Phones and tablets can provide valuable services in flight but at what point do they become a dangerous distraction. The FAA's Rotorcraft Collective offers some tips to find the balance.
Distractions from phones and tablets are not just a rotorcraft problem, they are just as risky in fixed wing operations. The FAAās Rotorcraft Collective video highlights this well, but some pilots might shrug it off, thinking it only applies to helicopters.
As a flight instructor with thousands of hours in the saddle, I can tell you firsthand, this is a real issue. When screens, cell phones, texting, start taking priority over flying the airplane, thatās when trouble sneaks in. This is not just some minor gripe, it is a serious safety concern that needs more attention.
Whatās more, this is not just a rotorcraft issue, it is an all-pilot issue, no matter what you fly. A broader push with real-world fixed wing examples would get more pilots to sit up and pay attention.
Ah yes, the intoxicating allure of modern technology that promises us the freedom from using our own intelligence to simplify our lives. Doesnāt seem to work when it comes to paying our taxes. It certainly features well when it comes to distracted driving. If only we were smart enough to use this stuff smartly.
Smart devices added to cockpits and ground bound conveyances of all types, in my opinion as a pilot, A&P, former Class A CDL OTR driver, and currently employed selling modern high performance cars, specifically Corvettesā¦is the biggest elephant in the room regarding our ability to safely maintain situational awareness. We have made the term āmulti-taskingā a virtue rather than the reality we are doing a variety of things simultaneously in a diminished way. Since we boast or look up to those who outwardly appear to push buttons, swipe through a multitude of menus, have the control of one ās digits to touch screens, etc, and seemingly possessing the ability to do this while scanning detailed engine displays, maintaining controlled flight, monitoring and anticipating ATC instructions, maneuvering the airplane as required, and still using the Mark III eyeball to look outside of all of this infoā¦we have been fooled into thinking we are masters of situational awareness. In reality, we are well beyond task saturation, in a state of information overload with the consequences of decayed performance, verbally responding in sort of a semi-catatonic state of giving a read back acknowledging the situation providing an illusion of understanding said instructions, looking but not actually seeing the current situation for what it really is. Distraction is a highly charitable description of being a ājack of all trades but a master of noneā. And not being fully engaged but thinking and believing we are, can be catastrophic. Recent events such as SW vs Flexjet at MDW, Reagan International with the Blackhawk and CRJ collision illustrates thinking you have situational awareness but did not. We are living in an age of information overload. And the results of the cognitive decline that is unavoidable is touching all facets of daily lifeā¦ including aviationā¦ or maybe, especially aviationā¦ as we attempt to integrate ā smart ā technology into daily flight.
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