The National Transportation Safety Board has directed the Federal Aviation Administration to update pilot reference materials to clarify pitch and bank indication limits.
Safety recommendation
The National Transportation Safety Board has directed the Federal Aviation Administration to update pilot reference materials to clarify pitch and bank indication limits.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has issued Safety Recommendation ANC13GA036, designated as A-14-109, addressed directly to the Federal Aviation Administration. This recommendation calls for a revision of the Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge to provide clearer information regarding the operational limitations of attitude indicators. Specifically, the NTSB urges the FAA to explain that these instruments have defined pitch and bank indication limits. The recommendation notes that regulations require the pitch indicating range to be at least ± 25°. Furthermore, it highlights the critical safety issue that if an aircraft operates at a pitch angle exceeding these indicated limits, the pitch indicator may stop and remain fixed at the limit until the pitch returns within the limitation, or the indicator may tumble entirely. This update aims to ensure pilots are fully aware of how their instruments behave when operating outside normal parameters.