Helicopter Pilots Synchronize Their Altitude with Ship Heave to Minimize Energy When Landing on a Ship’s Deck

Cadets' character and ethical quality are crucial; they determine the kind of officers who will join the Air Force after they graduate. The texts relating to the ethical traditions aim at building the cadets' character and lay out all the values and principles that a future officer should uphold. In this context, this chapter seeks to investigate the extent to which ethical parameters are present in the Air Force Cadet Wing Honor Code. The authors then want to relate the ethical education provided to the cadets by the academy with their mission after graduation. To accomplish their duties, pilots seem to be influenced by their beliefs, their studies, and of course, the honor code; issues of ethics and the law also influence to a high degree the psychology of pilots and determine to a high extent their reactions and effectiveness. The final goal is to investigate to what extent ethics and the law influence pilots' decisions and are interpreted by fighter aircrafts' pilots of the Hellenic Air Force and attack helicopter pilots of the Hellenic Army.

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Pilot is a Pilot is a Pilot?: Exploration of Effects of Professional Culture in Helicopter Pilots

Proceedings of the 21st Congress of the International Ergonomics Association (IEA 2021) - Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems ◽

10.1007/978-3-030-74608-7_83 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 682-690

Author(s):

Anna Kaminska ◽

Amy Irwin ◽

Devin Ray ◽

Rhona Flin

Keyword(s):

Professional Culture ◽

Helicopter Pilots

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Musculoskeletal disorders and their associations with health- and work-related factors: a cross-sectional comparison between Swedish air force personnel and army soldiers

BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders ◽

10.1186/s12891-020-03251-z ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Matthias Tegern ◽

Ulrika Aasa ◽

Björn O. Äng ◽

Helena Larsson

Keyword(s):

Musculoskeletal Disorders ◽

Air Force ◽

The Body ◽

Lumbar Region ◽

Related Factors ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Factors Associated ◽

Work Related ◽

Body Regions ◽

Helicopter Pilots

Abstract Background The high numbers of musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) among soldiers in the Swedish Armed Forces has led to the implementation of an effective prevention program, the musculoskeletal screening protocol (MSP), including questionnaires, physical tests and individual intervention of their MSD. A corresponding MSP for the Swedish Air Force is also needed due to earlier reported high prevalence of MSD. We therefore investigated the prevalence of MSD in Swedish Air Force personnel (AF) and compared this to Swedish Army deployed soldiers (DS). Individual, health- and work-related factors associated with MSD were also investigated. Methods Cross-sectional questionnaire-based study on 166 male AF and 185 DS. AF consisted of fighter pilots, helicopter pilots and rear crew from one Swedish air base. Results The one-year and point prevalence, respectively, of MSD were significantly higher for AF compared to DS with regard to both the upper quarter of the body (i.e. neck, shoulder and thoracic regions) (AF = 54.8 and 31.3%, DS = 26.1 and 13.6%, p = 0.01) and the lumbar region (AF = 38.0 and 18.7%, DS = 22.2 and 7.1%, p = 0.00). No significant differences were present between fighter pilots, helicopter pilots and rear crew regarding MSD prevalence. Factors significantly associated with having both upper quarter and lumbar regions MSD were group (i.e. greater odds for AF than DS) and self-reported physical health as less than excellent. Additionally, being older and taller were also factors associated with lumbar region MSD. Discussion Despite a generally healthy lifestyle, MSD were commonly reported by AF and DS, with generally higher prevalence in AF who mainly reported MSD in the upper quarter of the body. The results from this study indicate that the MSP can be a meaningful tool to prevent MSD in air force personnel and that questions regarding general health and MSD in specific body regions should be included in screening protocols. The development of the preventive program MSP is therefore recommended for the Swedish Air Force.

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Helicopter Pilots Encountering Fog: An Analysis of 109 Accidents from 1992 to 2016

Atmosphere ◽

10.3390/atmos11090994 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (9) ◽

pp. 994

Author(s):

Alex de Voogt ◽

Hilary Kalagher ◽

Andrew Diamond

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Decision Making ◽

The United States ◽

Meteorological Conditions ◽

Transportation Safety ◽

Online Database ◽

Fatal Accident ◽

Instrument Meteorological Conditions ◽

High Prevalence ◽

Helicopter Pilots

Helicopters have the ability to make maneuvers or precautionary off-airport landings to avoid flights into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) such as fog. Flight accidents in which fog was encountered as well as inadvertent and intentional flights into fog were examined to understand their occurrence. A 25-year period in the United States using the National Transportation Safety Board online database was used to collect 109 accident reports of which 73 (67%) were fatal. Pilots flying intentionally into IMC were more likely to be a part of a fatal accident than those who did so inadvertently. Those pilots who were reported as being under pressure when encountering fog conditions were also more likely to be in an accident. The findings confirm a high prevalence and an added danger to intentional flights into IMC. In addition, decision-making under pressure when encountering IMC conditions is now linked to a higher proportion of fatalities, emphasizing that helicopter pilots should be made aware of these specific decision-making circumstances in their operations.

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