A320 Pilots SOP common mistakes/bad habits - Part 1 Perfecting our Normal Procedures

We live in such a small world, smaller than you think and A320 pilots are like a big family living in a big house; We learnt a procedure from our older brother who copied his older sister, who heard from her mother, who was told by her sister that her father showed to her what was the correct way to do it.

GOT IT? I’m sure you got it

This article is about the common mistakes I’ve noticed several airlines around the world have in common; for “Part 1” I will just focus in the normal procedures, some may affect the safety while some others may not be so relevant but may be good to correct them just for a better standardization. For “Part 2” I’ll focus on Abnormal Procedures 

So lets start from the beginning, focusing in Normal Procedures only (the following are specifically for A320 family however some may apply too for A330 or other Airbus aircraft)

The references shown below correspond to the last Airbus 320 Manuals (AFM, FCOM, FCTM, QRH) revisions up to March 2018

Safety Exterior Inspection

• Checking the wheel chocks, L/G doors and APU area is the first thing we should be doing when we arrived to the aircraft, but let’s face it, specially when pilots arrived to the aircraft through a jetway some will totally skip this inspection, and probably will only notice this items when going down for the exterior walk around [FCOM-PRO-SOP-03]

Preliminary Cockpit preparation

• Pilot monitoring (PM) scans the overhead panel while performing this items in absolutely no order and without knowing the flow sequence is designed with a specific order due to a specific reason. [FCOM-PRO-SOP-04]

Exterior walkaround

• Flight crew forget to set parking brake ON before the walkaround. [FCOM-PRO-SOP-05]

Cockpit Preparation

? Pedestal

• PF selects ATC SYS 2 when RVSM operations are not expected. SYS 2 must be selected when using AP2 but only during RVSM operations, for flights with a cruising level below RVSM, SYS 1 should be selected according to FCOM-PRO-NOR-SOP-06

? FMGC preparation

• Flight crew doesn’t deselect unreliable navaids according to NOTAMs at the DATA_POSITION MONITOR_ SEL NAVAIDS page. [FCOM-PRO-NOR-SOP-06]
• INIT A page: Flight crew doesn’t modify the tropo, gnd temp or crz fl temp to agree with forecast. [FCOM-PRO-NOR-SOP-06]
• F-PLN A page: Flight crew forget to insert the forecast winds for accurate flight plan and optimum level calculations. [FCOM-DSC-22_20-30-20-28 WINDS-TEMPERATURE-QNH]

? Takeoff Briefing

• Briefing in disorder is one of the most common bad habits I’ve found within pilots from different airlines, refer to my article Briefing in Disorder ????

? Glareshield

• Flight crew doesn’t cross check EFIS CONTROL PANEL or FCU “when both flight crew members are seated” 
• After cross checking and setting QNH flight Crew doesn’t check altitudes for maximum differences between altimeters (PFDs, ISIS or mechanical standby altimeter) [FCOM-PRO-NOR-SOP-06 GLARESHIELD]

Engine Start & After Start

• Flight crew doesn’t wait for both, the AVAIL indication and the grey background on N2 disappears in order to start the other engine or before moving the ENG MODE selector to NORM. Only for the engines without AVAIL indication the grey background disappearing will be the only reference for starting the other engine or for moving the mode selector to NORM [FCOM-PRO-NOR-SOP-08]

Here comes one of the bad habits I hate the most and it’s quite common in several airlines in China, however I haven’t seen it that often in other countries

• PM starts his/her after start flow pattern before engines are stabilized at idle and before PF sets the ENG MODE selector to NORM, as well some pilots request ground crew to disconnect before all PF and PM actions are completed. [FCOM-NOR-SOP-09]

Next point is a small mistake not that relevant but interesting since most of the pilots I’ve seen from different airlines around the world do it wrong.

• When reading the after start checklist PF answer to PITCH TRIM setting in THS degrees instead of CG percentage as clearly indicated in the checklist by the % symbol e.g. : PF answers “0.1UP SET”instead of answering “28% SET” [Normal Checklist] [FCOM-NOR-SOP-09]

TAXI

• PF let the speed increase too much before performing the brake check, this check must be done “as soon as the aircraft starts to move” in order to take immediate action in case of a loss of braking, if parking brake short and successful applications are needed after the loss of both normal and alternate braking even a speed as low as 3kts may cause a severe stop, the lowest the speed the better when using the parking brake to stop the aircraft. And don’t forget to check the brakes temperature since this is part of the brake check as well [FCTM-PR-NP-SOP-Taxi] [FCOM-NOR-SOP-09]
• Flight crew doesn’t re-read Before Takeoff Checklist when receiving a change of runway or a sudden intersection takeoff which may require different takeoff speeds, flap setting, SID and/or a new Takeoff Briefing confirmation. If the checklist was performed before the new instructions, previous checklist answers will not match the new conditions.

TAKEOFF & AFTER TAKEOFF

• During the commencement of normal takeoff the PF release the brake pedals before N1 is stabilized at 50% N1 (1.05 EPR) [AFM-NORM-TO]
• During flaps retraction PM callout “FLAPS 1” or “FLAPS 0” after waiting for the full cycle to be completed. Remember this aircraft is not that old and we will get an ECAM if Flaps didn’t retract properly; PM should reply after checking the blue number on the ECAM flaps indicator. As well “GEAR UP” reply should be after checking the red lights on the LDG GEAR indicator (same applies during gear or flaps setting for approach) [FCOM-PRO-NOR-SOP-90 FLAPS OR GEAR CALLOUTS]
• After Flaps retraction PM does not perform the after takeoff flow pattern [FCOM-NOR-SOP-13]
• Flight crew performs Noise Abatement Takeoff (NADP) while in conditions of significant turbulence, when expecting windshear or during icing conditions. Even when the airport requires, an NADP will not be conducted in this conditions according to the FCTM. (Prolonged flight in icing conditions with slats extended should be avoided) [FCTM-PR-NP-SOP-120 NOISE ABATEMENT TAKEOFF]

CLIMB

• At transition altitude the flight crew doesn’t perform a correct altitude crosscheck and refer to the “comparison of altitude indication” table if a discrepancy is noticed, or perform an altitude crosscheck before entering RVSM airspace [FCOM-PRO-SPO-50 RVSM NORMAL PROCEDURES]

CRUISE

• Flight crew select on TCAS a position other than ALL during cruise [FCTM-AS-TCAS-OPERATING TECHNIQUES]
• During approach briefing flight crew doesn’t brief “MANAGEMENT OF DEGRADED GUIDANCE/NAVIGATION” [FCTM-PR-NP-SOP-160 APPROACH BRIEFING] [FCOM-PRO-SOP-18-C APPROACH GUIDANCE MANAGEMENT]

DESCENT PREPARATION

• Flight crew doesn’t check Landing performance in daily normal operation [FCOM-PRO-NOR-SOP-16]

APPROACH

? Approach using LOC G/S guidance

• When intercepting a G/S from above the PF selects a vertical speed lower than -1500ft/min. I know some of you may want to intercept smoother if you are not that high, however its better to intercept asap, for a proper standardization follow FCOM procedure which indicates to initially select -1500ft/min. As well remember speed must be managed when intercepting from above to avoid an undesired increase of thrust [FCOM-NOR-SOP-18-C GLIDE INTERCEPTION FROM ABOVE]
• When intercepting the G/S from above, flight crew forgets to select go around altitude when a higher altitude above the GA altitude was previously selected, this may lead to an altitude/level burst during Go Around 
• Flight crew is not aware of the “minimum altitude to select landing configuration” for which you can refer to my article “The hidden minimum altitude” ????

? Approach using FINAL APP guidance

When talking about FINAL APP guidance there is still a lack of knowledge from some pilots about PBN operations, specifically about RNAV(GNSS) or RNAV(RNP) approaches so I hope I can write about it in the future, meanwhile I’ll recommend you to take a look at the FCOM-PRO-SPO-51-RNP and try to research about Approaches with Vertical guidance (APV) 

? Approach using FPA guidance

• Flight crew forget to insert VAPP as a constraint at the final approach fix/point durning Non Precision Approaches to be able to get a proper deceleration calculation during an early stabilized approach technique. [FCTM-PR-NP-SOP-190-CONF]
• Flight crew forget to monitor raw data during VOR or NDB approaches

LANDING

For this phase I’ll not focus on the manual landing technique since there’s so much to talk about so I’ll write a full article in the future about it, so I’ll just focus in the SOP and below are the common mistakes

• PF use MAX reverse without pedal braking. Wheel brakes contribute the most to aircraft deceleration on the ground. For dry runways crew may select REV IDLE, and use pedal braking for deceleration, however releasing the brake pedals while maintaining REV MAX has no performance logic (except during loss of braking), for long runways or when flight crew wants to exit at the end of the runway pedal braking may be envisaged if the pilot anticipates that braking will not be needed, if so reverse should be at idle position. [FCTM-PR-NP-SOP-250 LANDING]
• PM callouts DECEL by looking at the decel light on the auto brake push button. Deceleration is felt by the crew and confirmed by the speed trend on the PFD.
• Finally I would like to recommend to you to read issue #25 of Airbus Safety First Magazine which has a great article named “Are you properly seated?”????. A poorly adjusted seating can have a significative effect on the pilot’s capability to land, fly or taxi. Wrong seating position is my last point for today’s article.

So those were the common mistakes I’ve noticed, as I said before many of these doesn’t affect the safety, however this article is about standardization and about how well do we really know our Airbus SOP. 

All the above are based in the Airbus official recommended procedures contained in the FCOM, FCTM and QRH 

Note: your airline procedures may differed from those written in Airbus Manuals.

So... What else have you noticed? Are there any common mistakes you’ve noticed during your normal operations?

Please share your thoughts!, and don’t forget to ???? and share if you liked and find this article useful.

Happy Landings!!