“Got Weather?” Where / How Did You Get It? “Got Weather?” Where / How Did You Get It?

Spotlight Accident: No weather briefing

Spotlight Accident: Weather conditions

Spotlight Accident: Result With a pre-flight briefing, the result may have been different

Required Preflight Action — Preflight action. Each pilot in command shall, before beginning a flight, become familiar with ALL AVAILABLE INFORMATION CONCERNING THAT FLIGHT. This information must include— (a) For a flight under IFR or a flight not in the vicinity of an airport, weather reports and forecasts, fuel requirements, alternatives available if the planned flight cannot be completed.* *Always have an out…

Weather-Related Accident Causes Questions: 1.In what percentage of total accidents is weather a cause or factor? 2.What are the Top 3 weather conditions which were a cause or factor in a weather- related accident?

A: In over 20% of the total accidents, weather was a cause or factor A: The Top 3: Adverse winds (52%); low ceilings/visibility (18%) and density altitude (5%) Source NTSB Weather Wise July 2012 Weather-Related Accident Causes

Got Briefing? NTSB Study: In 41% of weather-related accidents, the pilot DID NOT obtain an adequate weather briefing. Questions: Why are pilots skipping this required step? Are we stressing briefings even for local flights? Faa.gov/tv NTSB Weather Wise July 2012

The overall purpose of preflight planning is: To prevent surprises! What’s The REAL Purpose? Every pilot should ask: “Have I collected ALL the information I need to prevent surprises?” –If not, don’t go –If yes, update at least every 2 hours

New Item on NTSB’s 10 “Most Wanted” List May, 2014 NTSB: NWS and FAA should do a better job of identifying and communicating hazardous weather information to pilots –Useful, important supplemental weather information exists from NWS, but never gets to pilots during briefings Recommendation: Get MORE weather information into pilots' hands. Including: –Local forecaster discussions –Center weather advisories –Mountain-wave reports

“To prevent accidents by teaching pilots to analyze weather information from ALL available resources so that they can correctly make “Go/No-Go” decisions” Our Goal

Discuss Our Goal! Which sources for weather do you teach? Which do the best job? Why do you think that?

How can we can teach pilots to: Obtain a better self-briefing? Interpret the Information they receive? Make a Go/No-Go decision? Update their decision in flight? Keep Talking…

What are some of the most important things we should teach about viewing weather charts? Currency of the information Where the weather is approaching from Where it is moving, and when will it be there How to recognize when it’s not moving as forecast, and what adjustments to their “plan” will be necessary

AviationWeather.gov: Something is missing! Use updated site

NTSB-Recommends: Center Weather Adv. NTSB recommends pilots be given Center Weather Advisories during their weather briefings

“Official” Weather: Lockheed-Martin Briefer analyzes while you watch the same maps. Get a TXT message if it changes after your briefing

Alternative Weather: CWSU “METAR Map” (Click a station to view detailed forecasts)

Choose from 3 different sources for airport forecasts, plus TAFs. METAR Map: Forecasts For Nearly EVERY Airport!

METAR MAP: Upper-Air Forecasts Use Skew-T diagrams to see forecast winds, temperature, and dewpoint aloft for ANY airport

Use non-NWS sites for better detail (i.e., Wunderground.com) Use loop and storm track features to project cell movement Some sites now forecast cell movement up to 6 hrs. Lightning display is useful, but not easily found DBZ chart: Different vendors use different colors to show reflectivity. (Airborne radar uses even different colors.) NEXRAD Tips

NEXRAD Tips: Check Echo Tops Note the Echo Top heights…the higher the echoes, the stronger the storm

Gust fronts can produce low altitude wind shear that can be hazardous to aircraft operations. May travel 100’s of miles from the area of origin. Source: American Meteorological Society, NWS NEXRAD Tips: Watch Gust Fronts

NEXRAD Tips: Watch The Time! Remember that the in-cockpit NEXRAD display depicts where the weather WAS, not where it IS. The age indicator does not show the age of the actual weather conditions but rather the age of the mosaic image. The actual weather conditions could be up to 15 to 20 minutes OLDER than the age indicated on the display. You should consider this potential delay when using in-cockpit NEXRAD capabilities, as the movement and/or intensification of weather could adversely affect safety of flight.

Resources: FAA Weather Briefing Form Weather Briefing Form

Personal Minimums Specifically related to weather

Our job is to teach pilots to: Use ALL AVAILABLE RESOURCES, including the unofficial ones and those not on their iPads Brief OFTEN (update at least every 2 hrs.) DOCUMENT by using an official weather brief (either DUAT/s, FSS…not Ipad) (cont.  ) To Sum Up...

We must teach pilots to: Minimize surprises by being prepared Minimize the risk by always having an “out” planned for each situation Use personal minimums …To Sum Up

FAASafety.gov…

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This presentation would not have been possible without the generous help and support of the following: Your Forum Facilitator FAA Safety Team SAFE Presentation Author(s) Emelia Bernava Marc Coan Chuck Gensler Created June 2014