Single Pilot Resource Management (SRM) - NBAA

Single Pilot Resource Management (SRM) 

NBAA Single Pilot Safety Standdown 

October 18, 2010 

Atlanta, GA 

Michele Summers Halleran 

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

SRM Perspective 

A 747 captain taxies the aircraft into the gate at SeaTac, finishes all of the 

paperwork, changes out of uniform, and drives to Boeing Field to an 

FBO to rent a C-172 for a little side trip to the San Juan Islands. He 

checks weather and prepares an IFR flight plan to Friday Harbor. He 

calls Flight Service and files the flight plan. When he gets to the Remarks 

section, he tells the briefer; "oh yes, remarks; put in there that I am 

declaring an emergency." The briefer is obviously taken aback by this, and 

says, "you want the remarks column in your flight plan to reflect that you 

are declaring an emergency?" "You bet", says the captain," I'm down to 

one engine, one pilot, one radio; in my line of work that is an 

emergency!” 

I guess critical decision making is all in where you come from...


• What is Crew Resource Management ? 

1. CRM: The effective utilization of all available 

human, informational, and equipment resources 

toward the goal of safe and efficient flight.. 

2. More specifically, it is the active process employed 

by crewmembers to identify existing and potential 

threats and to develop, communicate, and 

implement plans and actions to avoid or mitigate 

perceived threats (Helmreich, 2000).


• What is Single Pilot Resource Management ? 

SRM: The art and science of managing all resources 

(both on-board the aircraft and from outside 

resources) available to a single-pilot (prior and during 

flight) to ensure the successful outcome of the flight 

is never in doubt. 

(FAA/Industry Training Standards)


• Single Pilot Resource Management is about the unique 

situations we find ourselves in as single pilot operators. 

• Follows the lead provided by the airline industry to 

improve flight safety through CRM training. 

• Human factors-related accidents motivated the airline 

industry to implement CRM training for flight crews. 

• Now, pilot error related accidents are motivating single 

pilot operators to implement SRM training.

Need for SRM Programs 

• 71-80% of all GA aircraft accidents can be directly 

attributed to human (pilot) error 

• What are the causes of human error ? 

• Can we completely eliminate human error ? 

• Through TRAINING ? 

• Through TECHNOLOGY/ENGINEERING ?

Need for SRM Programs? 

• Single Pilot vs. Dual Pilot Accidents 

• A single pilot operator has 1.6X greater probability of 

being involved in an accident (based on a 5yr average) 

• 2005 – 80% of multi-engine turboprop accidents 

involved single pilot ops 

•63% of all turboprop fleet is single piloted 

Information provided by Robert E. Breiling Associates

2009 AOPA Nall Report




1. Aeronautical Decision Making 

2. Automation Management 

3. Task Management 

4. Situational Awareness 

5. Risk Management 

6. CFIT Avoidance


• The 5 P’s 

1. Plan 

2. Plane 

3. Pilot 

4. Passengers 

5. Programming

The Decision Points 

• During flight planning phase 

• Before departure 

• Every half-hour or at regular intervals as 

appropriate 

• Before leaving cruise altitude 

• Before descent /approach/leaving IAF 

• Before landing

SRM Decision Process 

• At predetermined decision points consider the following: 

• What's the situation? The 5 P’s (Plan, Plane, Pilot, Passengers, and 

Programming) 

• What's changed since your original Go/No Go decision. 

• What negative outcomes are we more exposed to? 

• Engine failure 

• Avionics failure 

• Missed approach 

• Pilot overload 

• Mistakes on approach / final 

• CFIT 

• Fuel exhaustion 

• Icing 

• Loss of control


• What can we do to minimize the increased risk 

associated with those outcomes? 

• Use automation to reduce workload / increase awareness. 

• Use MFD to maintain terrain awareness, etc 

• Use passengers to share workload / monitor environment 

• Request 

• A simpler approach 

• Single frequency approach 

• Vectors to final 

• Declare minimum fuel 

• Ask for altitude / routing change 

• Turn down "difficult" ATC requests


• Prioritize tasks 

• If we can't do everything well, at least get the important 

things right. 

• What are they? 

• What can we "shed“ 

• Is the resulting risk acceptable? 

• Would I have taken off knowing this was going to happen? 

• If not, divert / terminate the flight early

Sample SRM Scenario 

• Group Discussion of Real Time SRM Application 

• No “right answers” 

• Non attribution!!! 

• Apply the “5P” process to a basic flight situation 

• Prepare for the scenarios to follow!

Sample SRM Scenario 

St. Augustine, FL to Washington, D.C.

Pre Flight 

• St. Augustine, FL (KSGJ) to Washington, D.C. (KIAD) 

• Background Information 

• Pilot/Owner SR 22 (PFD/TKS/Datalink Weather/Traffic) 

• Leaving KSGJ Sunday afternoon with two business associates 

• One is a friend 

• One you've not met before 

• All three meeting at FAA HQ Monday Morning at 0900 

• VFR at SGJ, MVFR IAD, MVFR en route 

• GPS database is not current

Facilitators Notes 

The “5P” Check 

The Plan? 

Direct or airways 

Non Stop or two stop 

44 minute reserve, are we legal (FACILITATOR WILL ADD FUEL AS REQUESTED up to one hour)) 

NIGHT/OVERWATER/IFR am I concerned??? (rule of three’s) 

The Plane? 

Maint status 

The Pilot? 

How early did I get up? 

How tired am I (IMSAFE) 

Recency/currency (go around the room – last weather approach,last IFR flight, last long in cloud flight, last night flight 

The Passengers? 

Pvt Pilot/Non Pilot (1 each) 

(seats) 

Duties, familiarity with IFR charts/Cirrus systems 

Urgency of trip (employment relationship) 

Give a safety disclaimer briefing) (we may have to stop/ short drive in) 

The Programming? 

Whats going out of date, charts or database (both) 

What do we need to fly (new charts/bad database)(how)

Pre Flight 

• St. Augustine, FL to Washington, D.C. 

• Weather Information 

• METAR for KSGJ 25 0000Z 27010KT 10SM CLR 12/7 A2995 

• TAF for KSGJ 251800Z 251818 2505KT 10SM FEW 0500 

• METAR for KIAD 25 0000Z 3105KT 3SM BKN 020 00/M14 A2990 

• TAF for KIAD 251800Z 251818 3305KT 3SM BKN 010 

• Area Forecast 

• Occasional light turbulence, negative icing, and improving ceilings and 

visibilities as the cold front moves south

SRM Quiz 

Pre Flight 

•5P’s 

•What are the risk factors? 

•What do we know that will help? 

•What don’t we know that may help? 

•What can we do to improve our situation? 

•Abort or Continue?

Pre-Takeoff 

• Engine shows 1 quart lower than you expected 

• A friend asks you to carry an additional 100 lbs of 

office equipment 

• Clearance delivery gives you an IFR ATC ground 

hold for 30 minutes 

• Passenger No 2 is quiet and makes several trips to 

the rest room but is very positive about the trip

Pre-Takeoff 

• 5P’s 

• What are the risk factors? 

• What do we know that will help? 

• What don’t we know that may help? 

• What can we do to improve our situation? 

• Abort or Continue?


•The “5P” Check 

The Plan? 

Delayed departure? 

Is the weather moving in? 

The Plane? 

Legal without the light? 

Time delay for the repair? 


How fresh will I be just after midnight EDT? 


Is one of them sick? 


Manually verify the GPS database off the current charts 

GPS approaches not legal without a valid database

CHS – One Hour After Takeoff 

•In clear at 9000 

•FSS - SDZ Special Weather 500-2 at 2045Z 

•IAD 1500-3 at 2007Z 

•Oil Temp is down 3 degrees 

•Oil Pressure is up 2 lbs 

•Jacksonville Center directs a new routing direct 

--- --- flight planned route



The Plan? 

Fuel status 

WX update for IAD and enroute 

The Plane? 

Temp at 9000’? Icing or in the clear? 


Tired? 


Bathroom problem? Sick? 


Entire route and approach into IAD?

SDZ – Two Hours After Takeoff 

• Groundspeed is down 10 knots from 

planned 

• ATC assigns new route clearance V373 

GSO V266 SBV Flight Planned Route 

• ATC requests an altitude change. Your 

choice of 7000’ or 11,000’. Temp at 

7000’ is 4 C and temp at 11,000’ is 1 C. 

What are the risks now? 

What are you going to do about it?



The Plan? 

Fuel issue, can we accept the new route altitude? 

In clouds or out at 7/11 

What are the winds at 7/11? 

Why the reroute……………if asked answer is a radar outage ahead at Wash Center 

(don’t volunteer this info) 

The Plane? 

11,000 feet ice (1 degree separation) 

7,000 ft (will ice be a factor by DC traveling north 


11,000 ft at dusk, hypoxia 

Oxygen rules vs night flight 


They will be quieter at 11,000!!!! 


Technique, turn then program 

Use GPS/MFD to replan in the air

Over SBV 

• Washington Center reports a radar outage 

and asks you to report the next intersection 

• Back seat passenger asks “are we there yet?” 

• Oil Pressure up one more lb and temp 

down 2 degrees 

• You notice the autopilot is having more 

trouble maintaining wings level and is 

appears less stable in pitch 

• Becoming dark outside and you are in and 

out of the clouds 

Have the risks changed? 

Has your plan changed?



The Plan? 

Fuel status 

Does re-route increase distance/time? 

The Plane? 

Anti-icing equipment 

Legal requirement –known icing 

TKS 

How does the autopilt mask icing encounters 


Fatigued? 

Up to IFR/icing conditions single pilot? 


Figure out what to do about pax bathroom problem 


Is re-route programmed and double checked? 

Use direct to to check options 

Alternate considerations?


•The “5P” Check

GVE – Start Descent 

• ATC advises to report FLUKY for resumption of 

ATC services 

• Front seat passenger says he feels tired and 

queasy 

• Back seat passenger is very quiet but asks 

several times if everything is OK 

• ATC requests reporting over Fluky for an 

approach into IAD 

• ATIS report active runway is 19L, expect vectors 

to the ILS and sequencing around heavy jet 

traffic. 

• After the altitude change, ice begins to form on 

the windshield. 

• Oil pressure is up 2 more lbs and oil temp is 

down 5 degrees



The Plan? 

Fuel status with re-route? 

ATIS-which approach is in use? WX minimums? 

Consider alternate? 

The Plane? 

Temp? Icing? 


Am I safe under these conditions? 


Is pax sick in the back? 

Do I reassure them, or fly the airplane? 

How can they help? 


What do you plan to fly/routing/approach? 

What time is it, do I have to check the fixes in the GPS or just fly off the current paper charts

Over Fluky - IAF 

•ATC radar back in service 

•Cirrus NX 211 expect vectors to 

runway 19R, you are number four for 

the runway behind heavy jet traffic, what 

speed can you maintain on final? 

•Autopilot is very sloppy now and seems 

unable to maintain heading or altitude, 

airspeed has dropped 20 knots 

What is my physical and emotional state? 

Is it too late to change the plan? 

What are the risks now?



? The Plan? 

Your fuel reserve is below 30 minutes now 

Divert, minimum fuel, or emergency fuel 

The Plane? 

Think of descent temps/icing? 


Feel comfortable as single pilot in these WX conditions? 

Fatigued? 

Done all of your checklists? 


How can they help? 

How can you reassure them-keep them busy? 

Should you divert to Richmond and drive the rest of the way? 


Hand fly the approach 

Have you thought of all alternatives with a runway change? 

Is there holding in progress until the runways open up? Fuel? 

Do you have a back up route programmed just in case 

Which is better, set the navaids then program the route or vice versa

On the Approach 

• ATC loses radar again 

• ATC assigns you a full VOR approach 

to another runway 

• After established outbound on the VOR 

approach, you recheck fuel 

• Passenger tells you they really need to 

use the bathroom 

• More ice on leading edge of wings 

• Do you declare an emergency? 

• Where do you land?



The Plan? 

Is it too late to divert to Richmond or another suitable airport? 

Fuel status 

Go to Manassas ASAP! 

The Plane? 

Icing? Is the anti-icing system working? 


Up to the challenge of a non-precision approach in solid IFR? 

Checklists done? How is your attention span? 

What are you focusing on? 


Is the other pax okay with diverting and driving into IAD? 


For destination have two approaches programmed as a back up 

Able to have a clear depiction of WX conditions? 

Routing? NRST, Direct, ILS, no time to check the data base 

Backup route programming??



The Plan? 

This should lead to a discussion of minimums for manual recovery? 

Use of autopilot to recover? 

Use of the ballistic parachute? 

Do you have a pre-thought out plan? 

Does the chute cause you to take more risks? 

Not big ones just subtle ones 

The Plane? 


Which is more important, saving the plane or saving the pilot? 

Embarrassment, is it an issue? 


Did you brief them? 

On use of the parachute 

Identifying ground lights etc. 


Not much to do here?

AC 120-51c States 

Good training for routine operations can have a strong 

positive effect on how well individuals function during times 

of high workload or high stress. During emergency situation, 

it is highly unlikely (and probably undesirable) that any 

crewmember [pilot] would take the time to reflect upon his 

or her CRM [SRM] training in order to choose the 

appropriate behavior. But practice of desirable behaviors 

during times of low stress increases the likelihood that 

emergencies will be handled effectively. 

Pilots should make SRM procedures a regular part of every flight. A well 

practiced habit that can be relied upon in times of stress. Before SRM can 

become a habit, we have to learn it!!

Self Assessment 

• Pilots operating as single pilots need to be able to 

critique their own performance. 

• Hard to do. 

• Several ways it can be done. 

- Take notes – keep a journal. 

- Assess the different situations that occurred. 

- What could have been done differently. 

- Use different scenarios.

Self Assessment 

• Analyze contributing factors: 

- Weather 

- Air Traffic Control 

- Aircraft 

- Workload 

- Flight conditions (VMC/IMC)

Assessment 

• Use all available resources to provide feedback 

- Passengers 

- Other pilots 

- Scenario based training (FITS/LOFT) 

• Determine improvement areas 

• Take measurements to improve these areas for 

future flights

Questions?

Single Pilot Resource Management (SRM) - NBAA

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