When considering the industry’s take on risk management, one of the arrows in the quiver is something called personal minimums. One idea behind personal minimums is that the FAA’s regulations are minimum standards—we’re free to exceed them: If VFR requires three miles and 1000 feet, why not bump that up to five miles and 2000 feet, at least when we’re inexperienced? An ILS takes us down to 200 feet agl, but as we reach decision height, the localizer and glideslope are much narrower, and can require greater finesse. So how about adopting 500 feet instead? Aren’t these personal standards less risky? Maybe.
Adopting greater-than-required standards can be a good way for a less-experienced pilot to resolve various dilemmas arising from the knowledge he or she isn’t up to the task—whether it’s low ceilings, stiff crosswinds or fuel requirements. One reason is that human nature often results in our wanting a specific, objective standard against which to measure performance. We typically want to reduce every decision to a greater-than or less-than equation. But just changing the numbers we fly by may not be the best way to go about reducing risk, which is the objective, isn’t it?
