Why So Much Time Is Spent Training on Emergencies

The more complex the airplane, the more we train.

Tuesday, April 18, 2023 at 12:14 PM ET

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Often failure to recognize an issue with aircraft performance can lead to an accident or incident. [File photo: Adobe Stock]

Key Takeaways:

Emergency training is crucial for pilots to maintain control, accurately identify issues, and take prompt action, transforming potential emergencies into non-events by enabling proactive responses instead of panic.
Effective training requires realistic simulations that prepare pilots to identify issues accurately, as misinterpreting emergency signs during flight can lead to confusion and incorrect responses.
Pilots must have imperative knowledge of aircraft systems and strictly adhere to official emergency procedures published in the Pilot's Operating Handbook (POH), rather than relying on unreliable "tribal knowledge."
Neglecting critical areas like aircraft performance calculations, pre-flight checks, understanding systems, or ignoring maintenance advisories significantly increases the risk of preventable accidents.

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“If flying is so safe, why does so much of the training focus on dealing with emergencies?”

CFIs hear this question frequently, often from the parents of a younger learner. The first time it happened to me, the learner was preparing for solo, and we had been practicing landings with a simulated loss of engine power per FAR 61.87. The learner told his father he had ‘practiced landings without the engine,’ and the dad naturally became concerned. The chief CFI explained we were following the FAA-approved syllabus, and we showed the parent FAR 61.87 and stressed the word ‘simulated’ in ‘simulated loss of engine power.’ Dad calmed down after that.