PIA moot discusses importance of flight safety

KARACHI: Air travel is a common means of travel today. However, with air travel attached with various aspects of flight safety, this is a subject that invites the attention of experts and common travelers alike. A very interesting seminar on flight safety was recently held by the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) where local and foreign professionals discussed what flight safety is all about and how safety hazards can be countered.
The Pakistan International Airlines has been taking many initiatives with regard to flight safety that have contributed to the improvement of aviation safety in the region and worldwide. Nasser N Jaffer, chairman of PIA, said: “We need to chalk out strategies, so PIA and other operators from Pakistan can provide safety education not only to Pakistan but to the regions, such as the Middle East, South Asia, Central Asia and Africa.” Jaffer emphasised the need to apply the airline’s experience and qualifications in raising awareness about the flight safety.
While it is a fact that PIA has one of the best safety records in the industry, it continues to be concerned about the industry’s safety aspects and is willing to take positive steps in establishing high aviation safety standards. Frank Del Gandio, president of International Society of Air Safety Investigators (ISASI) appreciated this approach. He has lauded the steps that PIA has taken in furthering flight safety standards and the positive role it has played in the region.
Multi-tasking is a key aspect of a pilot’s job, whether flying a military plane or a civilian aircraft. It is a function that needs to be fulfilled with full responsibility and dexterity by pilots because it contributes greatly to maintaining the flight safety. The pilot needs to be fully organised in the multi-tasking environment of the flight cockpit because the effectiveness and management of flying tasks is visible in the attitudes, processes and procedures that the pilot undertakes to ensure safety during a flight.
The crash of a Germanwings flight in the French Alps is a horrific incident that defies the expertise of aviation psychiatrists. The impact of the disaster and the loss of innocent lives was discussed at the PIA’s safety seminar. The incident was specially mentioned by Air Marshal Saleem Arshad, a former director general of the Civil Aviation Authority and the incumbent president of the Royal Aeronautical Society (Pakistan Chapter).
Dr Unaiza Niaz, who is a renowned aviation psychiatrist, further emphasised the importance of the sound mental health of air crew. Since she has a long experience with PIA in the practice of aviation medicine, her views quite comprehensively brought out the key aspects of aviation psychiatry with reference to maintaining flight safety standards. She stressed that since aviation psychiatry is a preventive aspect of medicine, she treated or prevented conditions to which aircrews were particularly susceptible. She termed the human factor as being critical to flight safety.
Flying by wire in today’s modern airplanes that have ‘glass’ cockpits is a great boon to pilots. However, to veteran aviators like Captain Johnny Sadiq, who is a renowned pilot and has also served as Flight Check Captain in PIA, flying on auto is not quite what aviation is all about. He is concerned about the fact that today’s planes are all auto and the pilots who fly these planes are so used to flying by wire that they cannot fly manually. Capt Sadiq says pilots need to be given proper training in manual flying so that they can deal with emergencies when autopilots (meaning on-board computers) fail and the safety of passengers is unnecessarily compromised.
The phenomenon, called Situation Awareness or SA, is an aspect of flying that worries many aviation psychiatrists. One such professional psychiatrist is Squadron Leader Naveed Sultan of the PAF Institute of Air Safety. Situation awareness involves aeronautical decision making (ADM). It is a systematic approach to the mental process used by airplane pilots to consistently determine the best course of action in response to a given set of circumstances. The importance of effective ADM skills cannot be overemphasised.
While progress is continually being made in the advancement of pilot training methods, aircraft equipment and systems, accidents do occur. It is therefore considered essential for pilots to have complete, accurate and up-to-the-minute situation awareness. Sultan feels that situation awareness needs to be recognised as a critical condition for successful decision-making across a broad range of systems in achieving flight safety.
Maintaining high standards of flight safety has helped save thousands of lives around the world through independent and expert safety guidance. Flight safety issues must be further highlighted and priorities set. This can be achieved by collecting data, sharing information and establishing communications.
What is needed is effectiveness in bridging cultural and political differences for the common cause of flight safety.