lackwinds

InFOInformationforOperatorsU.
S.
DepartmentInFO15004ofTransportationDATE:3/13/15FederalAviationAdministrationFlightStandardsServiceWashington,DChttp://www.
faa.
gov/other_visit/aviation_industry/airline_operators/airline_safety/infoAnInFOcontainsvaluableinformationforoperatorsthatshouldhelpthemmeetcertainadministrative,regulatory,oroperationalrequirementswithrelativelylowurgencyorimpactonsafety.
Subject:UseofWindshearModelsinFederalAviationAdministration(FAA)QualifiedFlightSimulationTrainingDevices(FSTD)Purpose:ThisInFOprovidesrecommendationstoFSTDsponsorsandoperatorsandinformsinstructorsandotherusersofFSTDsontheuseandpropersetupofwindshearmodelsusedintraining.
Background:TheJuly6,2011finalreportoftheStickPusherandAdverseWeatherEventTrainingAviationRulemakingCommittee(SPAWARC)1,madeseveralrecommendationstotheFAA.
OnerecommendationwastoimprovemicroburstandwindsheartrainingbyenhancingFSTDinstructoroperatingstations(IOS)toensurewindshearmodelsareproperlyconfiguredforuse.
Specifically,theSPAWARCrecommendedthatallrequiredwindshearmodelsbeselectableandclearlylabeledontheIOS.
TheSPAWARCdeterminedthatthelabelingofavailablewindshearmodelsisnotstandardizedinanFSTDandinstructorsmaylackthenecessaryinformationtoensurethatthewindshearrecognitioncuesinaparticulartrainingscenariowilloccurasdesired.
TheAirCarrierTraining(ACT)ARChasrecentlyreviewedtheSPAWARCreportandconcurredwiththefinding.
However,theACTARCrecommendedaneducation/awarenesssolutioninsteadofatechnologysolution.
TheFAAhasacceptedtheACTARCrecommendationanddevelopedthisInFO.
Discussion:TheTitle14oftheCodeofFederalRegulations(14CFR)part60FSTDqualificationstandardsrequireaminimumsetofwindshearmodelstobeavailabletoinstructorsforcertainairplanesasdefinedin14CFRpart121,§121.
3582.
Thesemodelsmustbeavailabletotheinstructorforthefollowingcriticalphasesofflight:Priortotakeoffrotation;Atliftoff;Duringinitialclimb;andOnfinalapproach,below500feetabovegroundlevel.
1TheSPAWARCwascharteredasaresultoftherequirementsoftheAirlineSafetyandFederalAviationAdministrationExtensionActof2010,PublicLaw111-216,Section208.
ThefinalreportcanbeviewedatthefollowingWebsite:http://www.
faa.
gov/regulations_policies/rulemaking/committees/documents/media/spawet.
arc.
rr.
20110706.
pdf2SeeTableA1A,entry2.
e.
;TableA2A,entry2.
g.
;andAttachment5toAppendixAtoPart60.
ThoughwindshearqualificationisonlyrequiredforFSTDsofaircrafttypicallyusedinpart121training,manytrainingprovidersvoluntarilyqualifytheirFSTDstousethewindsheartrainingmodelsfortrainingconductedoutsideofpart121.
Distributedby:AFS-200OPR:AFS-280Thedatasourcesandimplementationofthewindshearmodelsmustmeetcertainrequirementsasdefinedinpart60.
ThevastmajorityofcurrentlyqualifiedFSTDsusetheguidanceintheWindshearTrainingAid3todevelopandimplementwindshearmodelsfortraining.
AspartoftheFAAFSTDevaluationprocess,thewindshearmodelsqualifiedbytheFAAareobjectivelyassessedtodeterminethatthemodelshavebeenproperlytunedtoprovidethecuesnecessaryforrecognizingwindshearonsetandpotentialperformancedegradationrequiringthepilottoinitiaterecoveryprocedures.
TheWindshearTrainingAidprovidesdetailedguidanceonhowtoimplementandtunethesewindshearmodelsinanFSTDtoprovidetheproperrecognitioncuesneededfortraining.
ThesemodelsaretunedfortheparticularFSTD/airplaneconfigurationusing"windfactor"multipliersandotheradjustmentsthataccountforthefollowingconditions:Thrusttoweightratiooftheairplane;Ambientconditions;Runwaylength(priortotakeoffrotationexercise);andPilotsubjectiveassessment.
Itisimportanttonotethatinordertoachieverepeatableresultsintraining,theFSTDmustgenerallybeconfiguredinthesameconditionsinwhichthewindshearmodelwasoriginallytuned.
SimplyselectingawindshearmodelfromtheIOSmaynotensuretheFSTDhasbeenproperlyconfiguredtoreproducethedesiredwindsheartrainingscenario.
RecommendedAction:Allsponsorsandoperators,ofFSTDsqualifiedbytheFAAforwindsheartraining,areencouragedtoprovideinstructorsandotherFSTDuserswithtrainingonthepropermethodtoconfigureanFSTDforallwindshearmodelsavailableontheIOS.
Toenhancetheoveralltrainingenvironmentandtoprovideconsistentresultsintraining,theimplementationofapresetbuttonontheIOSthatautomaticallysetsthecorrectairplaneconfigurationandambientconditionsforaselectedwindshearmodelishighlyrecommended.
Alternatively,wheresuchpresetscannotbeimplementedontheIOS,guidancematerialshouldbeprovidedtotheinstructoronorneartheIOSthatdescribeshowtomanuallyconfiguretheFSTDforeachselectablewindshearmodel.
Contact:QuestionsorcommentsregardingthisInFOshouldbedirectedtotheAirTransportationDivision,AFS-200,at(202)267-8166.
3WindshearTrainingAid,U.
S.
DepartmentofTransportation,FederalAviationAdministration(1987).
Distributedby:AFS-200OPR:AFS-280