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Greetings!
August 2009 Safety Newsletter Pennsylvania Wing - Civil Air Patrol
Lt Col Barry Metz Phone 610-429-9984
Director of Safety
Ego Busting - This month subject is called Ego Busting. A person's ego can be both good in that it shows confidence and leadership skills. It can be very bad when the person's ego interferes with good judgment and safety.
A professional knows how to communicate, understands assertiveness, encourages team work, uses situational awareness to aid in decision making and of course makes safety the number one priority. Communication skills can be listed as a major problem. The phrase "I thought I told you" comes up in many accident reports. Transfer of thought still requires the use of either verbal or written communication.
Always make sure that instructions are understood. Use other member's ideas to help you make decisions and they may have a different view of a situation that would assist you in decision making. Always work as a team and encourage team work. Make sure that every team member understands his role and encourage each member to point out any safety issues. One of the wing's accident report stated that a team member didn't point out a hazard because he thought the pilot saw it. On the National web page you can find a PowerPoint Presentation involving ego busting.
August Sentinel - In the August Sentinel, Col Letteer discusses "A loss of situational awareness due to ineffective scan". I received a phone call from a member asking what an ineffective scan means to a driver of a CAP vehicle.
I explained it this way: You come to a Stop sign at an intersection, what way do you look first, second and third? The answer is left, right and then left again. (Unless you are in England). Seems simply enough but everyday someone runs into someone because they looked the wrong way and thought the road was clear.
When parking your vehicle in a parking lot, do you look for "Pull thru" spot rather than backing in on having to back out when you leave. Many parking lot accidents occur when backing out of the parking spot because of the limited driver visibility.
Aircraft of blind spots just like cars and vans. These are areas that due to the design of the vehicle or aircraft, the driver or pilot can not see anything that might be there. Hence the use of a co-pilot or crew member to verify the area is clear. I would like to say that Pennsylvania Wing doesn't have that problem, but in the last 6 months I have seen several reports of vehicle or aircraft striking an object because nobody checked to see if it was a clear area.
Please print a copy of this months' Sentinel and post on your unit Safety Bulletin Board.
Severe Weather Radios - One recommendation from Safety this month is the purchase of a Weather Alert Radio. These radios are off until the National Weather Service (NWS) sends out an alert tone. This tone activates the radios siren or tone alerting system and allows you to hear the warning or watch information for your specific area.
What makes this radio better than other weather radios is that it is quiet until a specific tone for your area is generated. For a permanent or semi-permanent location, an AC model with battery backup is best. For mobile use, a handheld unit is good, but batteries may die and you need to update the NWS tone alert for your changing location.
Either way, it is an important piece of equipment that may help save your life. Remember for permanent locations, an AC model WITH battery backup is the best bet. Another point is to make sure the tones for your area can be programmed into your radio. This is one of those cases where you get what you pay for, so chose wisely. The model I have is REECOM Weather/Hazard Alert radio Model R-1630.
Operation CAPSafe - Operation CAPSafe is now on-line. Go to e-services and click on CAP Safety Suggestions on the left-hand menu. This should make entries easier for your Safety Suggestions as well as giving the Safety Team tracking capabilities for Operation CAPSafe entries.
I would also like to remind everyone that all prior CAP National Safety Programs, including the Safety Pledge, were terminated in December 2005.
SAFETY - First, Last and Always!
Thank you
Lt Col Barry Metz
Director of Safety
CAP PA Wing
email - bmetzcap@comcast.net
Lt Col DeEtte Riley
Assistant Director of Safety - Ground
CAP PA Wing
email - driley@awandsons.com
Maj. Jeffery Buchman
Assistant Director of Safety - Aircraft
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A Safer Pilot
A host of Web resources to make you a safer pilot Dedicated to making general aviation flying easier and safer, the AOPA Air Safety Foundation offers a number of safety education resources free of charge to all pilots. Here are some helpful Web links: Learn more in less time with interactive online courses; test your knowledge with instantly scored quizzes; search the accident database; check the schedule for safety seminars coming to your area; and print publications from the library. After you've had a chance to review these popular resources, show your support for the foundation by donating. For those unit safety officers looking for alternate means for pilots who miss their monthly safety meetings, try these from AOPA ASF. http://www.aopa.org/asf/ |
