Pilots Reportedly Making More Mistakes After Months Without Flying
One of the industries most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic is commercial aviation. Closed borders, confinements, tourism at a standstill ... airlines have seen their flights shrink. Thousands of employees in the sector have therefore had to go on partial unemployment or in reduced activity .
By YEET MAGAZINE | Updated 0439 GMT (1239 HKT) October 16, 2021
The pandemic has slowed down commercial flights considerably and the crews have lost touch.
One of the industries most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic is commercial aviation. Closed borders, confinements, tourism at a standstill ... airlines have seen their flights shrink. Thousands of employees in the sector have therefore had to go on partial unemployment or in reduced activity .
As the virus finally recedes and travel restrictions gradually ease, commercial flights are slowly resuming their previous pace and many pilots are climbing back into a cockpit for the first time in months.The planes are flying again. Should we embark?
Muscle memory and automatisms are blunted, emergency procedures take a few extra seconds to be put in place… as a result, Bloomberg reports that minor errors made by pilots are on the increase .
Loss of automatisms
A study by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Ariz . Found that incidents of loss of habits reported to the Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) increased sharply during the pandemic.
ASRS is an official platform on which US aviation professionals can anonymously report problems that arise during a flight. The air authorities are aware of the problem, the International Air Transport Association has even published guides for airlines to better manage the return of pilots behind the controls .
Fortunately, most of the incidents observed were minor errors, and it is possible to properly prepare the pilots for the resumption of flights and to restore their automatic control. But more simulator sessions and more recurring tests take time and money.
What to do with 16,000 planes grounded?
The Australian airline Qantas has an entire team dedicated to this subject. But Qantas is among the companies that has best managed to absorb the crisis. Companies with less favorable financial conditions could take more risks. And in the air, savings can cost hundreds of lives.
