Airtime: Flight simulators keep pilots sharp during pandemic
14 March, 2021
The coronavirus crisis has clipped the wings of airline pilots but those who have kept their jobs are undertaking what they can to stay sharp -- using flight simulators when they're not in the few planes in the air.
Pilots can't afford to remain grounded for too much time.
To keep their license to fly, they must meet the very least requirement set down by the International Civil Aviation Group (ICAO) to carry out three take-off and landings in the last three months.
"It's not normally a concern," says Tanja Harter, an Airbus A good320 pilot located in Munich who's also head of technical concerns for the European Cockpit Association (ECA), which symbolizes some 40,000 flyers.
The problem, with air traffic decimated or more to 80 percent of some operators' aircraft mothballed, is getting that flight time.
To bridge the gap, the most recent high-tech flight simulators allow pilots to hone their expertise in a brilliant realistic environment.
"The full flight simulator with visuals and activity resembles a normal flight 98 or 99 percent," says Otjan de Bruijn, a good long-haul pilot with KLM and brain of the ECA.
A yr since France was plunged into its earliest lockdown, nationwide carrier Air France has its simulators working up to 22 time a evening, says Philippe Lacroute, pilot and spokesman for flight procedures at the company.
As well as the ICAO suggestions, pilots must pass theoretical and sensible exams twice a year which test their ability, among other activities, to handle emergencies or equipment breakdowns.
Lacroute says the actual fact that pilots receive rusty when not flying is completely normal, adding that whenever he started driving again following the first lockdown found in France, the 1st time he parallel parked was a bit difficult "however the second time around, it had been better."
The bottom line is that there are guidelines to make sure that flying is safe, says expert Xavier Tytelman.
There were several recent U.S. press reviews describing how some "rusty" pilots had had complications landing, he noted.
The reports indicated a rise in the quantity of go-arounds, when pilots getting into area abort the approach and switch on the engines again to get altitude for another attempt.
"There are misses but within tolerated margins and that's the reason there are margins," says Tytelman.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and France's civil aviation regulator both told AFP they had not been informed of any incidents.
EASA noted even so that "whilst the reduction in pilots' operational exposure is a problem, pilots must be (current)... and where required perform several take-away and landings within a simulator, furthermore to fulfilling their operator's recurrent training and checking."
"Found in this context, the option of simulators plays a key role found in continuing to provide pilots with an adequate degree of pilot skill."
Some airlines, such as Air France, try to keep all their pilots current but others have scale back to just what must keep their skeleton offerings going.
The ECA estimates that some 18,000 pilots have been laid off or are in threat of losing their job -- a dramatic turnaround for a business which in 2019 was ramping up pilot numbers to keep pace with soaring travel demand.
Forecasts for an instant go back to normality for the airlines have got consistently been extended, with most at this point expecting it to try 2023 and even 2024.
Source: japantoday.com
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