Fitness for Duty: Are You Ready to Fly?

Author: Robert A. Wright

There has been a lot of emphasis recently on pilots’ aeromedical fitness and ability to undertake assigned flights. The importance of these factors was underscored by the tragic crash of the German Wings airliner that reports have suggested was caused by the planned suicide of the first officer. In the aftermath of this accident, it was revealed that the first officer had a known history of mental illness.

This highly publicized event shocks us and receives extraordinary media attention. However, pilot fitness for duty can manifest in many more subtle and less visible ways. It affects all flight crews, especially single-pilot operators of light business aircraft (LBA).

Your ability to assess your fitness as a pilot of an LBA is a crucial part of managing the risk for any flight you plan to undertake. Risk management is a critical component of Single-Pilot Resource Management (SRM).

The first step in the risk management process is to identify the risk for a planned or ongoing flight. The acronym PAVE is a handy way to identify all of the risk components of a flight. The acronym stands for Pilot, Aircraft, enVironment, and External pressures.

Pilot risks are broken down into two sub-elements. The first relates to pilot qualification, currency, and proficiency. The other sub-element relates to pilot aeromedical factors.

The best way to identify aeromedical risk factors is to use another acronym: IMSAFE. This acronym stands for the following aeromedical or fitness factors that you must self-assess:

• Illness – Do I have any symptoms?
• Medication – Have I been taking prescriptions or over-the-counter drugs?
• Stress – Am I under psychological pressure because of my job, health, family, or other matters?
• Alcohol – Have I been drinking within eight hours, or am I still under the influence?
• Fatigue – Am I tired or not adequately rested?
• Emotion – Am I emotionally upset?

Being able to assess these and other risks is crucial to successful SRM and your ability to operate safely as a single pilot. Pilots should become proficient in risk management and other SRM skills, such as automation management, task and workload management, and maintaining situational awareness.

TrainingPort.net, in cooperation with Crew Resource Management LLC, offers a complete online SRM course for business aviation.

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Robert A. Wright is the president of Wright Aviation Solutions, LLC. He is a member of the leadership team of Crew Resource Management, LLC, which has been providing comprehensive CRM training to corporate flight departments for over four years.