RUSH SYNDROME

In this modern age, life is full of hectic activity and managing time efficiently is become a necessity. As pilots, whether in general aviation or in airline environment, we are subject to pressures of various sort. One of them I would like to deal with in this post, is about the pre-flight rush, which all of us are subjected to while carrying our flight activity.




History is replete with  incidents and accidents owing to rush syndrome on part of crew during the pre-flight stage.Most notable and severe one being the Tenerife accident between KLM and PAN AM B747 wherein the KLM Captain was under pressure to depart.


Talking about pre-flight rush syndrome, it could be attributable to host of reasons like trying to pushback off blocks on time after a late arrival into gate, beat the curfew time on the other end, duty time limitations creeping in, have to reach the destination due to prior commitment, management pressures,and host of other reasons.


Due to the above reasons, crew may rush through the scan flow to the checklist and due to repetitive nature,may not find anything amiss and end up being complacent and eroding safety without realising it.


It is upto operators, individuals and the industry as a whole to avoid getting sucked into this rush syndrome and help enhance safety which could be eroded otherwise. Although at times it  may have not lead to incidents and accidents, it would reinforce to crew that it is okay to do so, which under different circumstances could set one up for an incident or an accident.This latent threat lurking during pre-flight stage needs to be effectively managed by recognising it and addressing it.


Write to us and comment on this post and share your experiences on rush syndrome in your area of work.