CAPS ADM Defined

Recently an off-airport fatal accident happened in Morton, WA when the engine lost power during cruise. Another incident occurred not long ago in Buttonville, Ontario during which loss of engine power on departure caused the pilot to attempt a return to the airport.

If your airplane loses power, you’re “lucky” if it’s a due to a fouled plug, bad mag, or even a dead cylinder that after rotation could easily be managed for a return to the airport. But what if after a moment you realize that you are not developing full power? What criteria do you have NOW so that you’ll know when—or whether—to pull the CAPS?

When pilots are practicing in the simulator and the engine loses power, I have noticed that they consistently dither about the decision of whether or not to pull the CAPS. Since emergency situations can vary widely, there are no rules set in stone on when to deploy the parachute. However, since even the preliminary thought process is left to the pilots, I see most pilots deferring this decision until they actually need it. Again and again pilots practicing in the simulator wrestle with the decision during an simulated emergent situation, by which time it’s clearly too late.

We at The Flight Academy teach that a pilot should consider two altitudes at take-off:

1) 500 feet above ground level
2) 2,000 feet above ground level

These two altitudes define three regions:

1) Below 500' — No CAPS (NC)
Land straight ahead or nearly so and maintain a safe airspeed above stall until the flare.

2) 500'–2,000' — CAPS Now (CN)
Do NOT troubleshoot an emergency. Deploy the CAPS fast!

3) Above 2,000 — Consider CAPS (CC)
Consideration of CAPS should be incorporated into EVERY emergency checklist.

During the departure briefing, I have found that it helps pilots to actually write down the corresponding altimeter altitudes. For example, at an airport with a 400' elevation:

NC: Up to 900'
CN: 900'–2,400'
CC: 2,400' and higher

A pilot can disagree with the numbers and substitute their own if they have a good basis for doing so, but they should always keep the NC / CN / CC framework. If these numbers & regions are fresh in a pilot’s mind at take-off, the likelihood of their surviving an engine failure is demonstrably greater. During an after-take-off emergency, one of your first reactions should be to look at the altimeter. Then you can determine which region you are in and move forward from there.

The full motion flight simulator is a great place to practice these scenarios and ingrain the NC / CN / CC framework into your memory. While flying in the simulator, you can face emergency situations that you could never safely practice in-flight. You can also experience what it’s like to pull the CAPS. By repetitively being placed into potential CAPS pull scenarios in the simulator you develop the “muscle memory” to act accordingly if you ever find yourself with a real CAPS emergency.

Fly Safe!

Mike Radomsky

CFI CFII CSIP
COPA President Emeritus