Tony Kern's book Flight Discipline (1998)
Tony Kern's book Flight Discipline (1998) is a comprehensive kit for any aviator be it recreational, military or commercial who needs to develop the required discipline for safe and effective aviation. The book presents an analysis of the causes of poor flight discipline and supports that analysis with chilling case studies of the costs. Kern also lays out a plan that individual aviators can follow to improve performance. The author's organization of book chapters and the inclusion of review questions for each section makes the writings and the points more comprehensible.
The Deviance of Aviation Laws
The book chapters primarily deal with the deviance of aviation laws, the anatomy of flight discipline and the typical scenarios where flight discipline breaks. Kern points out that aviation discipline is the only way that an organization or a flyer can systematically and safely build towards excellence and without discipline, aviators cannot mature to their full potentials. Kern describes the failure to observe discipline in the aviation industry as a walking bomb that is waiting to explode. According to Kern, thousands of hours of experience, years of skills development and in-depth systems knowledge without discipline cannot protect aviators against sudden loss of judgment.
The Importance of Discipline for Experienced Pilots
The author points out that many experienced pilots tend to overlook the importance of discipline in the aviation industry. The author, however, insists that experience alone cannot guarantee flight discipline since failure is often found within the ranks of the highly skilled and proficient aviators. In fact, Kern mentions that experienced pilots fall victims of failures of discipline at almost the same rate as their newer counterparts. However, the reasons for failing in discipline differs for the two categories of aviators.
Characteristics of an Expert Pilot
Kern does lay down some key characteristics of an expert pilot including the ability to recognize reduced ability to make decisions in emergencies, ability to identify personal limitations, encouraging others to question decisions and the tendency to discuss own limitations. Apart from that, Kern indicates that violations of flight discipline begins with a single step of ethical compromise and grows into a more prominent problem because aviators are likely to base their judgments on the past violations that ended "well". The author notes that discipline violations are contagious in the aviation industry because when aviators watch someone break the regulations once or twice, they get the idea that doing the same will amount to nothing bad only to regret when such a decision leads to fatalities. Kern mentions that some aviators admire dire devil maneuvers and wish for an opportunity to do the same. The author describes the three types of regulatory deviations as; "Don't know it," "Can't help it" and "Won't do it" as well as several unacceptable excuses that aviators give for failing to comply by the rules.
Regulatory Discipline and Procedural Perfection
The author reiterates that regulatory discipline characterizes professional piloting. That means, pilots should know the rules applicable to their flight environments; beat the temptation to deviate unnecessarily and operate in the right boxes that would not call for an emergency deviation. Kern identifies proficiency in applying procedures, knowledge of the processes, habit pattern development and attention management as the four keys to procedural perfection. The author proceeds to discuss procedural thieves including channelized attention and task saturation.
Glory Seeking and Overconfidence in Aviation
The other significant issue of flight discipline that Kern discusses in the book is glory seeking and overconfidence championed by peer pressure. According to the author, peer pressure comes from colleagues, friends family members, other aviators, supervisors and air traffic controllers and it can distort the importance of a flight's mission. The author insists that intentional deviations from accepted procedures, regulations and common sense should not be allowed in the aviation industry. If the deviations are approved, they lead to habitual noncompliance, and it is only through self-improvement that the whole industry can maintain flight discipline.
Useful for Aviators and Aviation Students
I find Kern's book useful for practicing aviators and students of aviation since the writer uses direct, simplified sentences to make his points understood. Furthermore, the review questions after every chapter and the italicization of keywords helps sink the message deep. Although the book appears to be addressing professionals in the aviation industry, I would recommend it to aviation students and professionals plus any member of the general audience who is interested in learning about flight discipline. In fact, the book's content is equally fit for families and friends of pilots to make them understand that sometimes the expectations they have about their loved ones dare devil flight shows are high risks. The book is logically challenging as it contains numerous facts and case studies that bring to light the consequences of failed flight discipline. The case studies also appeal to the emotion of a reader by letting an individual decipher the importance of psychological stability and ethical decision-making skills in aviation. I can read Flight discipline multiple times and still find the information relevant today and in the future. Aviators need to keep this book close to them always as a reminder of what flight discipline entails.
Works Cited
Kern, Tony. Flight Discipline. Mcgraw-Hill, 1998.
