COMPANY BULLETIN REFERENCE POSSIBLE REASONS FOR MISSED RADIO CALLS IN MLG ACFT.

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COMPLAINTS FROM SEVERAL ATC FACS HAVE IDENTIFIED THAT MLG CREWS ARE MISSING A HIGH NUMBER OF RADIO CALLS DURING THE DSCNT AND APCH PHASES OF FLT. A RECENT 'WINDY CITY NEWSLETTER' ALLUDED TO THIS FACT. INFORMAL POLLING OF MLG CREWS HAS LED TO THE FOLLOWING DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION. THE INCREASED WORKLOAD BECAUSE OF THE 2-M CREW DOES NOT SEEM TO BE THE MAIN CONTRIBUTING FACTOR. OFTEN WHEN 1 PLT ATTEMPTS TO DO TOO MUCH THE WORK FLOW IS DISRUPTED TO THE POINT WHERE NEITHER IS SURE WHAT HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED. A PLT DOING THIS; THOUGH MOTIVATED BY THE DESIRE TO DO A BETTER JOB; USUALLY CAUSES THE OTHER PLT TO EITHER LOWER HIS AWARENESS OR JUST TAKE HIMSELF OUT OF THE LOOP. MISSED CALLS! THE LOW RELATIVE COCKPIT EXPERIENCE ON THE MLG COULD ALSO BE A FACTOR IN MISSING ATC CALLS EXCEPT THAT THE PROB SEEMS TO BE EQUALLY DISTRIBUTED AMONG JUNIOR AND SENIOR CREWS. THIS IS NOT TO SAY THAT A NEW CREW MEMBER IN EITHER SEAT DOES NOT CREATE A HEAVIER WORKLOAD ON THE OTHER PLT. THE PARTICULARS OF THE MLG AUTOPLT FLT DIRECTOR SYS ALLOWS SO MANY OPTIONS; ESPECIALLY IN DSCNT; THAT THE OVERSIGHT RESPONSIBILITIES ARE GREATLY INCREASED WHILE A PLT NEW TO THE EQUIP GETS COMFORTABLE WITH HIS TECHNIQUE. WHILE INCREASING WORKLOAD THIS SITUATION NORMALLY LEADS TO A HIGHER LEVEL OF VIGILANCE AND GREATER OPERATING MARGINS. IF THESE WERE PRIMARY CAUSES OF THE MISSED RADIO CALLS OTHER ACR'S MLG; ALSO JUNIOR EQUIP; AND EVEN OUR WDB WOULD SHARE IN THE GRIEF FELT BY ATC. DISTR SEEMS TO BE THE PRIMARY REASON FOR MISSED RADIO CALLS ON THE MLG. THIS DISTR; MOST AGREE; IS CAUSED BY CAWS OR MORE AFFECTIONATELY; 'EDITH.' VOICE WARNINGS ARE PERSISTENT AND OFTEN OCCUR DURING THE MOST NORMAL SITUATIONS. THROTTLES RETARDED AND AIRSPD 210 KTS OR BELOW IT SCREAMS 'LNDG GEAR.' SET THE MISSED APCH ALT; CONCENTRATE ON FLYING A CLOSE APCH AND 'ALT' YELLS TWICE. THE MOST COMMON STATEMENT IN AN MLG COCKPIT DURING DSCNT AND APCH IS PROBABLY; 'SHUT IT UP.' A NEW COROLLARY TO MURPHY'S LAW IS: CAWS WILL SCREAM WHEN ATC IS CALLING! CAWS IS NOT GOING TO DISAPPEAR IN THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE. THE PERFECT WORLD WOULD ALLOW THOSE WHO MUST DEAL WITH A SYS TO BE THE FINAL EVALUATORS AS TO ITS NECESSITY. HOWEVER; THE DESIGN ENGINEERS SEEM TO HAVE THE ABILITY TO SELL THE FAA A SYS W/O THE INPUT FROM THOSE WHO WILL USE IT. AT THE VERY LEAST; 'LNDG GEAR' SHOULD BE ASSOCIATED WITH THE RADIO ALTIMETER; NOT AIRSPD. WE CAN LAND AT ANY SPD THOUGH NEVER W/O SOMETHING TO LAND ON! HOPEFULLY; ALL VOICE WARNINGS WILL BE REEVALUATED. MANY ACFT HAVE SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED THOUSANDS OF CYCLES W/O CAWS TECHNOLOGY. MISSED CALLS ARE A REAL PROB ON THE MLG. BE AWARE OF IT. OFTEN JUST KNOWING A PROB EXISTS IS A REAL STEP TOWARD SOLVING IT. REMEMBER; WHEN YOU HEAR 'LNDG GEAR;' ATC IS TRYING TO REACH YOU! WE HAVE TO LIVE WITH THE DISTRS OF CAWS; TRY TO MINIMIZE THEIR EFFECTS. AS CHIEF ALWAYS SAYS; 'BE CAREFUL OUT THERE.' I MIGHT ADD; 'THE NEXT $10000 COULD BY YOURS!'