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News Item Get The Aircare FACTS®! Flight Attendant/Aircrew Emergency Procedures Training by Ed Wandall, ARG/US Reprinted with permission from ASOS Safety Wire, September 2005, Ed Wandall, ARG/US. Like everyone else, the horrific pictures I had seen on the news of Air France Flight 358, broken and burning of the end of the runway at Pearson Airport in Toronto, shocked me. I just caught a glimpse of it on the news as I was rushing out of the house to drive to Teterboro, New Jersey. As I quickly tuned in the news on the radio, my shock turned to abject amazement. Not one of the 297 passengers and 12 crewmembers was killed? The talking head on the radio was going on and on about 'miracles,' but I suspected the flight attendants had a hand in it as well... which was ironic, since I was heading to Teterboro to check out Aircare FACTS® Emergency Procedures Training for Corporate Aircraft Pilots and Flight Attendants (F/A's).  Aircare FACTS®, a division of Aircare International Limited, have trained over 2000 pilots and flight attendants since it began operations over 21 years ago. Aircare FACTS® has become the de facto standard in crewmember emergency training. Specializing in evacuation and safety procedures, the Aircare FACTS® team of instructors use full-size and full-motion simulators to bring the highest level of realism to the training session... not only that, they will bring them to your flight department, because they are all mobile!Aircare FACTS® has over 100 scheduled classes each year, and while they would be happy to set up at your airport, they also work out of 'hub' cities: Seattle, WA; Van Nuys, CA; Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Chicago, IL, San Fran/San Jose, CA; Dallas, TX; and my destination , Teterboro, NJ. The class was at the Hilton Hotel in Hasbrouck Heights, just north of TEB, and I was already working on this newsletter in my head as I pulled up. Though I already knew the importance of trained Flight Attendants, I figured this would be a great opportunity to discuss how important they are in a flight department. I guess CNN thought so too, because they showed up right after I did. This particular course was being taught by Blaine Stanley and Traci Gross. They had a dozen or so corporate flight attendants in the class, and ironically, the instructors were teaching emergency egress. Within minutes I was impressed by the thoroughness and professionalism of the instructors. During the breaks, I had the opportunity to interview several of the students, and they stressed that this training was a critical element in their careers. When they asked me why I was there, I replied that I felt it important to spread the word that trained F/A's are not only industry "Best Practices" they are a serious safety of flight benefit.  After the class work, we went out to practice in the full motion simulator (one of 5 sims that Aircare FACTS® owns, including one specific to helicopter emergencies). As a pilot, I was impressed with the realism of the simulation. The bumps, bangs, smoke and sirens made it as real as an emergency as I ever want to see. Now for you pilots out there, consider taking these classes alongside your F/A's. When you are in the sim and the cabin is filling up with smoke, and you are riding a bucking bronco down the runway, you will be very glad you have a well trained F/A behind you to take care of your PAX. And remember, it is a good idea to take care of your passengers, as they tend to pay the bills in this industry. The attention to detail in the sim is impressive... the window on the port side are oval like a Gulfstream, and the ones on the starboard side are square like a Challenger or a Citation. Inside you have fore facing, aft facing, and divan seats... you may even want to suggest this training for your owners or frequent flyers.As impressive as the full motion crash sim is, the quality of training does not end there. After egress training, we returned to the classroom to work on hypoxia awareness training. This program is new to Aircare FACTS® and is the first type of training of this sort for the corporate aircraft world. They use what is called a Reduced Oxygen Breathing Device (ROBD) that can simulate the effects of altitude (up to 30,000 feet). The ROBD is a safe, effective was to show the effects of decompression in an aircraft. Each participant is monitored for heart rate fluctuations, as well as oxygen saturation levels by one of Aircare FACTS® EMT trained instructors. You will see that each person has a different "time of useful consciousness" (TUC). After watching what happened to Helios Flight 522, decompression is going to be a bigger factor in future training. Later we went out to the pool, where the famous Aircare FACTS® dunker was used, and openwater survival and lifesaving skills were taught. As is usual with Aircare FACTS®, realism is stressed, so you didn't see any bathing suits at the pool! Business casual was the dress code of the day. Throughout the entire program, both Blaine and Traci were diligent in making sure everyone knew the material, and answered any questions regarding the training process.  One of the things that impressed me the most was that both Traci and Blaine largely ignored CNN. Even though CNN was doing live shots from the training, it was business as usual for the Aircare FACTS® instructors. Only during the breaks did they answer questions from the press or provide interviews. It was obvious that the students came first. When CNN wanted to do a live feed from inside the crash simulator, Blaine and Traci told them that it would have to be after class was over, and they would ask for volunteers to stay after... but they wouldn't interrupt the normal schedule. That is professionalism.If you use cabin attendants, put them through this training. It is not acceptable to have folks who just serve drinks and hand out trays of food. The passengers look to these folks as trained aviation professionals, and in the case of an accident, they will look to these people to help them out the wrecked aircraft. If you haven't put them through adequate training in this regard, you might be putting yourself at risk from a liability standpoint. With the video of that A-340 crash at Pearson still fresh in my mind, I thought about how important those crewmembers were. CNN was quick to pick up on the parallels as well. When the CNN anchor asked me what I thought about the training program, I stated: "This is top notch training. These people are going to save lives." I can give the Aircare FACTS® folks no higher compliment. Contact Aircare FACTS® at: http://www.factstraining.com. Or by email at dale.e@aircaresolutionsgroup.com. The ARG/US Safety Officer Support Program Newsletter Safety Wire-September 2005 Aviation Research Group/U.S., Inc. 212 W. 8th Street - Cincinnati, OH. 45202 Phone: 215-345-6782 Website: www.aviationresearch.com/asos / Email: asos@aviationresearch.com ###
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