Pilot Procedures

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Pilot Procedures
Its not rocket science

• British Airways Practical Experience
• Capt Alex Fisher

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Runway Incursions Reported(BA aircraft)
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BA Ops Manual Rules

• No specific reference to Runway Incursion
• Read back required, specifically
• Instructions to hold short, enter, land on,
  take-off from, cross, and back track an active
  runway
• Care must be taken with all figure groups and
  associated terms, using recognised and clear
  abbreviations when possible without ambiguity.
• Due to the high workload that exists whilst
  entering the runway, special care is required to
  ensure that take-off clearance has been received
  before starting the take-off roll

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BA Ops Manual Rules (2)

• Pre Take-off.
• Check that the aircraft is at the correct runway
  threshold or other designated take-off
  position.particularly in low visibility
  conditions
• Low visibility
• Caution Green centreline lights may extend past
  the Cat 2/3 hold, or may be on for the preceding
  aircraft.
• As the aircraft is lined up, confirm ..on the
  runway centreline and not the edge lights. Tune
  the ILS for centreline indication.

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Specific Examples
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Bilbao April 1999

• Normal taxi route closed due WIP
• Clearance was to holding point R/W 12
• ATC meant a/c to hold on the Rapid exit taxiway
  before entering and backtracking
• Crew didnt think of the rapid exit taxiway as a
  holding point and understood they were cleared
  to the threshold.
• Conclusion
• Two different mental models
• Crew error, but an explicit instruction (ie which
  holding point) would have helped.

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JFK June 02

• Crew told to 'taxi up to him American MD80 and
  hold short
• Read back as Follow him and hold short
• Understood as Follow him and hold ( line up
  and wait)
• Only one pilot monitoring freq (other talking to
  company)
• Expectation confirmed as departing aircraft in
  steady stream, but in this case, there was
  landing traffic
• Looked similar to LHR where conditional
  clearances are the norm, but isnt, JFK dont
  issue conditional clearances.

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LGW April and July 02 -

• 2 cases of mis-heard clearances
• Each case two aircraft lined up or started line
  up from two different holding points
• Read back in each case
• ATC did not query garble
• Specific holding point not included in the
  clearance
• Each crew expected to be next
• An instruction has been sent to all LGW
  controllers by ATC management instructing them to
  include the holding point in the line up
  instructions (eg XXX123 from Bravo line up runway
  26).
• Why dont we do that all the time?

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Ops Manual Changes

• One pilot out of the loop
• Noted increase in mistaken clearances due lack of
  monitoring
• Result of Locked door policy post 9/11(all Flight
  Deck - Cabin communication now through intercom)
• Adding emphasis on sharing content between pilots
  on return
• Perhaps norm should be to query clearance in
  every case where it has not been heard by both,
  eg Just confirm cleared.
• Adding emphasis on confirming correct radio panel
  selection on return.
• Guard against unjustified anticipation
• But encourage planning ahead to minimise runway
  occupancy time.
• All the BA incidents have an element of
  anticipation in them
• Always announce lining up and where?

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Taipei Accident

• Take-off on wrong runway
• Not runway in use, collided with construction
  equipment
• Weather appalling (typhoon approaching)
• Visibility poor in heavy rain
• Many opportunities to trap error, but
• Lighting, primary cue, misleading

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Taipei Accident (2)
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Taipei Accident (3)
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Taipei Accident Lessons

• Light spacing curve vs straight
• Green route vs On the greens
• ILS confirmation of correct runway (not just PVD
  as noted in the report)
• What is the indication when on side of runway?
• 1 dot Runway width at THR, so 1/2 dot on
  the edge

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Summary

• You can never anticipate all the ways even the
  simplest action can be screwed up
• A long absence of problems doesnt mean youve
  got it right
• We thought we were good, but the runway
  incursion initiative has made us review what we
  do - we can improve
• Dont just tell the crews to be more careful,
  they already are
• Improvements come from attention to detail

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