Thursday, April 5, 2012

BRIEFING FOR GO-AROUND

Srinivas Rao | 12:50 AM | | | | | Best Blogger Tips
Briefing for a go-around is essential as it is not carried out frequently and helps in the crew forming a clear mental image of sequence of actions/flow, refresh on applicable callouts,task sharing during the maneuver and on the deviation awareness.




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This is ideally carried out prior to top of descent along with approach briefing preparation. In addition to briefing the specifics for the go-around procedure, it's an opportunity to touch upon the level of automation being used for the approach and the task sharing thereof.This will  help increase the crew awareness level with respect to the various automation modes being used.

It is also recommended by airbus as deemed practical to briefly recall the main key points of go-around and missed approach when on the final approach or after completing landing checks. Crew also shall be go-around minded all along the final approach phase and landing and avoid falling into the trap of being indecisive and not asserting to go-around.

Operators could further specify a set of conditions/situations wherein it could be recommended to crew to initiate a go-around as a policy to help crew take a step forward to be more assertive and decisive.

Do you know of your operator or others  who have gone down this path??? Kindly comment below and let us know what you think of this.

2 comments:

  1. Srinivas, my first go-around, and only to date, was in a 747-400 on my OE. The controller put one too many planes in front of us and it was just too tight. Quite an experience, but coming out of training I was prepared.

    Now, every time on approach, I ... out loud...repeat the mechanical steps of what to do if we go. It just reinforces the process so I'll be ready.

    Your question on the mandate... the regulations on minimums dictates the missed due to weather. But for all else, I don't think a company would tell you. They want us to land, and keep things on schedule. Their goal is keeping the operation going. Pilots are wired that way too. But, we are our own monitors on a safe operation, and all have our own limits.

    One pilot might be able to push something farther than another because of his experience. So... they don't tell us. We decide, as it should be.

    The most important thing is for the pilot to always err on the side of safety. It's better to be in the Chief Pilot's office telling him why you went around, than in the ground.

    Most companies however will "NEVER" question this. Unless you don't know how to manage the plane and that's the reason for going around.

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  2. Karlene, I tend to agree with your line of view. Mental rehearsing of task sharing will definitely help in case of go-around and yes the airlines may not question as to why the go-around was done, but any deficiency in the procedure if picked up could be pointed out as part of corrective measure

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