Event Details and Registration

FROM THE NORTH: Interstate 95 to Exit 3A, Pease Int'l Tradeport. You are now on the southern entrance road (Grafton Drive). FROM THE SOUTH: Interstate 95 to Exit 3, Pease Int'l Tradeport. At the top of the  ramp, turn left onto Route 33. After crossing over Interstate 95, turn right at the traffic light, follow signs to Pease Tradeport.

Causes of Communications Breakdown

Why aren't pilots "getting it straight?" An recent study of Aviation Safety Reporting System reports from pilots and controllers was examined and identified four major patterns of causal sources for pilot errors in their readbacks.

Readback Problems

1. Similar aircraft call signs. Airlines, with their hub operations, have set a major trap for their airmen. Trips 401, 402, 403 .... Flight ABC1 and XYZ1, GYC and GYE-all operating on the same frequency, at the same time and in the same airspace. "Good for marketing," protested a reporter, "no good for us."
2. Only one pilot listening on ATC frequency. "Picking up the ATIS" and "talking within the cockpit" represented a time-critical gap in backup monitoring during two-pilot operations.
3. Slips of mind and tongue. The typical human errors in this category included: Being advised of traffic at another flight level and accepting the information as clearance to that flight level; the classic "one zero" and "one one thousand" mix-up; the L/R confusion in parallel runways; the interpretation of "maintain two five zero" as an altitude rather than an airspeed limitation.
4. Mind-set, pre-programmed for..., and expectancy factors. The airmen who request "higher" or "lower" tend to be spring-loaded to "hear what we wanted to hear" upon receipt of a blurred call sign transmission.

Hearback Problems

"Why didn't the controller catch the pilot error?" was the questioning theme in the data set. While the sources for pilot readback failures were clearly delineated in the narratives, hearback deficiencies diffused into a tangle of erratic, randomly overlapping causal circumstances. But the underlying problem seems to be the sheer volume of traffic: the 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. rush of departures/arrivals; the behind-the-scenes tasks of land-lines, phones and hand-offs; the congested frequencies with "stepped on" transmissions; the working of several discrete frequencies; and, at times, the time and attention-consuming repeats of call-ups or clearances to individual aircraft. These activities, together with human fallibilities of inexperience, distractions and fatigue set the stage for hearback failures. Indeed, a series of pilot narratives recognized controller "overload," "working too many aircraft," "overwork" and frequency saturation.

Learn what you can do to make the system safer and ensure the safety of your flight!

This seminar is sponsored through the generosity of: Port City Aviation, Great Bay Aviation, and Avarax Aviation Services.

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