Losing The Flick

The Flick,” the big picture, is how situational awareness often is described. As short descriptions go, it’s a good one. The big picture can mean different things to different people, of course, but it generally breaks down into knowing where you are, where you’re going, what it’s going to take to get there and whether the resources to complete the flight are available. The resources can be any number of things. In particular, they usually boil down to keeping tabs on fuel, weather and terrain. Lose the flick on either one of these three, and you could find yourself in these pages.

Key Takeaways:

• The article emphasizes "situational awareness" (the flick) as critical for pilots, requiring constant monitoring of fuel, weather, terrain, and all flight resources.
• A fatal accident involved non-instrument-rated pilots losing situational awareness during a dark night flight over remote terrain, failing to maintain adequate altitude, with fatigue from a long duty day contributing to the crash.
• This incident serves as a classic example of Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT), underscoring the dangers of fuel mismanagement, challenging night operations, and pilot fatigue.

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