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64-411: A ground proximity warning system ( GPWS ) is a system designed to alert pilots if their aircraft is in immediate danger of flying into the ground or an obstacle. The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) defines GPWS as a type of terrain awareness and warning system (TAWS). More advanced systems, introduced in 1996, are known as enhanced ground proximity warning systems ( EGPWS ),

128-475: A Commercial Pilot License (CPL) after completing their PPL. This is required if the pilot desires to pursue a professional career as a pilot. To captain an airliner, one must obtain an Airline Transport Pilot License (ATPL). In the United States after 1 August 2013, an ATPL is required even when acting as a first officer. Some countries/carriers require/use a multi-crew cooperation (MCC) certificate. There

192-420: A blind spot. Since it can only gather data from directly below the aircraft, it must predict future terrain features. If there is a dramatic change in terrain, such as a steep slope, GPWS will not detect the aircraft closure rate until it is too late for evasive action. In the late 1990s, improvements were developed and the system is now named "Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System" (EGPWS/ TAWS ). The system

256-448: A different syllabus than civilian pilots, which is delivered by military instructors. This is due to the different aircraft, flight goals, flight situations and chains of responsibility. Many military pilots do transfer to civilian-pilot qualification after they leave the military, and typically their military experience provides the basis for a civilian pilot's license. It was in France that

320-536: A heading of 240 degrees so as to intercept the ILS localizer . Two minutes prior to impact, the crew was asked to turn further left, to 215 degrees. At 1:30 pm, Medan instructed the crew to descend to 2,000 feet (610 m), and to turn right heading 046 degrees to line up for arrival into runway 05, and asked the crew to report the direction in which the plane was traveling. Air traffic controllers then became confused as to which plane they were talking to, as another flight with

384-452: A military GPWS called Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System (Auto-GCAS) equipped aboard an F-16 made a dramatic save after a trainee pilot lost consciousness from excessive G forces during basic fighter manoeuvre training. In an approximately 55 degree nose down attitude at 8,760 ft (2,670 m) and 652 KIAS (750 mph or 1,210 km/h), the Auto-GCAS detected the aircraft

448-417: A modern type of TAWS. In the late 1960s, a series of controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) accidents took the lives of hundreds of people. A CFIT accident is one where a properly functioning airplane under the control of a fully qualified and certified crew is flown into terrain, water or obstacles with no apparent awareness on the part of the crew. Beginning in the early 1970s, a number of studies examined

512-412: A response, queried the pilots to get their attention, this time using the correct call sign, "Indonesia 152". The controller then repeated most of his instructions, but specifically failing to repeat that the flight would be making its approach on the south side of the runway, or right side. The pilots believed they were flying the approach on the north side of the airport, which reflected the information on

576-461: Is deterministic . As the Airbus A350 would only need minor modifications, Air Caraibes and French Bee parent Groupe Dubreuil see two-pilot crews in long-haul operations, without a third pilot for rotation, happening around 2024–2025. Single-pilot freighters could start with regional flights. The Air Line Pilots Association believe removing pilots would threaten aviation safety and opposes

640-454: Is a popular belief that airline pilots die earlier than the general population. This belief was not supported by studies of American Airlines and British Airways pilots. A hoax claiming to show an inverse relationship between retirement age and life expectancy was refuted by Boeing. However, a study of several airline pilot associations' data found evidence of higher mortality. A 1978 study of military pilots found increased longevity, which

704-576: Is combined with a worldwide digital terrain database and relies on Global Positioning System (GPS) technology. On-board computers compare current location with a database of the Earth's terrain. The Terrain Display gives pilots a visual orientation to high and low points near the aircraft. EGPWS software improvements are focused on solving two common problems: no warning at all, and late or improper response. The primary cause of CFIT occurrences with no GPWS warning

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768-598: Is eliminated, and the relevant controls are simplified and relocated to be positioned on the overhead panel between the two pilots. This control arrangement is similar to the Airbus A310 series, the difference being that the FFCC retains most of the analogue flight instrumentation of the original A300. The FFCC would later be developed into the A300-600 series, in which all elements of the flight deck are brought to A310 standards, including

832-447: Is landing short. When the landing gear is down and landing flaps are deployed, the GPWS expects the airplane to land and therefore, issues no warning. However, the GPWS can also malfunction because of a short circuit. On September 26, 1997, Garuda Indonesia Flight 152 crashed into a hilly area, killing all 222 passengers and 12 crew on board. Despite the fact that the plane was nearing terrain,

896-452: Is not required by the U.S. FAA in piston-engined aircraft, but optional equipment categorised as TAWS Type C may be installed. Depending on the type of operation, TAWS is only required to be installed into turbine-powered aircraft with six or more passenger seats. A smaller and less expensive version of EGPWS was developed by AlliedSignal (now merged with Honeywell ) for general aviation and private aircraft. For fast military aircraft,

960-499: Is that in the next two decades—if not sooner—automated and autonomous flight will have developed sufficiently to put downward pressure on both wages and the number and kind of flying jobs available. So if a kid asks the question now and he or she is 18, 20 years from now will be 2037 and our would-be careerist will be 38—not even mid-career. Who among us thinks aviation and especially for-hire flying will look like it does now?" Christian Dries, owner of Diamond Aircraft Austria said "Behind

1024-476: Is the astronaut who directly controls the operation of a spacecraft . This term derives directly from the usage of the word "pilot" in aviation, where it is synonymous with "aviator". Pilots are required to go through many hours of flight training and theoretical study, that differ depending on the country. The first step is acquiring the Private Pilot License (PPL), or Private Pilot Certificate. In

1088-499: Is very limited in controlled airspace (generally, above 400 ft/122m and away from airports), and the FAA prohibits nearly all commercial use. Once regulations are made to allow expanded use of UAVs in controlled airspace, there is expected to be a large surge of UAVs in use and, consequently, high demand for pilots/operators of these aircraft. The general concept of an airplane pilot can be applied to human spaceflight , as well. The pilot

1152-631: The Canadian Human Rights Act have restricted the retirement age set by the airlines. In the United States in 2020, there were 691,691 active pilot certificates. This was down from a high of over 800,000 active pilots in 1980. Of the active pilot certificate holders, there were 160,860 Private, 103,879 Commercial, 164,193 Airline Transport, and 222,629 Student. In 1930, the Air Commerce Act established pilot licensing requirements for American civil aviation. Commercial airline pilots in

1216-469: The Wright brothers ' first airplane: "The weight, including the body of the aviator, is a little more than 700 pounds". To ensure the safety of people in the air and on the ground, early aviation soon required that aircraft be under the operational control of a properly trained, certified pilot at all times, who is responsible for the safe and legal completion of the flight. The Aéro-Club de France delivered

1280-1056: The pilot in command often referred to as the captain . There were 290,000 airline pilots in the world in 2017 and aircraft simulator manufacturer CAE Inc. forecasts a need for 255,000 new ones for a population of 440,000 by 2027, 150,000 for growth and 105,000 to offset retirement and attrition: 90,000 in Asia-Pacific (average pilot age in 2016: 45.8 years), 85,000 in Americas (48 years), 50,000 in Europe (43.7 years) and 30,000 in Middle East & Africa (45.7 years). Boeing expects 790,000 new pilots in 20 years from 2018, 635,000 for commercial aviation , 96,000 for business aviation and 59,000 for helicopters : 33% in Asia Pacific (261,000), 26% in North America (206,000), 18% in Europe (146,000), 8% in

1344-532: The April 2018 FAA Reauthorization Act's Section 744 establishing a research and development program to assist single-pilot cargo aircraft by remote and computer piloting. For French aerospace research center Onera and avionics manufacturer Thales , artificial intelligence (AI) like consumer neural networks learning from large datasets cannot explain their operation and cannot be certified for safe air transport. Progress towards ‘explainable’ AIs can be expected in

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1408-497: The EGPWS warning sounds had been disabled, and the pilot-in-command was not properly trained with EGPWS. The system monitors an aircraft's height above ground as determined by a radar altimeter . A computer then keeps track of these readings, calculates trends, and will warn the flight crew with visual and audio messages if the aircraft is in certain defined flying configurations ("modes"). The modes are: The traditional GPWS does have

1472-534: The English Channel in December 1914. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs, also known as "drones") operate without a pilot on board and are classed into two categories: autonomous aircraft that operate without active human control during flight and remotely piloted UAVs which are operated remotely by one or more persons. The person controlling a remotely piloted UAV may be referred to as its pilot or operator. Depending on

1536-487: The GPWS did not activate, even though the landing gear and landing flaps were not deployed. EGPWS introduces the Terrain Clearance Floor (TCF) function, which provides GPWS protection even in the landing configuration. The occurrence of a GPWS alert typically happens at a time of high workload and nearly always surprises the flight crew. Almost certainly, the aircraft is not where the pilot thinks it should be, and

1600-466: The Medan radar system having a refresh time of 12 seconds. Without a constant up-to-date view of the flight's heading, the controller thought the plane was continuing left, when it was actually turning right and over high terrain. During this time the flight descended below 2,000 feet, probably due to the captain inputting the wrong altitude. The pilots did not notice this while they were focused on turning to

1664-694: The Middle East (64,000), 7% in Latin America (57,000), 4% in Africa (29,000) and 3% in Russia/ Central Asia (27,000). By November 2017, due a shortage of qualified pilots, some pilots were leaving corporate aviation to return to airlines. In one example a Global 6000 pilot, making $ 250,000 a year for 10 to 15 flight hours a month, returned to American Airlines with full seniority . A Gulfstream G650 or Global 6000 pilot might earn between $ 245,000 and $ 265,000, and recruiting one may require up to $ 300,000. At

1728-624: The President of Poland Lech Kaczyński . The aircraft was equipped with TAWS made by Universal Avionics Systems of Tucson. According to the Russian Interstate Aviation Committee, the TAWS was turned on. However, the airport where the aircraft was going to land (Smolensk (XUBS)) is not in the TAWS database. In January 2008 a Polish Air Force Casa C-295M crashed in a CFIT accident near Mirosławiec, Poland, despite being equipped with EGPWS;

1792-540: The United States have a mandatory retirement age of 65, having increased from age 60 in 2007. Military pilots fly with the armed forces, primarily the air forces, of a government or nation-state . Their tasks involve combat and non-combat operations, including direct hostile engagements and support operations. Military pilots undergo specialized training, often with weapons . Examples of military pilots include fighter pilots , bomber pilots, transport pilots, test pilots and astronauts . Military pilots are trained with

1856-420: The United States of America, this includes a minimum of 35 to 40 hours of flight training, the majority of which with a Certified Flight Instructor . In the United States, an LSA ( Light Sport Aircraft ) license can be obtained in at least 20 hours of flight time. Generally, the next step in a pilot's progression is Instrument Rating (IR), or Multi-Engine Rating (MEP) addons. Pilots may also choose to pursue

1920-437: The addition of electronic flight instrumentation. The two pilots aboard the accident flight were qualified to fly both the FFCC and the -600 model, however the adequacy of their conversion training between the two would later be called into question. The aircraft was delivered in 1982 and was powered by two Pratt & Whitney JT9D-59A turbofan engines and had flown over 27,000 hours (over 16,500 take-off and landing cycles) at

1984-575: The aircraft up to 5 miles (8.0 km) ahead. Digital maps of terrain and obstacle features are then used to determine whether a collision is likely if the aircraft does not pull up at a given pre-set g-level . If a collision is predicted, a cockpit warning may be provided. This is the type of system deployed on aircraft such as the Eurofighter Typhoon . The U.S. FAA has also conducted a study about adapting 3-D military thrust vectoring to recover civil jetliners from catastrophes. On May 5, 2016,

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2048-488: The aircraft was turning left. When he did notice, he told the captain he was turning the wrong way, and the captain questioned the controller over which way they needed to turn, to which the controller confirmed they were to turn right. A confusing conversation took place over which way to turn, with the controller not having a clear picture of what the flight was doing, due to being unaware that he had left out some critical instructions after his "Merpati 152" mistake and due to

2112-400: The airline's conversion training for pilots who fly both the A300-600 and A300B4-FF models. The former is equipped with digital navigation displays, while the latter is equipped with analog equipment. Though both are sufficient for conducting instrument approaches, the captain may have been overwhelmed due to his lack of familiarity with the analog instrumentation. Contributing to the accident

2176-425: The alert has been issued. In Indonesia, the captain of Garuda Indonesia Flight 200 was charged with manslaughter for not adhering to these procedures. In 2015, Air France Flight 953 (a Boeing 777-200ER aircraft) avoided controlled flight into terrain after the EGPWS detected Mount Cameroon in the aircraft's flight path. The pilot flying immediately responded to the initial warning from the EGPWS. TAWS equipment

2240-450: The approach chart the pilots were using. Thus, when the pilots were instructed to turn right to a heading of 046 maintaining 2,000 feet (610 m) to capture the localizer for the ILS to runway 05, out of habit – or possibly due to the detailed approach chart – the captain initiated a left turn to a heading of 046. The First Officer was distracted during the turn and did not notice for a while that

2304-568: The beginnings of tactical and strategic bombing took place in the first days of the war. Thus, the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) carried out bombing missions of the hangars of the airports of Düsseldorf, Cologne and Friedrichhafen during the autumn of 1914. The formation of the Brieftauben Abteilung Ostende ("Ostend Carrier Pigeon Detachment", name of code of the first German bombing units) carried out bombing missions over

2368-516: The bodies recovered from the crash were never identified and were buried in a mass grave in a cemetery outside Medan's Polonia Airport, where 61 victims of the 1979 Garuda Fokker F28 crash were also buried. The remaining 186 bodies were identified and returned to their families for private burial. The causes of the crash, according to the official report of the National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC), were: "There

2432-465: The correct heading. Five seconds prior to initial impact with the treetops, the First Officer made a comment about the airplane's altitude. The FDR recorded increases in pitch and engine power, likely commanded by the crew in an effort to correct their altitude. Shortly before the recording ended, the cockpit voice recorder registered the sound of the plane striking trees, followed by shouting from

2496-565: The crash the lawsuit was settled out of court. A suit against Garuda Indonesia, brought by Joyce Coyle in Oregon ( Coyle v. P.T. Garuda Indonesia ) was dismissed on the grounds that the US court had no jurisdiction to hear a case about domestic flights operated by a government-owned airline in another country. Flights between Jakarta and Medan are now operated by flight numbers 118, 182, 184, 186, 188 and 190 (operating to Kualanamu International Airport as

2560-884: The curtain, aircraft manufacturers are working on a single-pilot cockpit where the airplane can be controlled from the ground and only in case of malfunction does the pilot of the plane interfere. Basically the flight will be autonomous and I expect this to happen in the next five to six years for freighters." In August 2017 financial company UBS predicted pilotless airliners are technically feasible and could appear around 2025, offering around $ 35bn of savings, mainly in pilot costs: $ 26bn for airlines , $ 3bn for business jets and $ 2.1bn for civil helicopters ; $ 3bn/year from lower pilot training and aviation insurance costs due to safer flights; $ 1bn from flight optimisation (1% of global airlines' $ 133bn jet fuel bill in 2016); not counting revenue opportunity from increased capacity utilization . Regulations have to adapt with air cargo likely at

2624-449: The development of GPWS, large passenger aircraft were involved in 3.5 fatal CFIT accidents per year, falling to 2 per year in the mid-1970s. A 2006 report stated that from 1974, when the U.S. FAA made it a requirement for large aircraft to carry such equipment, until the time of the report, there had not been a single passenger fatality in a CFIT crash by a large jet in U.S. airspace. After 1974, there were still some CFIT accidents that GPWS

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2688-692: The first certificate to Louis Blériot in 1908—followed by Glenn Curtiss , Léon Delagrange , and Robert Esnault-Pelterie . The British Royal Aero Club followed in 1910 and the Aero Club of America in 1911 (Glenn Curtiss receiving the first). Civilian pilots fly aircraft of all types privately for pleasure, charity, or in pursuance of a business, or commercially for non-scheduled (charter) and scheduled passenger and cargo air carriers (airlines), corporate aviation, agriculture (crop dusting, etc.), forest fire control, law enforcement, etc. When flying for an airline, pilots are usually referred to as airline pilots, with

2752-643: The flight decks of U.S. and European airliners do have ex-military pilots, many pilots are civilians. Military training and flying, while rigorous, is fundamentally different in many ways from civilian piloting. Operating an aircraft in Canada is regulated by the Aeronautics Act of 1985 and the Canadian Aviation Regulations provide rules for Pilot licensing in Canada . Retirement age is provided by each airline, with some set to age 60, but changes to

2816-454: The forefront, but pilotless flights could be limited by consumer behaviour : 54% of 8,000 people surveyed are defiant while 17% are supportive, with acceptation progressively forecast. AVweb reporter Geoff Rapoport stated, "pilotless aircraft are an appealing prospect for airlines bracing for the need to hire several hundred thousand new pilots in the next decade. Wages and training costs have been rapidly rising at regional U.S. airlines over

2880-409: The high speed and low altitude that may frequently be flown make traditional GPWS systems unsuitable, as the blind spot becomes the critical part. Thus, an enhanced system is required, taking inputs not only from the radar altimeter , but also from inertial navigation system (INS), Global Positioning System (GPS), and flight control system (FCS), using these to accurately predict the flight path of

2944-442: The installation of GPWS in 1979. C. Donald Bateman , a Canadian-born engineer, developed and is credited with the invention of GPWS. In March 2000, the U.S. FAA amended operating rules to require that all U.S. registered turbine-powered airplanes with six or more passenger seats (exclusive of pilot and copilot seating) be equipped with an FAA-approved TAWS. The mandate affects aircraft manufactured after March 29, 2002. Prior to

3008-618: The last several years as the major airlines have hired pilots from the regionals at unprecedented rates to cover increased air travel demand from economic expansion and a wave of retirements". Going to pilotless airliners could be done in one bold step or in gradual improvements like by reducing the cockpit crew for long haul missions or allowing single pilot cargo aircraft. The industry has not decided how to proceed yet. Present automated systems are not autonomous and must be monitored; their replacement could require artificial intelligence with machine learning while present certified software

3072-520: The next decade, as the Onera expects "leads" for a certifiable AI system, along EASA standards evolution. In some countries, such as Pakistan , Thailand and several African nations, there is a strong relationship between the military and the principal national airlines, and many airline pilots come from the military; however, that is no longer the case in the United States and Western Europe . While

3136-496: The occurrence of CFIT accidents. Findings from these studies indicated that many such accidents could have been avoided if a warning device called a ground proximity warning system (GPWS) had been used. As a result of these studies and recommendations from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), in 1974, the FAA required all large turbine and turbojet airplanes to install TSO -approved GPWS equipment. The UN International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), recommended

3200-445: The other end of the spectrum, constrained by the available pilots, some small carriers hire new pilots who need 300 hours to jump to airlines in a year. They may also recruit non-career pilots who have other jobs or airline retirees who want to continue to fly. The number of airline pilots could decrease as automation replaces copilots and eventually pilots as well. In January 2017 Rhett Ross, CEO of Continental Motors said "my concern

3264-648: The pilots' qualifications and responsibilities, most militaries and many airlines worldwide award aviator badges to their pilots. The first recorded use of the term aviator ( aviateur in French) was in 1887, as a variation of aviation , from the Latin avis (meaning bird ), coined in 1863 by G. J. G. de La Landelle  [ fr ] in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne ("Aviation or Air Navigation"). The term aviatrix ( aviatrice in French), now archaic,

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3328-737: The pilots. The aircraft crashed into a ravine 27 kilometres (15 nmi; 17 mi) from the runway 05 threshold, 18 kilometres (9.7 nmi; 11 mi) to the south of the center line. The aircraft hit the ground at 1:32 p.m., right wing low, turning towards the airport in the process at a heading of 230-240 degrees and an altitude of 1,550 feet (470 m) MSL. All 234 people on board died. The passengers were mostly Indonesian, eight Turkish with six Japanese, four German, three Taiwanese, two American, two British, two Canadian, two Ghanaian, one Australian, one Belgian, one Dutch, one French, one Italian, one Malaysian, one Pakistani, one South African and one Swedish national. Forty-eight of

3392-701: The response to a GPWS warning can be late in these circumstances. Warning time can also be short if the aircraft is flying into steep terrain since the downward-looking radio altimeter is the primary sensor used for the warning calculation. The EGPWS improves terrain awareness and warning times by introducing the Terrain Display and the Terrain Data Base Look Ahead protection. In commercial and airline operations, there are legally mandated procedures that must be followed should an EGPWS caution or warning occur. Both pilots must respond and act accordingly once

3456-529: The same number ( Merpati Nusantara Airlines Flight 152) was also in the area at the time. Earlier in the day, another Flight 152, Merpati Nusantara Airlines Flight 152, was handled by the same air traffic controller. This led to the controller mistakenly saying "Merpati one five two turn left heading 240 to intercept runway zero five from the right side"; as the wrong call sign was used, the Garuda pilots disregarded these instructions. The controller, on not receiving

3520-465: The sophistication and use of the UAV, pilots/operators of UAVs may require certification or training, but are generally not subject to the licensing/certification requirements of pilots of manned aircraft. Most jurisdictions have restrictions on the use of UAVs which have greatly limited their use in controlled airspace; UAVs have mostly been limited to military and hobbyist use. In the United States, use of UAVs

3584-510: The time of the accident. At 1:13 pm (local time), air traffic controllers in Medan cleared Flight 152 for an ILS approach to Runway 5 from its 316 degree heading. The crew, led by Captain Hance Rachmo Wiyogo (41), a pilot with 19 years of flying experience at Garuda Indonesia and nearly 12,000 flying hours, and First Officer Tata Zuwaldi (also 41), a former flight engineer who recently upgraded to pilot, were instructed to turn left to

3648-445: The world's first bombing group was created, on November 23, 1914. The Voisin III were the only aircraft available for this mission. These could only carry very light loads (between 55-160 kg of bombs), the bombs were rudimentary and the aiming systems remained to be developed. Initially, the bombs were simply thrown overboard by the crew, with necessarily very limited accuracy. Nevertheless,

3712-413: Was Sundstrand Corporation (later Hamilton Sundstrand ), the manufacturer of the GPWS. The plaintiffs alleged that the GPWS was defectively designed, that the manufacturer was aware of its deficiencies in mountainous terrain for over a decade, and had the system worked as designed the accident could have been avoided. Sundstrand disputed these claims and did not accept responsibility. Nearly six years after

3776-461: Was attributed to "generally good socioeconomic background, the positive genetic influence of long-lived parents, the above average intelligence, and the health and fitness orientation of the military aviator". Garuda Indonesia Flight 152 The aircraft was an Airbus A300B4 FFCC, or "forward-facing crew concept." The FFCC model is a modified version of the A300B4 in which the flight engineer station

3840-404: Was confusion regarding turning direction of left turn instead of right turn at critical position during radar vectoring that reduced the flight crew's vertical awareness while they were concentrating on the aircraft’s lateral changes. These caused the aircraft to continue descending below the assigned altitude of 2000 ft and hit treetops at 1550 ft above mean sea level." The report also criticized

3904-403: Was formerly used for a female pilot. The term aviator ( aviateur in French), now archaic, was formerly used for a male pilot. People who operate aircraft obtain a pilot licence. Aviation regulations referred to pilots . These terms were used more in the early days of aviation , when airplanes were extremely rare, and connoted bravery and adventure. For example, a 1905 reference work described

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3968-593: Was going to strike the terrain and executed an automatic recovery, saving the pilot's life. Aircraft pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls . Some other aircrew members , such as navigators or flight engineers , are also considered aviators because they are involved in operating the aircraft's navigation and engine systems. Other aircrew members, such as drone operators, flight attendants , mechanics and ground crew , are not classified as aviators. In recognition of

4032-529: Was the failure of the Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) for undetermined reasons and the inadequate vectoring charts used by the controllers at Medan. The first lawsuit was filed on September 24, 1998, on behalf of American passengers Fritz and Djoeminah Baden. Additional lawsuits were filed in state and federal courts in Chicago related to 26 more victims. The sole defendant in the lawsuits

4096-451: Was unable to help prevent, due to the "blind spot" of those early GPWS systems. More advanced systems were developed. Older TAWS, or deactivation of the EGPWS, or ignoring its warnings when an airport is not in its database, still leave aircraft vulnerable to possible CFIT incidents. In April 2010, a Polish Air Force Tupolev Tu-154M aircraft crashed near Smolensk, Russia, in a possible CFIT accident killing all passengers and crew, including

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