Last month, we tackled the most-often question asked of the Flying Clubs Team at AirVenture 2024—navigating tax and legal structures for flying clubs. This month, we visit the next-oft-asked question—how may a club prepare for a devastating event, and how can it plan for post event survival?
Here we go…
Merriam-Webster Dictionary: Resilience
An ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change
We hear a lot about “resilience” these days, usually framed in terms of the continuance of life and operations in the aftermath of some natural disaster. In my neck of the woods (Central Oregon), the resilience discussion tends to focus on the next, inevitable, Cascadia Subduction Zone Event which will literally rock the coastal areas California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia—involving magnitude 9 earthquakes and 100-foot-plus tsunamis. This deserve serious attention as the event is likely to be on the same scale, or bigger, than the last mega-eruption of Krakatoa, back in 1883, which was the result of a similar seismic mechanism—subduction. For an excellent account of this, see “Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded”, by one of my favourite (go on, I dare you) British authors, Simon Winchester.
Now, even though inland, Portland International Airport sits at an elevation of only 31’ MSL, so you can start to see the high potential for transportation infrastructure disruptions if/when a massive surge barrels up the Columbia River, even if the new multi-million-dollar “seismic-resilient” runway survives the preceding quake. I’m making this point to put some sensible limits on the usefulness and scope of resilience planning. If the typical-case scenario is complete devastation, then the only sensible short-term resilience plan is “we will go somewhere else” and, even though I have no authority to do so, I’ll offer up Redmond (Roberts Field) Airport (KRDM) as a sensible resilience-alternative to PDX, given that it is located on the other side of the Cascades and sits at elevation of 3,082’ MSL. The longer-term plan, with the advantage of time, would then address rebuilding or perhaps complete relocation.
Anyway…
Before we go much further, it is useful to understand the difference between preparedness and resilience. Preparedness is just that—being prepared for something to happen. For example, having a basement stocked with non-perishable food and water is good preparation if you live around tornado alley in the Midwest. Also, having all personal documents (including insurance policies) in a fireproof metal box is sound planning. A resilience plan, on the other hand, is for what comes after. The tornado happened, now what do we do? In this example, such a plan might include access to a battery or hand-cranked radio, an up-to-date friends/family/neighbors contact list, a short list of who to call—for example, your insurance agent.
In the context of flying clubs, a good example of preparedness versus resilience planning involves member proficiency. The best preparedness plan is one that reduces the chance of something happening and in the case of accidents involving club planes and members, a proven way of reducing the risk is to have a solid safety program in place that applies to all members—for example the FAA WINGS program. If an accident did happen, a resilience plan would detail how the club would act and respond. It is so much easier to think about such planning ahead of time, rather than in the heat of the moment when there will be so much going on, so, flying club board members, if your club doesn’t have preparedness and resilience plans in place (in writing), then I suggest now is the time to do something about it. I would also argue that a preparedness plan can only be truly comprehensive if situations considered in the resilience plan force updates to the preparedness plan. Proficiency is again a good example for this. A resilience plan must address what the club—really, its board, officers and members—will do in case of an accident or incident, but the best way to not have to execute that plan is not to have an accident or incident in the first place.
Okay then, let’s look at some of the factors that could be included in a flying club’s resilience plan. I’m sure you’ll have others so please drop me a line so I can be the keeper of good ideas and forward them on to all clubs in a future article.
I’ll focus here on those factors over which a club has a fair degree of control, and that are specific to flying clubs. By all means have a chat with your airport manager or airport board to find out about their airport-wide plan, which, in an ideal world, would form part of a city plan, then a county plan, and so on. As with all comprehensive resilience plans, a flying club plan will cover many topics, so for convenience and formatting, I’ll start with section titles, then for each will describe the issue/factor, then provide some ideas for handling the situation and finally, some notes on prevention.
This is the primary situation that most members are concerned about when asked to state their thoughts on a club’s worst nightmare, and was the basis of most of the related questions during AirVenture 2024—so I’ll tackle it first.
From CFR Title 49, Subtitle B, Chapter VIII, Part 830, accident and incident are defined as:
Aircraft accident means an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft which takes place between the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight and all such persons have disembarked, and in which any person suffers death or serious injury, or in which the aircraft receives substantial damage.
Incident means an occurrence other than an accident, associated with the operation of an aircraft, which affects or could affect the safety of operations.
Part 820, in subparts A, B, and D, then proceeds to define terms such as serious injury, substantial damage and so on, and what and how to report an accident or incident. It is well worth taking the time to reread of this very short regulation to get these terms clearly in your head, but to be honest, I think the best course of action is to get professional legal help when trying to navigate what needs to be done, by whom and in what time frame. You simply do not want to get this wrong. Also, with ever-present sensation seekers, bloggers and “influencers”, all armed with a smart phone, my advice is to treat all accidents and incidents as “public news” and to get professional help, quicky.
By “professional help”, I’m going to be very specific. You need to speak with an aviation-savvy lawyer as quickly as possible, and again I’m going to be very specific—your local tax attorney who might just fly a Bonanza probably doesn’t have the detailed knowledge to navigate the FAA (and perhaps NTSB) processes.
Given this is the “worst nightmare” scenario, I propose that the singular best option is to get some legal insurance in place—and from experience, the best people for the job work in AOPA’s legal team. Enrolling in the Legal Services Plan (LSP) gives you access to an expert team of aviation-savvy lawyers…and yes, an individual enrolled in the plan (there is not a “club membership” at present) will receive help and guidance for club matters. So, as far as a club’s resilience plan is concerned, be sure that at least one club member is enrolled in LSP. By the way, there are other benefits of being in the plan, for example: help with aircraft purchases, review of legal documents, access to AOPA’s expert medical services team, more. I’ve no stake in this plan other than being a satisfied member for years, but I firmly believe it makes good sense.
After you enroll, call 1-800-872-2672 and ask for a copy of the AOPA Pilot Protection Services Quick Reference Card. This is a handy card that includes an accident/incident briefing on one side, and dos and don’ts when dealing with the FAA, on the other. I couldn’t find a link to the Guide on the AOPA website, so give them a call and request copies to share with all members and include a copy in the POH binder in each club aircraft, along with the front page of the club’s insurance policy.
Okay, this is all well and good and LSP is an extremely valuable insurance policy, but what else should a flying club include in its resilience plan under the accident/incident section? Well, remind all members that they are required to present their pilot certificate to an officer of the law or a representative of the FAA or NTSB, if requested, but also that said officer/representative may not hold on to the documents. As always, be polite and professional if you expect to be treated the same way, and do not volunteer any statement or other information before you have spoken to the LSP team.
What if the media pounces, or someone is recording the event before there is time to muster the troops? Well, the club’s resilience plan should include a clear statement about what every member should do if approached by the media—basically say nothing and especially do not act as an expert nor give personal opinions—and then refer reporters, etc. to the named board member who is responsible for all external communications. Even then, the best comment is “no comment” until you have sought legal advice.
Mitigation:
The best way to avoid all of the above is not to have accidents or incidents in the first place. Now, some readers may recall my safety article from January 2024: Safety Topic of the Month: Human Performance and Safety Culture. In this article I postulate that many aircraft “accidents” are not accidental at all, but are highly predictable based on decades of data. From the data, we can actually predict the (approximate) number of accidents that will occur in a given time period, and amazingly and very sadly, we can also predict the underlying root causes. It should be no great surprise that the two leading causes are, in order of impact (so to speak): pilots and maintenance. Both of these factors are in the direct control of all flying clubs and their members. Each of these is an article (book?) in its own right, so I’ll just cut to the chase.
As an aside, I often hear pilots complain about the faasafety.gov website as being “difficult” to use and navigate. Oh, come on, for goodness sake…we’re pilots…we fly complicated flying machines and manage to find our way around multifunction glass panels, so why is a mere website such a problem? Yes, agreed, it could be better, and the FAASTeam is working on it (slowly but surely), but in the meantime, please don’t use the website as an excuse not to participate in the WINGS program. Send me an email ([email protected]) and I’ll sent up a Zoom call to lead you through the glories of the FAASTeam WINGS program!
The bad news about the next Cascadia Subduction Zone rupture is that it will be catastrophic. The good news is that once it is over and the aftershocks have settled down, it will probably be between 300 and 3,000 years before the next one. Not so with other natural occurrences, such as hurricanes and tornados. In certain areas of the country, these things are regular (increasing?) occurrences, so the time to consider what to do is right now, not when the sirens start blasting.
For preparedness, keeping on top of local weather and enabling weather notifications on your phone are good ideas, as they give warnings of approaching threats. If you live in such areas, I suggest the club establishes a “weather-watch” person who can then quickly forward information to members by an established method. One easy way to do this is to set up a WhatsApp or similar group that includes all members. This is also useful for other “all-hands” communications.
Creating a section in the resilience plan for this type of weather event is essential, as you’ll have the luxury of time to really discuss and hone it. For example, for the case of severe storms, does it make sense to relocate the club aircraft, and if so, where? In the case of hurricanes, moving 50 miles inland will likely be sufficient, but you’ll need a plan. Who will trigger the need for the move? Who will fly the planes? Have an arrangement in place with a couple of alternative airports, and so on. Being on top of this has many advantages, including: A. The planes will survive to fly another day. B. The planes will be located in a safe area, where they can be used to help with disaster recovery and clean-up operations. On that topic, I urge all clubs to contact their state’s emergency management department to offer help when needed. If your state has a regional pilots association, then contact the board member responsible for coordinating volunteer relief operations. For example, the Oregon Pilots Association (OPA) works with the Oregon Disaster Airlift Response Team (ODART), to provide essential air transportation services in the aftermath of disasters, such as storms, wildfires, earthquakes, and so on.
I’ve kept this one somewhat ambiguous, as there are many third parties and “agencies” that may, for whatever reason, contact the legal entity of a flying club and request information. Examples include: FAA, IRS, State Tax Board, Airport Manager, a lawyer, and so on. Predicting and then providing the information in a timely manner is definitely a topic for the resilience plan.
Given the broad scope of this, you may ask if it is indeed possible to cover all eventualities in a resilience plan. The answer is of course, no…but that should not stop you from considering some likely situations.
This is most definitely in the bailiwick of “resilience” since there will be a time limit to respond, and the response will very likely require additional documentation and/or research. Let me be really blunt—anything other than a “random” audit is probably the club’s own fault. Filing taxes and annual reports is highly predictable and procedural. As I have written about before, this is a key part of the Treasurer’s job, so choose wisely, especially if there has been a recent change as part of board elections. From a resilience perspective, be sure that the bylaws or the resilience plan itself fully addresses the need for overlap, training and mentoring for all new board appointees.
This is a big topic but is shouldn’t be difficult or surprising. Please ensure that both the club President and Treasurer reviews these three articles at the end of every year. In fact, put them as required reading the club’s calendar:
Question of the Month: What Does “Good Housekeeping” Mean to Flying Clubs?
Question of the Month: What Does “Being in Good Standing” Mean for Flying Clubs?
Question of the Month: How Does a Flying Club Navigate Legal & Tax Structures?
It is sad, but in today’s world you cannot assume the intensions of any third party so get ahead of this and treat it seriously. It could be that a reporter is doing a story on the value of the airport to the local community, but it could also be that the story is about rich people flying airplanes that are allegedly poisoning the local population. Again, the plan should clearly articulate who, a named person, is responsible for media interactions on behalf of the club, and that all members understand the importance and consequences of this. Some people like to be in the limelight and relish seeing their name in print, so be attuned to this and explain to all members that busybodies spouting misguided information can pose an existential threat to a flying club, since “the public” generally does not understand what we do, and why we do it. Topical example: “Those little planes buzzing around and around are annoying and someone should do something about it” versus “Our local airport is helping to train the next generation of airline pilots to ensure that your vacation and business travel is safe and efficient”.
The topic of existential threats is clearly one for consideration in a resilience plan—the whole idea being planning for continuity. I’ve pondered this one for quite a while and conclude that, for the case of flying clubs, the best way to tackle such threats is to have an active culture that results in repeated good behaviors and so limits any possible confrontation. In other words, be a club that obeys the rules and plays well with others. Let me illustrate this using a contrary example, and then I’ll create a starter list of behaviors that I suggest will greatly reduce such threats.
Case: A flying club receives notice from the airport manager that it (the club) is breaking the rules for non-profit, socially-based flying clubs and as such, the club’s operations must cease immediately and the club must leave the airport premises within 30-days.
Yes, I do know of this happening, usually after the appointment of a new airport manager, or the appearance of a new commercial operator on the field, such as a flight school. I think you will agree that this is a direct threat to the flying club’s continued existence!
There are many reasons why this action may have been triggered, but in my experience, it is either because a club is found to be blatantly ignoring rules (FAA or airport standards), or there is some level of corruption involved, where such action is instigated purely for someone else’s gain or spite. In the latter case, AOPA’s Government Services group will quickly swing into action and either though negotiation or legal action, will work to get the situation resolved.
In the former case—where a club has been operating outside the rules, or they choose not to comply with new (and presumably “reasonable”) rule changes (and much more could be written about changes in airport rules or compliance standards)—then the reality is that the club itself is to blame. Almost without exception, the trigger for this has been a flying club’s instance on providing primary flight training to new members, which for whatever reason, disadvantages other airport tenants. I’ve already spent too much time (in this article) on this, so I’ll refer the interested reader to the Club Connector Newsletter archive, but the bottom line is that if a club and its members do not play well with others, then they are, at some stage, going to suffer the consequences, and that most definitely will become a matter of resilience.
Here is the promised starter list of good behaviors that will help a club avoid existential threats:
In conclusion, resilience planning takes you into territory beyond just preparedness. Being prepared involves thinking about “what if”. Resilience planning makes you think about “now what”, and as mentioned earlier, this insight will allow you to critically judge—and improve—your current operations and the things to include in your preparedness plan. It is an iterative process: first consider your current operations, next put together a preparedness plan, then, with that in mind, create your resilience plan. Only after understanding what it means to be resilient will you be able to understand what you need to prepare for. The last bullet point clearly illustrates that point.
As always, fly lots and fly safety.
