Situational Awareness

Jammer vir die Engels. Toespraak wat ek Vrydagaand by 'n vlerkiesparade van 'n klomp nuut gekwalifiseerde vlieëniers gemaak het. Ek het gedink dit sal interessant vir gemeentelede wees om te sien hoe vliegkonsepte aansluit by ons gewone lede:

Situational Awareness

Just before I commenced my instrument rating training I asked Jannie what he considered  the most important aspect of the training and he responded immediately by saying, “Situational Awareness”. 

 Of course he was right, but exactly how right, I am still discovering every day of my life. When Jannie mentioned Situational Awareness, I took it to mean being aware of the aircraft’s attitude and three dimensional position in space at all times and it is indeed extremely important to know at all times whether your aircraft is upside down or flying straight and level, whether you are climbing, descending, turning left or right, whether you are in the hold or whether you are actually already flying the approach, on the outbound or inbound leg, approaching the outer marker or whether you have already passed the outer marker. Yes, it is of vital importance to always be aware of your aircraft’s attitude and position in the circuit or in the approach. Losing your situational awareness under these circumstances can claim your life in the blink of an eye. We can expand this awareness a little to include our knowledge of air space and our position along our route because we can get into some serious trouble if we fly into restricted air space, apart from the danger of a mid-air collision when we wander off course. 

 Yes, Jannie was right when he said that situational awareness was the single most important thing in instrument flying. But I am here tonight to talk about situational awareness in an even more important sense, our awareness of our situation in life every minute of the day because it affects our lives as pilots and persons in a most profound way.

 Consider for a moment your awareness of the company for which you are working. Is it an honest company with sound business principles? Do they believe in CRM or do they only pay lip service to its principles? Or do they force you to overload? Are they cutting corners with maintenance? Knowing these things is being situationally aware. Know the environment in which you operate. All this influences the way you fly, very much so. You have to acquaint yourself most intimately with every aspect of your operation. 

 You entrust your life to that Cessna or Baron or Caravan, but do you know its systems? Do you know how its turbo works? Or the electrical system? That is being aware of your situation.

 Do you know what goods your passengers have packed into their luggage? That is SA. Do you know the weather? Not only at your destination but across the sub-continent? Do you know how systems develop and move? Do you know how the weather is going to change tomorrow? That is being SA.

Do you know every minute of your flight how much fuel you have on board? Where you are? Your nearest airfield? Your height above ground? Your next frequency?

 Have you read your NOTAMS? Are you aware of the legal situation of your flight? That is being SA.

 Are you healthy? Have you slept well? Alcohol? All these things affect your awareness of your environment, your situation. But it goes even further.

 No man is an island. Nobody operates in a vacuum. We are all connected and we have relationships. That is how we survive. 

 Are you aware of other people? Are you aware of the presence of God in your life? Or do you simply plod along from day to day? The majority of people actually do. They merely exist on a need basis by consuming what they need, by taking from the environment, by eating, drinking, using, taking, taking, every day of their lives. They never stop and think because thinking is so hard. They just do what comes naturally and that is to keep busy with themselves. Yes, most people live lives that are centered around their own little universes. That is why we see so many unhappy people around us. That is why we see so many people with depression, the big “illness” of our times. The best and surest way of developing full blown depression is to become obsessed with yourself. To live in a world of me, me, me and myself. To think, eat, dream, live and be concerned about yourself and your problems. Isn’t that what our modern society is all about? Isn’t that what we are told in countless books, seminars, courses, seminars and magazines? Does the term self awareness ring a bell? Or self actualizing? Or self image? Yes, indeed. That is what we are being told. To develop and improve ourselves by reading this and doing that and attending that course or this one. Nothing wrong with a bit of self examination every now and then, but it mustn’t become a lifestyle. It mustn’t come at the expense of our situational awareness. 

 The secret of a successful life is indeed situational awareness, Stop and smell the roses. Life is not about money and about you or me. Life is about us. Become aware of those around you, your parents, your instructors, your employer, your passengers and their needs. Life is not about your needs but about that of those around you. We live in order to serve others. Others don’t live in order to serve you or me. And that is also the way we fly. We fly in the manner which is beneficial to our passengers. That is where the fun lies, in being able to serve others with our special skills as pilots. For me that is the pleasure and fun of flying. It is not in the act of doing tricks and taking unnecessary risks and doing shoot-ups and low level antics. That is self centered, “see how good I am”, stupidity. That is the very pinnacle of situational unawareness. To me that is not fun because dying isn’t fun.

 We fly in the way we do because the lives of other people depend on it. We are aware of the most basic need of our passengers, their survival. Therefore we are aware of every corner of our situation, weather, legal, fuel, air space, navigational route and approach leg, every minute of our flight. All this boils down to a few things and one is preparation and planning. A flight starts a week or more before you take off. That is when we start our planning and when we start developing our situational awareness.

 I say again, life is about more than my and your individual needs. Life is about us, about our world, about the beauty of God’s creation and the wonders and miracle of life. God created us for His enjoyment, to serve Him and each other. To discover that is to discover life itself. Look around you and see the world for what it is. Become aware of your situation, your role in the greater scheme of things, in relation to others.

 I leave you with a few words of wisdom from the Dalai Lama. He said, “Man surprises me. He sacrifices his health in order to gain wealth. Then he uses his wealth in order to buy back some of his health. The result is that he never learns to live in the present because he lives as if he is going to live forever. And then he dies, never having lived at all.”

 Please don’t do that. Become SA and live a full and real life, today, tomorrow and every day of your life.