Be the pilot in command - manage your safety pilot

The concept
When operating a single pilot airplane, having a second pilot on board can make the flight safer.

What is the key word in this sentence ? Safety ? Pilot ? Airplane ? No. The keyword is definetly "can".

In some cases, the presence of the second pilot does not improve safety, and it can even increase risk, sometimes leading to incidents. This post will treat of the interactions between the Pilot In Command (PIC) and the safety pilot. These roles have only few in common, and switching from one to the other is not so easy.

The PIC workload is quite heavy, whereas the safety pilot acts as observer only. He then has more time and brain available to analyse the situation, and interveine when he deems necessary. When to say about risk, and how to say it is not easy to define.

Who's the captain ?
Having a safety pilot on board does in no way change the duties of the pilot in command. He is sole resonsible of the safety of the aircraft and its passengers. When flying with a safety pilot, don't see him as an instructor, or a super-pilot able to get you out of any trouble. If you feel unsafe as PIC, don't wait for your safety pilot to ring the alarm bell before acting.

If you're the safety pilot, your role is clearly to draw the attention of the PIC to any risk, and make him understand what your worry is. But you can not expect, or force the PIC to act as you would all the time. Remind that he still is in charge of the flight. You should find a subtle balance amongst both pilots, so as to avoid any argue about the level of safety. A cockpit is not the proper place for that.

Be prepared
One of the key points with two pilots on board is to have a clear view of one's duties. Typically, you could as a PIC ask your safety pilot to manage ATC communication, or to tune frequencies for you. If flying IFR, you can ask him to call for minimums, or simply "runway in sight".

This way of working together must be defined before the flight, not in flight. Once again, a cockpit is not the good place for an argue.

I flew once an IFR approach with a safety pilot. We were VMC the whole approach but I was playing the game, keeping my eyes within. I did not brief my safety pilot before the fly as I should have, and when I was intercepting the track, he called "runway in sight". As a reflex, I had a look outside. Any IFR pilot knows how hard it is to return on the instruments when you looked out and saw the runway.

This call was a distraction to me, and I finished the approach visually. I'm not saying that my safety pilot was wrong on this flight. It was my duty as PIC to brief him on what I wanted him to do and not to do.

Do you hear or listen ?
As a PIC, it is sometimes hard to listen to your safety pilot. There is someting frustrating in the fact that your safety pilot says you're unsafe while you think you still are. Don't feel then that he does not trust you, or he is a coward. This kind of reaction will just anihilate the very reason why you took him with you. Instead, just re-think about what's going on, and check if you still feel safe.

Remind that the safety pilot has more time than you to analyse the situation as he is not in charge of the flight. Once again, you don't have to follow all his advisories, but if you remain deaf and closed to him, why have a safety pilot then ? For this reason, I will never act as safety pilot for some pilots I know, because they won't listen to me.

As a safety pilot, you need to give your opinion at a proper time, not when it is already too late or when the PIC is under heavy workload. Also try to give it in a non aggressive way, to avoid making the PIC upset, or feeling inferior.

The co-macho effect
Something else that can create additional risk when flying with a safety pilot is that if both PIC and safety pilot trust each other, they will both wait on an intervention of the other. This could make a risky situation degenerate to a very bad point.

Conclusions
If you're the PIC:
1) The flight responsibility is still yours, even if you have a safety pilot
2) Brief your safety pilot before the flight, and assign him clear duties
3) Be ready to hear from him, but if you don't feel safe, don't wait for him - do act, as PIC
4) Don't expect more that a warning from the safety pilot. He won't save you if you're doing really bad

If you are the safety pilot:
1) You're not the captain - don't attempt to take over his duties
2) If you feel unsafe, it is time for you to say it. Don't expect that PIC can do better than you
3) Give your opinion at the good time, and in a non-aggressive way

If you observe these tips, you should have lot of fun flying, be it as PIC or safety pilot