Thinkin' About...

Chris McKee

What is Risk?
Ask ten people what they think risk is and you'll get ten different answers. There are many different definitions, and they are all worded in slightly different ways. What is important is that you understand the concepts underlying risk. Risk is the chance of injury or loss. Insight can be gained by listening to how people refer to risk in an everyday context and, particularly, in the aviation environment. What emerges is that there are different ideas about risk, based on personal perceptions. Nonetheless, its underlying concepts remain - a chance that something's going to happen and the consequences if it does.

What is Risk Management?
Risk management introduces the idea that the likelihood of an event happening can be reduced, or its consequences minimized. In Aviation, the term is frequently used in the context of decision-making about how to handle situations, which affect aviation safety. Effective risk management seeks to maximize the benefits of a risk while minimizing the risk itself. Risk management is the process of identifying risks, assessing their implications, deciding on a course of action, and evaluating the results. Effective decision-making skills are key to the process.

Decision Making in Hang Gliding
In aviation, we deal with decisions every time we go flying. The decisions range from GO/NO-GO concepts to decisions made on final approach. In most forms of aviation, we use a checklist. Unfortunately, most of us do not have a written checklist for hang gliding, although we should each have a mental checklist to follow before and during each flight. One of the first things on your mental checklist should be to identify the risks. Anytime you choose to leave terra firma, there is an inherent risk attributed to it. Part of aviation is knowing what risks you are up against and learning how to deal with them. The second thing on your checklist should be assessing the risks. The key is to have set GO/NO-GO criteria already established. A GO/NO-GO criteria is based upon experience, weather, equipment, and personal factors. If the risks assumed exceed your personal GO/NO-GO criteria, then it is much safer to wait for another day. Consult with other pilots, get their inputs as well. Sometimes they are able to give you a perspective that you didn't even think of. A second opinion doesn't just work for hang checks, its valuable throughout the entire flight process. Your EGO should be checked at the door when you step into your flight box. No one is going to think the less of you if you choose to pack it up and call it a day because you don't feel comfortable in a situation. That is part of pilot maturity. The third step in the process, is making decisions and controlling the risk. Choosing to wait until the conditions calm, the winds shift to a better direction, or ultimately knocking it off completely are part of the process of controlling the risk. If you chose to fly, knowing what risks you may encounter and what you will do to handle them in flight is also part of that process. Having a flight plan with built-in contingencies is a big part of hang gliding. While in flight, if you experience changing conditions or in-flight problems, it is better to have thought about them prior to your takeoff so you know what your options are and what you are going to do. A flight plan will make you a much calmer pilot when changes occur. Instead of panic, you can turn your focus to dealing with the problem at hand and most importantly FLYING YOUR AIRCRAFT. The final part of the Risk Management process is implementing the controls. Not launching because the conditions are too strong, or to cross. Proceeding to the secondary LZ, when you can't penetrate to the primary. Packing your glider up, because you don't feel comfortable. These are all decisions attributed to controlling Risk Management.

Sometimes if things don't feel right, you should step back and ask yourself why. The body has a way of trying to tell us things, and it behooves us to listen. None of us are on a flight schedule when it comes to hang gliding. National Defense does not rely on us to protect them with our hang glider. Mission Completion or Sortie Rates are not statistics that relate to hang gliding. What I am trying to impress on you, is that there is no shame in packing it up for the day because conditions don't meet safe flying criteria or exceed your personal limitations. All of us are involved in the sport of hang gliding as a hobby.

In closing, I give you two quotes to think about. The first is from Wilbur Wright in a letter to his father dated September 1900. He wrote "In flying I have learned that carelessness and overconfidence are usually far more dangerous than deliberately accepted risks." The final one I leave you with is from Daedalus to Icarus, after teaching his son to use his new wings of wax and feathers. "Beware, dear son of my heart, lest in thy new-found power thou seekest even the gates of Olympus... These wings may bring thy freedom but may also come thy death."