… Provided by Aviation Performance Solutions

Aviation Performance Solutions (APS), the Mesa, Arizona-based aviation training concern specializing in instructing pilots of all experience levels in the critical skill of aircraft Upset Prevention and Recovery Training (UPRT), has announced it has been contracted to provide Loss of Control In-flight (LOC-I) training to flight students at United Aviate Academy, the Goodyear, Arizona flight school owned by United Airlines.

For over fifty-years, Loss of Control In-flight (LOC-I) has been the leading cause of commercial airplane crashes and crash-related fatalities worldwide. LOC-I is generally defined as an adverse flight condition that has placed an airplane outside its normal flight envelope with a potential inability of the pilot to control the airplane using traditional pilot skills. ICAO specifies that Loss of control In-flight (LOC-I) is an extreme manifestation of a deviation from an intended flightpath.

Aviation Performance Solutions’s Airplane Upset Recovery Training Aid (AURTA) defines an upset as an airplane in flight unintentionally exceeding the parameters normally experienced in line operations or training. The document further states that, while parameters may vary among aircraft models, typical upset parameters are:

• Pitch attitude greater than 25° nose-up or 10° nose-down
• Bank angle greater than 45°
• Or within the above parameters but flying at airspeeds inappropriate for the conditions

Formerly rivaled in magnitude and persistence by Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT), LOC-I presents a unique challenge to professional aviation as it highlights serious deficiencies in many pilots’ abilities to deal with unusual flight attitudes and flight envelope excursions. Regrettably, current FAA pilot training curricula, standards, and certification requirements perpetuate pilot susceptibility to LOC-I.

APS's comprehensive training program exceeds regulatory minimums by incorporating the latest advancements in UPRT effectiveness, including instructor-led academics, on-aircraft and advanced simulator training, and online virtual education. The training will help United Aviate Academy students understand what leads to LOC-I, prevent, and when necessary, overcome instances of LOC-I in the safest and most effective manner.

United Aviate Academy CEO Dana Donati set forth: "We are committed to training our student pilots to make sound decisions at a moment's notice to keep themselves and their passengers safe. The integrated upset recovery program provided by APS places our flight school on the leading edge of the industry's most advanced LOC-I training."

Aviation Performance Solutions CEO Paul BJ Ransbury added: "APS is honored to play a key role in United Aviate Academy's expansive flight training program. It is the responsibility of flight schools worldwide to implement effective, transferable, and industry-standardized LOC-I solutions for student pilots that teach them how to expeditiously and correctly recognize, prevent or recover from an airplane upset, the precursor condition to LOC-I."

United, the only major U.S. airline to own a flight training school, opened United Aviate Academy in 2022 with an eye toward training five-thousand new pilots by 2030.

FMI: www.unitedaviate.com