American Airlines has become the first U.S. carrier allowing every pilot to confidentially review computer simulations of flight incidents as soon as the pilot’s plane parks at a gate. The move promises to raise the bar for training, while simultaneously enhancing operational awareness and promoting a robust safety culture.
The innovative virtual replay system, previously available to roughly 3,000 pilots flying American’s widebody aircraft, is now accessible for the company’s entire fleet and all 15,000 pilots. With commercial aviation safety increasingly under public scrutiny, the animation tool offers significant benefits through self-learning.
The goal is to routinely permit pilots, using company iPads, to privately view and self-critique replays of specific flights. The focus is on portions of trips that otherwise wouldn’t get special attention because there were no hair-raising close calls, injuries or damage to the aircraft. Still, the replays can offer key insights for those on the flight deck.
American says crews can “reflect on what occurred and, importantly, what could have been improved.”
Independent safety experts say the results could pinpoint everything from questionable landing procedures to impaired situational awareness to excessive reliance on cockpit automation. The videos can be played upon landing, later during the duty day, sitting on a crew shuttle to a hotel or even before takeoff the next morning.
Like most large carriers worldwide, American already has a separate, extensive data-collection and analysis network, buttressed by voluntary, non-punitive incident reporting.
The vast majority of pilots in the U.S., though, rarely get a chance to review details of their everyday cockpit commands and actions. Pilots almost never go out of their way to ask safety managers for access to flight replays, primarily because that would raise red flags and prompt official reviews.
Amid months of heightened concerns about close calls on runways, persistent production-line lapses by aircraft maker Boeing and other emergencies, wider embrace of the technology could demonstrate the industry’s proactive stance. Beyond blue-ribbon study groups and strident congressional rhetoric, American’s move highlights a decisive yet relatively simple and inexpensive step to help calm fears of travelers.
In April, American’s pilot union sent an email warning members about a “significant spike” in operational hazards and maintenance-related incidents. Uncovering those incipient dangers is precisely what the replay tool is intended to accomplish.
The process doesn’t entail potential punishment of any in-flight mistakes by pilots from the company or regulators. The downloads don’t involve airline management at all, which doesn’t track who uses the system.
If the cloud-based system works as expected, American Airlines pilots will gain an entirely new, real-time feedback loop to assess their cockpit skills and responses. The carrier has said the process “turns each flight into a learning opportunity.”
American said the initial widebody phase of the simulation effort received “overwhelmingly positive feedback,” with some 70% of eligible pilots trying the system. Expansion “will contribute significantly to our collaborative safety” projects with pilot union leaders, according to the carrier.
Many outside experts agree. “It’s an awesomely powerful tool to play back exactly what happened” before pilot recollections fade, according to Hassan Shahidi, president and chief executive of the Flight Safety Foundation, a leading nonprofit research and advocacy organization. To make a difference, he said, replays must be “part of the normal tasks and methodology to debrief flights,” and “not just somebody randomly deciding today I’m going to take a look.”
Other safety experts see American’s partnership with CEFA Aviation, the privately owned French company marketing the computer application, as a welcome addition to rigid, formally supervised simulator instruction. The concept isn’t intended to replace periodic “check rides” determining pilot competence, but rather to supplement existing mandatory training.
Still, skeptics question the extent to which aviators will embrace the idea. “The technology has great merit and promise, but I’m less convinced pilots will use it,” according to John Cox, a former senior captain and union safety official for another airline who runs a consulting firm. Time constraints and lack of interest from typical crews, he said, could erode anticipated benefits.
The replays aren’t aimed at unraveling accidents or the most serious types of incidents. They also aren’t designed to investigate pilots who violate drug and alcohol rules or otherwise purposely disregard safety standards. Those will be studied and handled through existing channels.
At this point, American has joined a small group of carriers seeking to significantly increase use of the technology. Europe’s leading low-cost carrier Ryanair and Japan’s All Nippon Airways are among those relying on personal replays to help improve cockpit coordination and decision-making by new and veteran pilots.
In helping announce American’s decision, Capt. Paul Fitzgerald, deputy safety chair of the airline’s pilot union, said it “represents a pivotal step forward in our safety enhancement efforts.”
More airlines should follow that trajectory.
Andy Pasztor covered space and aviation for The Wall Street Journal for more than 25 years.
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