![One of the first things pilots learn is to always look for emergency landing areas. [Courtesy: Meg Godlewski]](https://flyingmag1.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/IMG_0183.jpg?width=1200&height=900)
Question: If flying is so safe, why do pilots in training spend so much time practicing for emergencies?
Answer: That is like asking why doctors spend so much time learning how to treat serious illnesses and emergencies like heart attacks and strokes. You have to be prepared for the worst.
And, similar to someone in the medical field, a pilot will focus on procedures and practices to keep the airplane “healthy,” as well as learn to identify symptoms of a potential problem, troubleshoot the problem, and what to do if the approved procedure for fixing the problem doesn’t work.
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Good training includes practicing or at least verbalizing procedures for emergencies. For example, the “if there is a problem on takeoff” procedure.
When I am flying with another pilot, I make it a habit to recite the procedure aloud, and I insist my learners do as well. Embracing this briefing has saved at least two of them from having a bad day, such as when the airspeed indicator failed on takeoff (there were spiders in the pitot tube). The learner pulled the power to abort the takeoff, and she calmly announced she was taxiing back to the ramp.
No panic, just a sense of “This is not correct. Let’s fix it.”
When you are familiar with emergency procedures and practice them, if something goes wrong in the real world, you will likely act, not react, and live to tell the story.
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