It is a report that shivers down the spine. According to an internal study, unveiled by the press, Wednesday, January 5, some pilots of the Australian airline Qantas, rusted by long periods on the ground during the Covid-19 pandemic, make mistakes when they return to the controls of the planes. Among the errors listed in this report, revealed by the Sydney Morning Herald and the daily The Age, were forgetting to release the parking brake during takeoff and “confusion between altitude and speed”.
The memo also cites switches engaged in the wrong position in the cockpit, and errors during the exterior inspection of the aircraft by pilots before flight. “Routine tasks that were previously accomplished with minimal effort now take up more time and distract from piloting the aircraft,” the document warns.
Refamiliarization programs
Two years of the pandemic and drastic reduction in air traffic numbed seasoned pilots who went weeks without flying and suffered “a subsequent reduction in their cognitive ability,” the report said.
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“Airlines around the world are facing the complex process of returning to pre-Covid operations, including the return of pilots who have spent long periods on the ground,” a Qantas spokesperson admitted. She explained that “refamiliarization programs” had been put in place for the pilots. “Safety is our number one priority,” she stressed.
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