Introduction To Single-Pilot Resource Management

Thursday, February 20, 2020 at 09:24 AM ET

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The NBAA Safety Committee has developed this resource to assist single-pilot operators of light business aircraft by outlining critical elements of risk management and providing a tool to use in guiding risk management procedures before and during flight.

Key Takeaways:

The NBAA Safety Committee introduced TEMA (Transfer, Eliminate, Mitigate, Accept) as a new risk management acronym for single-pilot light business aircraft.
"Transfer" involves front-loading planning to shift risk, such as using commercial airlines for critical flights if conditions are poor.
"Eliminate" focuses on removing risk by canceling or rescheduling low-priority events when conditions are unfavorable.
"Mitigate" means taking actions to reduce challenges (e.g., departing early for weather), while "Accept" requires pilots to acknowledge any remaining risk after all other strategies have been implemented.

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I worked with the NBAA Safety Committee Single-Pilot Work Group to assemble the association’s Risk Management Guide For Single-Pilot Light Business Aircraft, pictured at right. One of the new concepts in the Guide is one more risk-management acronym: TEMA, a variation on “team,” which stands for Transfer, Eliminate, Mitigate and Accept. Highlights include these elements:

• Transfer: Front-load your flight- and risk-planning tasks well ahead of a planned flight. If you absolutely have to be somewhere on a date certain, and conditions aren’t promising, planning ahead will give you time to transfer the risk to the airlines.