Just because some business aircraft meet the technical specifications of Level 4 Automation guidelines doesn’t necessarily mean all the flight crews operating these sophisticated systems completely understand the procedures they’re asking the computers to fly.
Recently, two airports separated by some 2,500 miles have experienced nearly the same number of pilot deviations on respective RNAV SIDs. The new RNAV procedures include the use of “Climb Via” techniques that were implemented by the FAA nearly four years ago in an attempt to simplify IFR departures.
At New Jersey’s busy Teterboro Airport (TEB), NBAA reports a significant increase in pilot deviations,”14 in the first two weeks of February alone.” At TEB, the RUUDY 6 RNAV departure from Runway 24 is the cause of most of the recent headaches due to the level-off required right after departure. Even during earlier versions of this departure, the requirement to cross a point just a few miles southwest of the airport at 1,500 feet to avoid conflicting overhead traffic into Newark Liberty International Airport has been problematic. Pilots regularly blew it. Now, even with complete automation, the busts continue as some pilots have been setting in the 2,000 foot top altitude, completely missing the lower altitude restriction they must comply with first.
Both the FAA and the Teterboro Users Group are concerned enough that the agency recently published a review (https://www.nbaa.org/ops/cns/pbn/climb-via/RUUDY-LTA.pdf) of the departure procedure, as well as suggestions aimed at keeping all the aircraft in the area safely separated.
At Henderson Executive Airport in Las Vegas, the SID departing Runway 35 Left is the problem, with busts there too. The Henderson has experienced enough pilot deviations to warrant a letter of their own similar to the one issued for TEB. In Nevada however, the problem has grown to levels that tower personnel have also implemented a temporary procedure to verify pilots understand the 6,000 foot mandatory crossing altitude at the KITTE waypoint.
“Pilots are interpreting their clearance to mean the higher assigned altitude, or are simply not setting up their autopilots and flight directors to capture published altitude restrictions,” said NBAA Access Committee member Keith Gordon, who participated on the team that help create the climb via procedure. “RNAV restrictions can be a matter of life and death. Blowing through the KITTE altitude restriction puts you in the path of traffic landing at McCarran International Airport and that understandably makes controllers nervous.”
The big questions of course is why so many pilots seem to be misunderstanding these departure procedures. I asked Rich J. Boll II if the new procedures might just have become too complex. Boll is Chair of the Access Committee’s Airspace, ATC, and Flight Technologies Working Group. He said the question has been raised before, adding that, “Climb via was originally designed for Airbus and Boeing aircraft operating with the highest level of automation. When we use aircraft with lower levels of automation, we add more work for the pilot.” Boll also has begun questioning how well pilots are being trained in the various levels of automation on complex procedures like TEB and HND.
A recent NBAA memo warned pilots that the consequences of these continuing pilot deviations include more than a slap on the hand. “We are soon losing a long-standing PBN departure procedure at Eagle, CO because of repeated & frequent pilot deviations, more surprisingly so since this is a special procedure involving a higher level of pilot knowledge and training. There is the very real possibility of losing other PBN procedures like those at TEB and HND if these pilot deviations do not stop. It also threaten efforts to expand the use of PBN procedures at these airports, such the current work ongoing to develop an RNAV or RNP SID for TEB’s runway 19.”
The NBAA said, “It is important pilots understand the purpose of the “Climb Via SID” phraseology. It should trigger them to carefully review the assigned SID for any published altitude restrictions, and be especially alert for “at” and “at or below” altitude restrictions. Pilots should program their aircraft’s automation to ensure these altitude restrictions are complied with during the climb. And of course, if pilots are unsure of any element of the SID, the best time to ask is while the aircraft is still on the ground.
