August1999
or even crewing? The Federal Aviation Administrationresearch
shows that most accidents and incidents occur because the pilot
failed to consider some critical factor during the preflight plan-
ning. Mosterrorsthat lead toincidentsare made prior to takeoff.
A National Aviation and Space Administration review of
125AviationSafetyReporting System incident reports revealed
that 90 percent of all time-related human errors occurred in the
preflight or taxi-out phase of operation.
How do pilots plan better to prevent problems? One way of
planning is touseachecklist to makesurethatnothing is
overlooked. Here is where you get to “makethe rules.” The
checklist that youdevelop is calledthe Personal Minimums
Checklist, so that you can minimize risk factors.
The FAA’s Office ofAviation Medicine,in conjunction
with Ohio State University and King Schools, has published
“Personal Minimums Checklist.” Thefollowing material has
been adapted from this publication.
This checklist is designed for use on the ground as part of
preflightplanning. The four major categories of riskfactors are:
Pilot, Aircraft, Environment, and External Pressures.
To help remember them, think PAVE —Pilot,Aircraft,
EnVironment, andExternal Pressures.
How current are you?
How rested?
Do you have any experience with the type of airspace in
which you’ll be flying?
Do you have experience with the terrain?
Is it properly equipped?
Are there any maintenance problems?
Any performance problems?
What about fuel consumption?
What is the weather like?
Is it day or night?
What terrain is involved?
Why are you making the trip?
What outside forces are pushing you?
Using a personal minimums checklist places the account-
ability on a pilot’s personal,individual, conservative choices
rather than the FAA imposingmore restrictive guidelines across
the board. It is important to set your own personal minimums.
Notice the term personal minimums: as an individual, only you
can make the right decision for yourself.
When risk factors for a flight have been identified, some
decisions need to be made about how to control them. Setting
your own personalminimums checklistfor each categoryof risk
factors when necessary is one way to do this. The FAA has
established some minimums; however, you should allow your-
self to be more conservative when necessary. Don’t feel inad-
equate if you don’t go right down to FAA minimums in every
situation.
For example,you canlegally flyVFR inuncontrolled
airspace, even in the mountains, with as little as one mile of
visibilityand clear of the clouds—but would you do that?
The regulations permit VFR flight in that kind of weather
because in some circumstances itmight be OK, and the philoso-
phy is to allow pilots to exercise their own judgment. Even for
flight in flat country, you might want a higher VFR minimum
than the FAA requires.
Whenmaking yourchecklist,alsoconsiderhowmuch
recent practiceyou have had with take-offs andlandings in
winds. Perhaps you could get an instructor to help assess your
personal skill level. Then you could decide on a limit that is
comfortable for you.
What about a percent margin over computed take-off dis-
tance from powerlines versuswindspeed thatmaybe necessary?
The balloon community has had a general rule of thumb of 100
horizontal feet for every one mile of wind speed. Thisis unreal-
isticfor all situations. Consider what you would be comfortable
withconsideringyour currentskilllevelsandthe balloonthat you
fly.
Another area is recency of experience: FAA regulations
statethat youonlyneeda biennialflightreview and, ifpassengers
are on board, three take-offsandlandingsinthe last90 days. You
can have not flown for almost two yearsand go out and do three
take-offs and landings on your own, and legally go out with
passengers wherever you like. Do you really think that is wise?
Apersonalminimum toconsider is, ifyou have notflownfor
over sixmonths, get some proficiency training withan instructor
before you fly.
