What are the three priorities any pilot should respect ? I’m sure you all learnt that during initial training, and you can say it like a mantra… Aviate… Navigate… Communicate.

Obivous, isn’it ? Aviate… Navigate… Communicate… We hear it so frequently that if sounds like a prayer, or a magic formula. Are you sure you still know what these words mean ?

If you loose a few hundred feet while looking at your map, or if your heading is slightly modified when you program the GPS, you should re-think of Aviate… Navigate… Communicate.

The formula applies in case of emergency, but not only ! Yes, you have to look at your map, you have to talk to the controller, you have to get approach charts out of your bag, you must update your position… but before all, your job as pilot is to keep the plane’s attitude within acceptable limits !

You’re pissed because I treat you like baby pilots, and this matter is so basic ? Wait a second then, and think of recent incidents. How many incidents can you name where the plane became unflyable ? Not a lot…

Each time a crew flies a perfectly working plane into terrain, situational awareness is lost, and the crew fails to navigate, or even to aviate ! Like it or not, it is so !

What to do now ? Monitor your flying, whatever goes on, and try to find these short times where you loose sight of the priorities, and later try to analyze why this occured. Have you been distracted by a passenger ? Not prepared enough ? You spent too much time checking your engine and lost a couple hundred feet ?

Most of the cases you will identify in your flying will be perfectly risk-less, because the global situation was safe… but any failure to respect the holly Aviate… Navigate… Communicate… could become a contributing factor in an incident.

Respect the old mantra, and you will become an old pilot !