Think Outside the Box

They almost made it. The aircraft was on a very short final when the nose started down. The flight crew pushed the thrust levers for both wing engines up to stop the sink but the left engine spooled up faster than the right engine and the aircraft started a turn to the right, from which there was no time to recover.

Editorial Staff

Monday, April 11, 2016 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Pilots must be prepared for non-Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) situations by relying on deep aircraft knowledge, aerodynamics, and fundamental flying skills.
"Thinking outside the box" involves employing techniques like thrust vectoring and secondary flight controls to maintain aircraft control when primary systems fail or unexpected events occur.
Successfully navigating these challenging scenarios requires prioritizing "flying the airplane first" and understanding basic pitch and power settings, rather than being solely dependent on automation or specific instrument readings.

See a mistake? Contact us.

First, as a graduate of the United States Air Force Pilot Training Program, as a former U.S. Air Force pilot, as a retired Captain for a major United States air carrier, and as an instructor at a leading corporate pilot training center, I am a strong believer in Standard Operating Procedures (SOP).

However, I recognize that every now and then, some occasion will arise where there is no established procedure that may be used to solve the problem. When that happens, a pilot is sometimes left to his or her own to figure out what to do.