Fly The Aircraft First

General Aviation FAA
Joint Steering Committee Aviation Safety

Safety Enhancement Topic
January 2015
Fly the Aircraft First

NTSB accident data suggest that pilots, while distracted by less essential taskings, have lost control of
their aircraft and crashed. In light of this pilots are reminded to maintain aircraft control at all times. This
may mean a delay in responding to ATC communications and passenger requests, or not responding at all
unless positive aircraft control can be maintained throughout. In other words, Fly the Aircraft First!
It’s as Easy as A-N-C A famous example of failure to follow the

From the earliest days of flight training, established aviation priorities is the crash of Eastern
pilots are taught an important set of priorities that Airlines Flight 401. In December 1972, the crew of a
should follow them through their entire flying Lockheed L-1011 TriStar became focused on the
career: Aviate, Navigate, and Communicate. malfunction of a landing gear position indicator light
The top priority — always — is to aviate. for the nose gear. The plane subsequently
That means fly the airplane by using the flight descended into the Everglades northwest of Miami,
controls and flight instruments to direct the killing 101 of the 176 people on board.
airplane’s attitude, airspeed, and altitude. The
Despite all the advantages the crew in this
instruments directly in front of the pilot provide
situation had
important information on how well the pilot is
(there were four
doing with respect to basic aircraft control. Starting
professional
from the top left and moving clockwise, the pilot
aviators in the
gets information on airspeed, attitude with relation
cockpit), the
to the horizon, altitude, vertical speed and rate,
outcome was still
magnetic heading, and turns and coordination (i.e.,
disastrous
is the fuselage aligned with the direction of flight).
because the entire
Rounding out those top priorities are
crew became
figuring out where you are and where you’re going
engrossed in the
(Navigate), and, as appropriate, talking to ATC or
mechanical issue
someone outside the airplane (Communicate). It
and no one was
seems simple to follow, but it’s easy to forget when
left to keep the
you get busy or distracted in the cockpit.
airplane in the air.
While there were
other contributing factors in this accident, the most
critical was failure to aviate.
Continued on Next Page
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Disconnect from Distractions authority and declare an emergency. It’s always
As we can see from the Eastern Airlines better to explain your actions from a safe place on
example, distractions can be deadly in an emergency the ground than to have the NTSB speculating about
situation and can rob your focus from more critical them in a report you aren’t around to read.
items or tasks. Resources
Do everything you can to minimize
distractions from every source. If you have NTSB Accident Report for Eastern Flight 401
passengers aboard, explain sterile cockpit practices http://libraryonline.erau.edu/online-full-text/ntsb/
during the preflight briefing and again when you aircraft-accident-reports/AAR73-14.pdf
conduct the pre-landing briefing. Even if you are FAA Airplane Flying Handbook, Chapter 16,
alone, it is a good idea to self-brief. Verbally Emergency Procedures
reviewing sterile cockpit procedures can help you
www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/
establish the focused, no-nonsense mindset you
aircraft/airplane_handbook/media/faa-h-8083-3a-
need for critical phases of flight. Also consider giving 7of7.pdf
your passengers a job to do such as scanning for
traffic or calling out altitudes. FAA Risk Management Handbook, Chapter 6,
Staying ahead of the airplane is another good Single Pilot Resource Management
way to stave off distractions. That way, if something www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/
comes up during a flight, you’ll have more time to aviation/risk_management_handbook/media/
assess its impact on safety and determine an rmh_ch06.pdf
appropriate course of action. Aviate—Navigate—Communicate: FAA Safety.gov
Online Course
It’s All a Matter of Priority
www.faasafety.gov/gslac/ALC/course_content.aspx?
Part of the PIC’s responsibility for preflight cID=40
planning and conduct of the flight is to avoid “Setting Priorities,” March/April 2013 FAA Safety
situations that require a choice between breaking Briefing
regulatory barriers (e.g., Class B airspace) and
www.faa.gov/news/safety_briefing/2013/media/
breaching physical barriers (e.g., the ground or an
MarApr2013.pdf
obstacle such as a building). But when such a choice
must be made, it’s important to evaluate the risk,
make the best choice for safety of flight, and
remember the mantra of Aviate, Navigate,
Communicate.
A final thought: if you think you might be in
an emergency, then you probably are. Use the PIC’s
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General Aviation FAA

Joint Steering Committee Aviation Safety

Fly the Aircraft First

It’s as Easy as A-N-C A famous example of failure to follow the

Continued on Next Page

www.FAASafety.gov Produced by FAA Safety Briefing | Download at 1.usa.gov/SPANS

www.FAASafety.gov Produced by FAA Safety Briefing | Download at 1.usa.gov/SPANS

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