Page 17 - May 2015 Volume 9, Number 5

GA operations. In which case, post-flight inspections are important. They allow the crew to discover and handle any problems today that, left unnoticed, might cause a flight delay or cancellation tomorrow. Depending on how many pilots operate the airplane in question, you could be doing yourself or your fellow pilots a big favor by conducting a simple post-flight inspection, and initiating corrective action for any abnormalities found, before calling it a day.
Conclusion
Hopefully, it is obvious, that this is a very basic overview of airline safety techniques which can be easily applied to King Air operations. The depth of more specific information is overwhelming and is not the purpose of this article. Yet, in the end, it is usually the simpliest matters which are most often overlooked and become the first link in the accident chain. SOPs are only as good as the pilot’s (or crew’s) dicipline to apply them exactly as their name implies – standard! Any set of rules, guidelines, or procedure that are routinely ignored in the name of convenience or expense are effectively meaningless. In the airlines, there is a great deal of FAA oversight of pilots, mechanics, dispatchers, etc., and both the routine operations and the training/ checking events that each are subjected to. Because it
is impractical to impose such levels of oversight on all operators of turbine aircraft, the burden of such oversight rests on the owners and operators themselves. While we may be policing ourselves out there for the most part, that should not relax us. Instead, it should encourage us to be even more vigilant and to seek ideas for safer operations from any avenue that has proven itself to be high-achieveing in that regard. KA
About the Author: Matthew McDaniel is a Master & Gold Seal CFII, ATP, MEI, AGI & IGI. In 25 years of flying, he has logged nearly 15,000 hours total, over 5,500 hours of instruction-given, and over 2,500 hours in the King Air and BE-1900. As owner of Progressive Aviation Services, LLC, (www.progaviation.com), he has specialized in Technically Advanced Aircraft and Glass Cockpit instruction since 2001. Currently, he also flies the Airbus A-320 series for an international airline and holds six turbine aircraft type-ratings. Matt is one of less than three dozen instructors in the world to have earned the “Master Certified Flight Instructor” designation for six consecutive two-year terms. Mr. McDaniel can be contacted at (414) 339-4990 or matt@progaviation.com.
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MAY 2015
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 15