Flight_International_14_20_February_2017

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BRITISH AIRWAYS

14-20 February 2017 | Flight International | 31

Simulators can prepare pilots for all events

A team of volunteers from the airline help to ease any nerves during end-of-course flight

British Airways

British Airways

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The technical part of the course also ex-

plains what causes turbulence – described by

Black as “everyone’s favourite” phobia – and

how different people perceive it. Many pilots

with decades of experience in the cockpit have

never encountered the sort of severe turbulence

that many anxious flyers feel they have en-

dured in the past, and the course suggests that

alarming media reports of aircraft “plunging

thousands of feet” during such incidents are

often inaccurate and heighten ill-placed fears.

In a book produced to accompany the train-

ing programme, Flying with Confidence

course director Capt Steve Allright notes:

“Flightcrew around the world share a common

classification of turbulence: light, moderate

and severe. For the fearful flyer, even light tur-

bulence can be upsetting [while] for pilots it is

no different to a bumpy road: a small, but to-

tally safe inconvenience and very much part of

our daily lives.”

This section of the course also affords the

chance for nervous passengers to ask questions

of an airline captain: an opportunity they

might never otherwise get.

Questions on the day related to turbulence,

communicating with passengers – or not –

when something goes wrong, executing go-

arounds and pilots consuming alcohol, with

Shaw explaining each in turn.

NO SURPRISES

Speaking separately, Allright – who has been

involved with the programme for 24 years

and co-authored the BA-produced book with

psychologist Patricia Furness-Smith – notes:

“If your question starts with ‘what if’, we’ve

practised it in the simulator.”

He lists simulator-based “what-ifs” as in-

cluding “just about anything and everything

you could possibly imagine. Engine failures,

gear failure, flap failure, loss of electrics, hy-

draulics, volcanic ash encounter, decompres-

sion, fire, medical emergencies, pilot incapaci-

tation, diversion.”

Already among the most highly trained

iety around flying, as is the case for individuals

who perhaps like to drive but do not enjoy

being a passenger in a car. One of the recent

Gatwick course attendees held a private pilot’s

licence and was nervous about flying with an

airline for those very reasons.

Another attendee – who was planning a trip

to New Zealand – had previously opted against

a flight from London to Edinburgh because of

his anxiety, instead taking take a much longer

and more expensive journey by train.

British Airways

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