Loss of Control is the leading cause of General Aviation accidents. It's estimated that a loss-of-control accident occurs every 4 days. NTSB has tasked the FAA with making Loss of Control #1 on their hit-list of things to reduce in General Aviation. There’s not a lot written in the various pilot training books regarding Loss of Control. I’ve found materials from Rich Stowell to be on the leading edge of this training, and have included some tips from his Maintaining Aircraft Control seminar in this article, as well as those from the NTSB, along with my own insight.
WHAT IS LOSS OF CONTROL?
A Loss of Control (LOC) accident involves an unintended departure of an aircraft from controlled flight. LOC can happen because the aircraft enters a flight regime that is outside its normal flight envelope and may quickly develop into a stall or spin. It can introduce an element of surprise for the pilot.
Contributing factors may include:
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•VFR into IMC,
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•Poor judgment/aeronautical decision making,
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•Failure to recognize an aerodynamic stall or spin and execute corrective action,
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•Low pilot time in aircraft make and model,
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•Lack of piloting ability,
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•Failure to maintain airspeed,
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•Failure to follow procedure, pilot inexperience and proficiency, or,
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•The use of over-the-counter drugs that impact pilot performance.
Most fatal GA accidents occur during Maneuvering, Approach and Climb. Very few pilots lose control in cruise flight in visual flight conditions.
WHY MOST ACCIDENTS OCCUR
THINK & DO
The final accident event is eventually triggered by improper Stick and Rudder skills --- what was the pilot DOING? Most LOC accidents are the result of the pilot doing too little / too late; followed by too much / too quickly.
A FEW RECOMMENDATIONS
Even though Loss of Control accidents have existed since Orville & Wilbur’s first few glider flights, there’s not much written about it in existing pilot training materials. You can read about how to properly climb, turn and descend in an airplane, and all the mechanical control movements you apply to achieve the desired result, but with the exception of the Unusual Attitude recovery procedures, there has not been a direct, head-on approach to LOC accidents. I think this will have to change if we expect to see a reduction in LOC accidents in General Aviation. Here are a few suggestions.
THE SHORT VERSION
Here’s my 10-second Loss-of-Control avoidance lesson:
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•Keep the nose just below the horizon, and
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•Keep the wings level.
Fly the wing. Class dismissed. That really is the essence of controlling an airplane. Nobody has ever lost control of an airplane that is flying straight and level below the critical angle of attack.
THE LONG VERSION
Of course, to arrive at the level of discipline required to control an airplane through all phases of flight requires a bit more knowledge and training. Here are a few ideas:
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•Better instructor training on risk management. Instructors must begin to weave discussions and demonstrations of LOC into all training at the Private, Instrument and Commercial level.
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•Emphasize AOA and load factor training, rather than just Airspeed alone.
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•Shortly after getting your Private Pilot license, consider a few hours of Basic Aerobatic or Emergency/Upset Training. Don’t think loops, hammerheads and Cuban 8’s but more along the lines of spins, spirals, falling leaf and recovery from inadvertent inverted flight, etc. Those are the things that could save your life.
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•Embrace a Risk Management model such as I'M SAFE or PAVE. I roll through I’M SAFE all the time; Medication, Stress and Alcohol are never issues for me, but the Fatigue and Eating elements are often factors to consider.
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•Avoid conditions that can lead to an aerodynamic stall, especially situations approaching wing critical angle of attack (AOA) and/or decreasing airspeed. This is particularly true at low altitudes, where pointing the nose of the airplane down – an effective recovery technique at higher altitudes – can be a limited option for recovery.
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•Seek training to ensure that you fully understand stall phenomena, including AOA concepts, and how elements such as weight, center of gravity, turbulence, maneuvering loads, and other factors affect an airplane’s stall characteristics.
LOC RECOVERY
In Handling In-Flight Emergencies, Jerry Eichenberger recommends in the case of loss of control, such as inadvertently entering a cloud, that the first thing you do is "keep the wings level and the pitch attitude under control. If you're descending and turning at the same time, it's imperative that the wings be brought back to level first. Pulling back on the wheel in an attempt to raise the nose will only result in the turn getting tighter" (resulting in a "graveyard spiral").
Regarding recovery from a spiral dive, in The Flight Instructor's Manual William Kershner observes "...pulling back on the wheel without leveling or starting to level the wings makes matters worse (tightens the turn and increases the rate of descent)". For recovery: "Reduce power, center the needle and ball (to level the wings), increase back pressure to bring the nose up. Check airspeed, altimeter, turn coordinator, adjust power as necessary."
In Emergency Maneuver Training, (Chapter 5, 'Curved Flight'), Rich describes the Elevator as the primary turn control. "Reducing the bank immediately reduces the airplane's stall speed, increases the excess power available, and decreases the power required for steady flight. These properties give us better control over the airplane".
A COUPLE LAST THOUGHTS
Here are a few things you can think about on your own (no CFI required):
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•Be prepared to recognize the warning signs of an impending stall, and be able to apply appropriate recovery techniques before stall onset.
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•Be honest with yourself about your knowledge level of stalls, and your ability to recognize and handle them.
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•Utilize aeronautical decision making (ADM) techniques and flight risk assessment tools during both preflight planning and inflight operations.
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•Manage distractions so that they do not interfere with situational awareness.
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•Understand, properly train, and maintain currency in the equipment and airplanes you operate.
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•Take advantage of available commercial trainer, type club and transition training opportunities.
EXTRA CREDIT
Here’s a great lesson from Rich Stowell that will help separate the Aviators from the Pilots. Read the question and consider all four answers. Think about it for a few seconds before you answer, as 80% of pilots in a recent survey answered this question incorrectly.
Q. WHAT MAKES AN AIRPLANE TURN?
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•Throttle,
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•Aileron,
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•Rudder, or
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•Elevator?
(Cue the Jeopardy music...)
The answer is... the Elevator. It is the Horizontal component of lift that turns the plane.
The FAA Airplane Flying Handbook is clear about the function of each control. Ailerons primarily bank the airplane (banking is not turning); rudder primarily cancels yaw (yawing is not turning in the sense being used here); throttle primarily controls altitude profile (even gliders can turn); elevator manages speed and g-load, the combination of which results in a curving flightpath (turning, looping, however you want to characterize it).
To execute the classic level turn and with all other things equal, ailerons are used to set the desired bank angle. Rudder is used to cancel the adverse yaw associated with the aileron input. Once the bank has been set, aileron and rudder must be returned essentially to neutral. The elevator must then be pulled with the proper amount of g for the bank (e.g., 2-g pull for a steady turn at 60 degrees of bank). Failing to pull the correct amount of g results in a different type of turn, but turning nonetheless.
This perspective allows for consistent explanations of things like Chandelles (during which the pilot must actually roll/bank in the opposite direction once the maneuver begins in order to maintain a constant bank angle during the first 90-degrees of heading change), inverted turns, rolling turns, loops, and so on. Watch Rich’s video (click here) and see how the type and magnitude of elevator inputs affects the character of the turns demonstrated.
ADDITIONAL REFERENCES
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•Rich Stowell’s Maintaining Aircraft Control seminar, Stall/Spin Awareness and Emergency Maneuver Training books
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•Handling In-Flight Emergencies, Jerry Eichenberger
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•NTSB’s Loss of Control page (click here)
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•FAA Airplane Flying Handbook
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•Learn to Turn YouTube video
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•Avoid Loss of Control YouTube video
© Garry Wing 2015