available at www.flighttrainers.ca.