Operating Aircraft in Fog

 



In my opinion, the weather hazard that poses the greatest risk to aviation operations is fog. For pilots that are not as skilled, fog poses extreme danger and is a potentially deadly hazard. In fact, every year, approximately 440 individuals are killed due to weather-related aviation accidents including the conditions of fog. (National Weather Service, n.d.). Fog occurs when water vapor, or water in its gaseous form, condenses. During this state of condensation, molecules of water vapor combine to make tiny liquid droplets, which produce the fog that make it hard to see (National Geographic Society, 2012).

The ability to maneuver in fog depends on the following three factors—the capability of the pilot, the capability of the aircraft, and the capability of the airport (National Weather Service, n.d.). This is why I believe fog is one of the most hazardous weather conditions. Some pilots may believe they are comfortable flying in these conditions when in actuality, it is too difficult. There is room for subjectiveness when determining the capability of the pilots. As pilots, it is crucial to know the layout of the airport you are departing from or arriving to, including the length and layout of the runway, as well as the entire flying area. This is especially true in low visibility situations (National Weather Service, n.d). To safely operate in foggy weather, it is essential to follow the specific FAA mandated guidelines and flight rules for the specific flight category on visibility and ceiling height. In order to safely escape fog if caught in such conditions, a pilot must have knowledge of their flight instrumentation and have access to proper instrumentation (National Weather Service, n.d.).  

Word Count: 278

 

References

National Geographic Society. (2012, October 9). fog. https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/fog/#:%7E:text=Fog%20shows%20up%20when%20water,%2C%20a%20gas%2C%20is%20invisible.

National Weather Service. (n.d.). Flying in Fog. https://www.weather.gov/safety/fog-flying

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Aircraft Fuel Systems

Image
Aircraft fuel systems are designed to provide a continuous amount of clean fuel from the fuel tanks to the engine. There are two types of fuel pumps: the gravity-feed system and fuel-pump system. Just as it sounds, the gravity-feed system uses gravity to provide the fuel from the tanks to the engine. The fuel-pump system utilizes pressure from a pump to transfer fuel to the engine in aircraft that are not able to function with the gravity system. This system also serves as a redundant system to some gravity-fed aircraft systems (PHAK, 2016). Like all aircraft systems, there are failures that can occur if the necessary precautions and maintenance procedures are not applied. Indications of failure in the fuel system can be identified by by a fuel smell in the cabin, lack of fuel flow or excess of fuel flow transferring to the engine, which may indicate a leak. Fuel system failure or leaks can be caused by flexible materials becoming brittle and losing elasticity. Other fuel system parts ...
Read more

Airport Cyberthreats

Image
  Cyberthreats originate from people or organizations that aim to disrupt travel and possibly cause injury or harm to those traveling. The threat begins with perpetrators locating a point of weakness in airport security. Cyberattacks can even be conducted from home, making it difficult to track and eliminate the source of the threat. Many airports are vulnerable to cyberattacks, especially airports that are not up to date on technology or airports in smaller, less economically stable countries. Most of the airport security is at the TSA line, and there are not security measures outside of the airport to protect it from attacks from the outside. Cyber attacks involving data breaches lead to at the very least, delays to flights and inconvenienced travelers, to more chaotic situations like compromised accounts of travelers and stolen identities. (Willemsen et al., 2018). Specific layers of TSA security that can mitigate cyber threats are intelligence and behavior detection. Intellig...
Read more