This latest FRAT, however, was considerably
more detailed and consumed a full 8 ½ by 11
inch size form to capture many risk line items.
We were required to fill out this form before
each shift, and make adjustments as necessary as
the day progressed and our mission purpose and/
or flight conditions changed.
What was really good about the new format of
FRAT is that it was very detailed and tailored
to a pilot’s and/or company’s specific envelope
of operations. Pointed items that aeromedical
pilots have to consider and were on that FRAT
would not be mentioned on a FRAT for business
aircraft.
So how does the FRAT work? Simply, there is a
list of line items that are to be considered in the
risk assessment before launching. Each line item
is given a number value predicated on the level
of risk that item is perceived to add to the flight.
Then once you’ve identified each line item that
adds risk and its associated value, you add them
up.
The total is then compared to a number range
that identifies whether the risk for that flight
is Low, Medium, High, or even Don’t go.
Some FRAT’s even have line items where you
can deduct their respective points for items
considered risk reducing in nature.
So now let’s go back to that scenario that I used
to begin this column. How would that particular
flight be considered low risk, you ask? That
was exactly my point to my crews as well as my
seminar students.
How it all started with my crews was this: On
every lift-off, one of the med crew members
would make the “off call” report – basic flight
plan stuff to our dispatcher and their last item
was the risk assessment. They became used
to just saying “low” without considering each
flight. But to be fair, they didn’t have direct
access to the FRAT.
But it wouldn’t have mattered because even
our own FRAT would have deemed that above
described scenario as “Low” risk. That’s just
plain nuts! Running a few more examples of
high risk situations that came in with a FRAT
score of “Low” quickly proved another critical
point. And that was that for a FRAT to be
effective, it has to be realistic. So even though
the line items themselves were spot on as real
risk factors, the respective risk numbers
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