Flight Order 29

CAANZ now require us to have a Threat and Error Management policy for our flight operations. This is an attempt to rationalise what we would have previously described as airmanship and common sense, neither of which seem to be very common these days.

For the CAANZ policy, you should visit their website and find the item under Pilots on the home page. It is an extensive document with a lot of detail, worth reading, but not easily applied to an operational situation.

There is no hard-and-fast rule on how to handle TEM for every situation which might arise. A very simple rule would be that if it looks wrong and feels wrong, don’t do it!

Air New Zealand Ltd have developed their own version of how to address this issue, and therefore it is appropriate for the Air New Zealand Flying Club to follow the Company lead and adopt the same philosophy but suitably adapted for the operation of our small General Aviation aeroplanes.

The detail of addressing threat and error management has been broken down into a simple mnemonic, T-CTWO, all or any parts of which may be applied to a flight from the time you start planning the flight at home, to when you arrive back at home and go through your memory of the flight. The purpose of T-CTWO is to act as a reminder so that your foresight and hindsight is aroused to mentally map out how you will conduct a flight, and how you might correct or safely compensate for any errors which occur during the operation. It is a learning tool as well as a planning and execution tool.

When you get into one of our ANZFC ‘planes, you should see the mnemonic T-CTWO as a black-on-white sticker on the instrument panel. Use it as a memory aid in the same way you would use the Drill of Vital Actions memory aid. So, what does it stand for?

T - Is simply there as a heading for the action, which is THREATS IDENTIFIED.
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C - Stands for CHART.
T - Stands for TERRAIN.
W - Stands for WEATHER.
O - Stands for OPERATIONS.

Now here’s what to do:-
CHART – Choose the appropriate charts and check the validity date. Eyeball the possible routes for clarity and any possibility of error during use. Keep the charts handy for use and self brief for take-off, en-route, and approach for landing.
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TERRAIN – Check the nature of the terrain on your proposed route and any alternative route chosen. Consider how you would conduct the flight if your first choice of route or destination becomes unavailable during the flight, including the possibility of having to turn-back.
WEATHER – For any flight, the weather is a critical element, and if you have the luxury of planning the flight well in advance you should keep a close watch on what is happening and how the forecasts and reports are working out. There is plenty of information available on the Net, and your own experience coupled with your Mark 1 Eyeball should be used to the fullest extent. Remember that the on-site investigation of most weather related accidents takes place in full sunshine with little wind, ie, the conditions in which the accident occurred have long passed by!
A combination of mountainous terrain and doubtful weather is always an invitation to disaster, as is a combination of seemingly benign flat terrain, or ocean, but with low cloud or fog.
Attempted VFR in IMC almost always has fatal results.
OPERATIONS – Operational considerations include how the CTW factors above will affect the flight. Immediate time-of-flight factors to consider for take-off might follow the mnemonic WATSWASO, the first parts of which are directly applicable to the Performance Charts:-

WEIGHT – Confirm within the designated Weight and Balance envelope.
ALTITUDE – Calculate the current Pressure Altitude.
TEMPERATURE – Note the current temperature and consider the effect on performance.
SURFACE and SLOPE – Runway surface type and slope for advantage/disadvantage.
WIND – How much headwind, tailwind, crosswind.
ATC – With or without ATC, consider the effects of traffic density.
SUN/MOON – Up-sun and down-moon traffic are hard to spot.
OTHER – Other factors, if any, peculiar to the nature of the operation.

Remember too, that you and your passengers/student while on the ground or in the air may also pose a problem for any number of reasons. Non-savvy passengers and students are a threat at any time. Be alert, and run a quick second check on your decisions without taking so much time over it that you create a further problem for yourself or others.

As previously stated, there is no hard-and-fast rule on how to handle TEM. The main thrust of the concept is to help ensure that unplanned events don’t become incidents or accidents. If any part of T – CTWO is not applicable, say the heading and state N/A.

In conclusion, think T – CTWO, and use all or any part of it as appropriate at the time.