Week 70: Manual handling, incapacitation, and ECAM

Quite a busy week of flying for us, working through a lot of manual handling so we feel more confident in a wider range of possibilities. Of note were TCAS and EGPWS manoeuvres, which if completed correctly should see the aircraft avoid trading paint with another aircraft, or bumping into terrain. TCAS stands for traffic alert and collision avoidance system, and is a useful system that prevents mid-air collisions. Put simply if both aircraft are equipped with TCAS, they will recognise there is a potential for a loss of safe separation, and come up with a complimentary resolution to solve the problem. These resolutions will only give a command in the vertical plane, requiring the pilot to either climb, descend or level off, and they are designed to achieve a miss and not full legal separation. 

TCAS encounters can be quite stressful, because the system 'waking up' indicates the potential for a collision, so the pilot must respond quickly and accurately to any commands. In the case of terrain avoidance, a system called the enhanced ground proximity warning system (EGPWS) is used, which utilises a terrain database to enhance warning. Again put very simply, the system is designed to prevent unplanned comtact with the earth, normally referred to as CFIT (controlled flight into terrain), which unfortunately was to blaim in many accidents a few decades ago. 

In both cases, the pilot must respond quickly an accurately. The procedure is what is known as a memory drill, so the response must occur without reference to any written material or checklists; quite obvious considering how quickly the situation may deteriorate, and faffing with checks might end up with sheep and cows getting quite a bit closer!

On one of the flights, we had the opportunity to see what an incapacitation scenario feels like. As cadets in the Captain's seat we had to pretend to lose consciousness, so whilst flying as First Officer we had complete control of the aircraft. It's easy to say this is what we had to do during earlier training on light aircraft, but the Airbus is a tad more complex and having two pilots to spread the load makes normal operations more manageable. That said, with a bit of thought the whole affair is doable.

Finally we've also looked at ECAM operations, specifically what happens during failures. ECAM is the electronic centralized aircraft monitoring system, and rather than running through dozens of paper checklists, the ECAM should indicate the failure and give a work-through to solve the problem. There arent ECAM drills for everything, but the majority of problems encountered in normal operations should be catered for. 

Tomorrow we have a nice early sim starting at 0515, then I have my competency assurance on Tuesday morning. Here's hoping the next few days go well, then its a week off ahead of the final push through advanced!