FLIGHTTRAINING

Among the keys to global success

will be accentuating the positive and
eliminating the negative.

Teaching
UPRT
© Photos courtesy S. Advani, IDT

BY SUNJOO ADVANI

U
pset prevention and recovery training simulator; however, instructor exposure to the
(UPRT) will take many airline pilots out threat environment, escalation and recovery also
of their comfort zone, exposing them is essential. On-aircraft UPRT — recommended
to places unknown. For most of their for different pilot groups in the new official docu-
instructors, too, these places until recently ments — is increasingly recognized as a critical
were unfamiliar territory. This article explains component to developing effective UPRT simula-
why that is the case, and will help newcomers tor instructors (ASW, 10/13, p. 40).
to this subject quickly grasp the essentials of
the paradigm shift under way. Sound Paradigm
Now that international standards and For those unfamiliar with the evolution of
recommendations have been published (see airplane-upset terminology, UPRT today
“Starting Lineup,” p. 47), one of the significant describes a systematic response to the steady
remaining challenges to UPRT implementa- growth in the number of accidents resulting
tion will be to assure a quality standard for all from loss of control–in flight (LOC-I). During
UPRT instructors that supports consistent and the past decade, LOC-I has been the no. 1 cause
accurate training delivery. of worldwide commercial airline fatalities, ac-
New tools soon will be available for pilot- cording to the annual analyses of data published
performance assessment by instructors in the by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The response

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 FLIGHTTRAINING

is a comprehensive integrated approach to train the airplane has a pitch attitude greater than 25
pilots in awareness, recognition and avoidance, degrees nose up or greater than 10 degrees nose
and recovery skills to mitigate LOC-I events. down, or a bank angle greater than 45 degrees,
In 2009, the Royal Aeronautical Society’s or the airplane is at an airspeed inappropriate
International Committee for Aviation Training for the condition. In fact, many uncorrected
in Extended Envelopes (ICATEE) proposed the upsets result from a stall if the crew fails to
term upset prevention and recovery training, in effectively recover from the stalled condi-
which the prevention element was emphasized. tion. Preventing, recognizing and, if necessary,
This slight but significant adjustment to the recovering from an upset are now considered
previous term upset recovery training generated essential if we want to curb LOC-I.
a broader acceptance and cooperation among ICATEE identified three levels of mitiga-
the many stakeholders that the industry needed tion — awareness; recognition and avoidance;
to produce training requirements that would be and recovery — the first two of which create a
adopted globally. prevention perimeter (Table 1).
So, what exactly is UPRT? First, an airplane If prevention fails to mitigate the upset risk,
upset is defined as unintentionally exceeding the recovery skill is the final defense against a
the flight parameters normally experienced in possible LOC-I situation. It is also important
line operations or training. In other words, the to understand that, even though a stall is a
airplane is not doing what the pilot intended form of (or precursor to) an upset, it can lead
and is approaching unsafe parameters: that is, to a further exacerbation of the flight condi-
tion if recovery is not immediate. The crashes
of Colgan Air Flight 3407 (ASW, 3/10, p. 20),
ICATEE Levels of Aircraft Upset Mitigation Turkish Airlines Flight 1951 (ASW, 6/10, p.
Upset Mitigation Level Learning Objective Example 32) and Air France Flight 447 (ASW, 8/12, p.
14) are all well-known, stall-related fatal ac-
Awareness Threat and error manage- Appreciation of kinetic
ment related to upsets by and potential energy
cidents. Thirty-six percent of LOC-I events are
developing an appre- available at varying al- stall-­related. Experts have cited the following
ciation of the potential titudes; for example, possible causal factors:
operational threats. recognizing performance
• Limited awareness of the aircraft energy
limitations at higher
altitudes and the possible state;
need to trade off altitude
• Distraction caused by sudden roll-off or
for airspeed.
unexpected control behavior near the stall;
Recognition and Early recognition of Ability to give proportion-
and,
avoidance ensuing threats and un- al flight control counter-
intended deviations from response to a developing • Adherence to inappropriate recovery tech-
the normal flight path and wake vortex, before the
niques, such as not reducing angle-of-attack
preventing exceedance of aircraft has exceeded nor-
as the primary means to eliminate a stall.
the flight envelope. mal attitude parameters.
Recovery Returning the aircraft to Ability to prioritize the
Furthermore, there was a limited emphasis
the normal flight envelope/ appropriate flight control
during training on the additional challenges
conditions following an inputs needed to safely
upset in a timely and and effectively recover of high-altitude stalls. At high altitude, for
effective manner, without from a developed stall. example, a stall may require a considerably
endangering the airframe. longer and sustained application of nose-down
Source: International Committee for Aviation Training in Extended Envelopes (ICATEE)
pitch (and possibly trim) to maintain a reduced
angle-of-attack to prevent a secondary stall. The
Table 1 industry felt the urgency to carry out enhanced

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 FLIGHTTRAINING

stall training, and one result was the with a flight condition requiring high- and advisory circulars recommending
Airplane Upset Recovery Training Aid er levels of concentration to recover maneuver-based and scenario-based
published in August 1998, with revi- from an unknown or unexpected upset stall training (Figure 1).
sions in August 2004 and November event. It is worse when the person is One significant change, as noted, was
2008. (Available at <flightsafety.org/ tired, fatigued or emotionally stressed. the recommendation to eliminate the
archives-and-resources/airplane-upset- If an event triggers the startle process, older stall recovery technique (i.e., apply
recovery-training-aid>.) Yet, further it becomes difficult to resolve the situ- full power and try to minimize altitude
challenges have been recognized more ation without tools readily available. loss) and replace it with a new one,
recently. In order to explain them, ad- These tools are the knowledge and the recommending immediate reduction of
ditional background is useful. trained ability to analyze and to re- angle-of-attack, and trading off potential
solve the problem developed through energy (altitude) to gain kinetic energy
The Startle Reflex recurrent practice or, better yet, real- (airspeed). The pilot should, in fact,
Training to prevent, recognize and life exposure. always apply the same stall recovery
recover from airplane upsets is all about Pilots need a “Been There, Done technique at the first indication of stall,
developing knowledge and skill sets That” UPRT T-shirt. Yet, sadly, many which could be an aural warning, aero-
that make pilots aware of the threat airline pilots — including instruc- dynamic buffet or activation of the stick
and prompt them to initiate timely tors — have not been in an actual stall shaker. Test pilots have shown that, re-
action. However, we also know that since the single-engine flights in their gardless of the maturity of the stall (i.e.,
when an upset occurs in actual flight, early training. Compounding this, the either an approach-to-stall condition or
pilots often do not respond as they were industry has a history of erroneously a fully-developed stall with g-break), the
trained. In such instances, the common emphasizing “minimum loss of alti- recovery invariably requires use of the
belief is that they were startled. tude” over the immediate reduction of steps in the template.
Startle is a volatile emotional angle-of-attack (ASW, 4/11, p. 46).
response. This intense reaction can A Surprising Study
cause inappropriate or incorrect human Latest Stall Recovery Making this stall-recovery template
behavior. In time-critical events, such as Many of today’s simulators are limited a memory item was considered the
the escalation of an upset, an incorrect in their ability to present actual type- “silver bullet” answer to stalls: Pilots
reaction may worsen the situation and specific characteristics of stalls. In order would simply apply the procedure,
make recovery (both mentally and aero- to mitigate and to reverse the unfortu- and stalls would be a thing of the past.
dynamically) more challenging. nate history of stall accidents, a number However, a study by the U.S. Federal
A pilot’s startled condition is wors- of preventive actions were introduced, Aviation Administration showed that
ened when he or she is confronted including a stall-recovery template there is actually no substitute for
exposure to stalls in a realistic setting,
and to realistic distractors caused by
Stall Recovery Template
the nonlinear behavior of the airplane
during the stall. In the 2013 study, of
1. Autopilot and auto-throttle...........................................................................Disconnect
the 45 airline pilots involved, fewer
2. a) Nose down pitch control ...................... Apply until stall warning is eliminated than 25 percent applied the template
b) Nose down pitch trim..................................................................................As needed satisfactorily. Despite prior familiarity
3. Bank.....................................................................................................................Wings level with the template, a common reaction
was to fight the stall and prioritize roll
4. Thrust ....................................................................................................................As needed control instead of unloading (i.e., de-
5. Speed brakes/spoilers.............................................................................................Retract creasing the load factor by reducing the
6. Return to the desired flight path angle-of-attack). The study, conducted
in a Boeing 737NG full-flight simulator,
Source: International Committee for Aviation Training in Extended Envelopes
raised awareness that unexpected stall
Figure 1 scenarios should be added to today’s

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 FLIGHTTRAINING

maneuver-based training to ingrain the pilot. Therefore, as noted, instructor ex- decades, most simulator instructors
proper recovery technique. posure to the actual threat environment teach recovery techniques that they
is considered an important ingredient personally have decided are appropri-
Instructor Limitations to making a good UPRT simulator in- ate, without any quality assurance to
UPRT requires that instructors have the structor. The argument is that without prevent negative transfer of training.
ability to impart the correct skills to be knowing one’s own limitations, it is
used in times of distress. By applying nearly impossible to teach others how Simulator Limitations
aeronautical and systems knowledge, to overcome them. Simulators are an excellent resource for
and having the tools to analyze and Clarke McNeace, a former airline training upsets, but transport aircraft
resolve the situation, instructors can captain and fighter pilot, and currently behavior can deviate from simulator be-
train pilots more effectively than in the a vice president at Aviation Perfor- havior during an upset. Therefore, em-
past. Yet, there are challenges to making mance Solutions (APS) at the Breda powering the instructor with appropriate
this a reliable, repeatable and affordable International Airport, Netherlands, information is an essential element, as is
process. Fortunately, there are solutions says that such experience has not been giving the instructor the ability to impart
— once we understand and address the common. “A typical simulator instruc- surprise scenarios during the training
hurdles in achieving them. tor has had little to no formalized in order to not to rely exclusively on the
The most common tool that will be on-aircraft upset training. … Many rote repetition of maneuvers.
used in UPRT is the full-flight simula- simulator instructors have never been One of the unique tools that will be-
tor. However, this costly training device beyond 60 degrees of bank angle or in a come part of full-flight simulators adapt-
is only as good as the instructor operat- deep stall in an actual aircraft them- ed for UPRT is an instructor-feedback
ing it. The instructor needs an aware- selves,” he said. Furthermore, because display with graphics focused on avoid-
ness of how to develop upset recovery there has been no formal guidance on ing and recovering from the edges of
skill sets and self-confidence within the simulator-based UPRT delivery for the flight envelope. First and foremost,
an instructor must be able to monitor
the pilot’s use of controls pertaining to
UPRT Instructor Toolkit Screen the flight condition. For example, the
immediate use of nose-down pressure
and trim may be necessary and should
be emphasized, but without the display,
the inputs may not be visible to the
instructor in the dark simulator cockpit.
Similarly, improper use of rudder pedal
inputs, such as rapid side-to-side pedal
inputs that could lead to structural dam-
age, must be detected and corrected.
The resulting aircraft responses
should be within the acceptable safety
margins visible on the display during
the avoidance or recovery maneuver.
Exceeding the structural limits must
be avoided; unloading the wings by
reducing the angle-of-attack — thereby
allowing the aircraft to safely fly below
the critical angle-of-attack — should be
UPRT = upset prevention and recovery training
emphasized. Furthermore, the simula-
Source: International Committee for Aviation Training in Extended Envelopes
tion is only valid to a certain angle-of-
Figure 2 attack and sideslip. These are established

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 FLIGHTTRAINING

during flight testing and, in some their ability to teach in the simulator If we want to curb LOC-I, we also will
cases with enough confidence, through increases significantly. Even more im- need to rethink the way we teach basic
wind-tunnel testing or other engineer- portantly, emphasizing the pilot’s positive flying to pilots and instructors — from
ing methods. Knowing if these limits of performance while eliminating the nega- the ground up. 
validity have been violated also is impor- tive traits during training and de-briefing Sunjoo K. Advani, Ph.D., an aerospace engineer
tant because simulator accuracy of actual can become one of the key assets to and pilot, is owner of International Development
aircraft behavior degrades as it departs preventing LOC-I. Again, it all comes of Technology, a technology-­integration con-
from the validated training envelope. down to proper training of the pilots and sultancy firm involved in training, simulation
An example of a UPRT instructor the instructors. and research for flight, driving and medical
applications. He has been involved in UPRT
toolkit screen is shown on a display In summary, check airmen and flight
for 10 years, including from 2009 as chairman
(Figure 2). The toolkit software pro- instructors who conduct training or of ICATEE. He advises aviation organizations
vides a comprehensive overview of checking in simulators must themselves worldwide on their aviation rulemaking initia-
the pilot’s control inputs (lower left) receive training on the operation of the tives and their implementation of UPRT.
and resulting aircraft responses. These simulator and its limitations. Forthcom-
Notes
are correlated with flight instrument ing regulatory requirements in many
display indications, and the aircraft countries and regions will include 1. Lambregts, A.A.; Nesemeier, G.; Wilborn,
loading (V-n diagram, upper right) and enhanced simulator instructor training. J.E.; Newman, R.L. “Airplane Upsets: Old
Problems, New Issues.” American Institute
validated angle-of-attack versus sideslip The majority of today’s instructors were
of Aeronautics and Astronautics Modeling
envelope, (upper left). trained only in simulators, with a greater and Simulation Technologies Conference
When instructors are properly emphasis on teaching procedures than and Exhibit, Aug. 18–21, 2008, Honolulu.
trained to use UPRT tools like these, on basic airmanship and flying skills. AIAA 2008-6867.

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