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Go? Or No-Go?

Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • Pilots often face "grey area" go/no-go decisions for aircraft issues, requiring careful analysis and judgment beyond clear-cut operational limits.
  • The author's decision-making considers factors like the mission context (starting a new trip vs. continuing an existing one), the presence of redundancy, and the possibility of modified procedures.
  • This approach is illustrated by two examples: opting not to start a new trip due to a single inoperative vacuum pump given the risk of icing, but choosing to proceed with a failed auxiliary electric fuel pump by implementing modified fuel management.
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Although my Twin-Cessna 340 has been amazingly reliable, it is still a complex aircraft with two turbocharged engines, pressurization, and known-ice certification, among other items. So, predictably, it has presented me with some situations that were obvious no-go items, some that clearly were just deal-with-it-later, and some that required some careful analysis.

I tend to be a reasonably conservative pilot. I credit this attitude to far more than my share of stupid pilot tricks that didn’t end disastrously, and the rigorous training and operations of the airline where I flew.

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