The Coulson Aviation crew resource management practice of limiting the pilot monitoring (PM) announcements to deviations outside the target retardant drop parameter tolerances increased the risk of the aircraft entering an unrecoverable state before the PM would alert the pilot flying.
The Coulson Aviation Fixed Wing Flight Operations Bulletin 24-1 introduces the requirement to brief the drop height prior to each drop, standardised callouts for approaching the briefed drop height and standardised callouts for deviations above and below the briefed drop height. This addresses the safety issue raised by the ATSB.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau recommends that Coulson Aviation takes safety action to address their crew resource management procedures for retardant drops to reduce the risk of the aircraft entering an unrecoverable state before the pilot monitoring alerts the pilot flying.
Earlier this year [2024], Coulson Aviation developed a procedure for standardised calls made during the approach to the drop height as well as deviations from the drop height. The enclosed Fixed Wing Flight Operations Bulletin 24-1, Standardized Callouts for Target Drop Height (‘Bulletin’), was developed and reviewed during the ground school component of the Spring Training Program. The Bulletin was issued, and the procedures were implemented during the tactical training component of Spring Training Program.
The Coulson Aviation Fixed Wing Flight Operations Bulletin 24-1 introduces the requirement to brief the drop height prior to each drop, standardised callouts for approaching the briefed drop height and standardised callouts for deviations above and below the briefed drop height. This addresses the safety issue raised by the ATSB.
