Precautionary Search and Landing — In-flight Notes

CASA Recreational Pilot License (Aeroplane) — CASA Sample Syllabus Lesson 24

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Language choices

"decide now" — reinforces acting on the judgement, not just recognising it.

"keep the field in sight" — repeated throughout the search and inspection.

"PAN early" — say it as soon as the decision is made, before the first pass — not once you're low and busy, or once things have already got worse.

Demonstration-Performance

For the sequence of each activity, choose whether you use:

  • Demonstration-Performance: Explain, Demonstrate, Performance and Monitor, Evaluation
  • DDM: Demonstrate, Direct, Monitor

or some other preference. Each in-flight activity just describes the sequence to be demonstrated and performed, regardless of the method you use.

Before starting the plane

  • Confirm the student's fuel log, best-endurance calculations, and the pre-flight documents (MEL, NOTAMs, GNSS RAIM, ERSA, AIP) for today's flight are complete and correct — assessed this lesson (C2.1, C4.2)
  • Confirm approved practice areas/fields for today, and the operator's minimum height for a go-around from a simulated precautionary landing — brief this explicitly, it is never flown to an actual touchdown outside an approved area or aerodrome unless a genuine short-field landing there is part of your operator's procedures
  • Cargo task — hand the student a couple of small boxes and ask them to load them: "We're dropping some batteries off at another aerodrome while we're out." Let them work out where they go, how they're secured, and whether they're dangerous goods — assessed this lesson (C5.3)
Record Start End
Tacho
Maintenance
Time

After departing / established in the climb

  • Assess the short-field take-off on departure, if departing from a practice field used earlier in the flight — a revision/assessment item this lesson (A2.5)
  • Confirm local area airspace and today's approved practice fields/areas for the precautionary-landing exercises
  • Brief the first simulated scenario: "I'll demonstrate the first one — you watch the sequence, then it's yours."

Simulated precautionary landing — instructor demonstration

Sequence

  • In the training area, declare the scenario: "Simulated deteriorating weather" (or "Simulated low fuel", "Simulated oil pressure fluctuation", "Simulated sick passenger") — "Simulated precautionary landing"
  • Decide — narrate the decision out loud, tied to the simulated trigger
  • Configure — slow, safe cruise, some flap, appropriate height
  • Select — search the area and choose the field, narrating the WOSSSSET criteria out loud — approach/overshoot paths, length, surface
  • Communicate — simulate the PAN call to ATC (do not transmit unless genuinely required)
  • Prepare — narrate the passenger brief — both done before the first pass, not squeezed in during it
  • Inspect — join on the normal crosswind at 1000 ft trimmed for 80 kt, and time the field on downwind (10 s ≈ 400 m, 20 s ≈ 800 m). Then a wider 500 ft pass: time again and average the two timings (or use the GNSS groundspeed instead), and assess WOSSSSET again — aim for at least 400 m, and check the aircraft manual's short-field landing distance. Then stay at 500 ft, configured, and fly the circuit at 500 ft (the practice standard; in real life terrain might argue for 1000 ft, or cloud base for staying low). Then the first low pass at ~200 ft to the right of the landing path, with full power applied two-thirds of the way along the runway, circuit, second (dummy) pass at ~50–100 ft to the right (full power two-thirds along again), re-check
  • Fly the short-field landing, or go around no lower than the briefed minimum height

Simulated precautionary landing — student flown

Sequence

  • Repeat from varying positions relative to the training area/approved fields, and with different simulated triggers (weather, low fuel, an engine indication, a sick passenger)
  • Student flies the full vital-actions sequence from memory: decide, configure, select, communicate, prepare, inspect, land
  • Prompt only if a step is missed or out of order — in particular the PAN call and passenger brief must be done before the first pass — let the sequence run uninterrupted otherwise
  • Debrief briefly after each repetition: what worked, what would you do differently?

Short-field landing — revision

Sequence

  • At the chosen/approved field: full flap, stable approach, aim point chosen short of obstacles
  • Airspeed with elevator, descent rate with throttle — the standard approach split
  • Aim to reach the minimum recommended speed crossing the boundary
  • Minimal float, touch down precisely, then maximum braking without locking the wheels
  • Go around without hesitation if the approach is unstable, too high, or too fast

Other abnormal situations (simulated)

Sequence

  • Simulate a low-fuel situation or deteriorating weather distinct from the main exercise — e.g. a fuel-quantity discrepancy noticed in cruise, or a sudden reduction in visibility
  • Student correctly identifies the situation and maintains safe control of the aeroplane throughout
  • Student manages the situation in accordance with relevant procedures — which may mean triggering the full precautionary-landing sequence above, or a lesser response (diversion, altitude change) if appropriate

Return to aerodrome

  • Establish cruise on descent back toward the aerodrome
  • Listen to AWIS/ATIS — runway in use, circuit direction, QNH
  • Fly a normal circuit and landing
  • Complete the post-flight actions and administration (C2.3) at shutdown

CASA HF/NTS: effective communication under normal and non-normal circumstances [NTS1 4(a), NTS2 4(a)]; task prioritisation [NTS1.4]. Consistent phrasing here maps directly onto the recovery drills rehearsed in the pre-flight brief.

CASA C2.1(b), C2.2(d,e,f), C4.2, C5.3. The fuel log, endurance calculations and pre-flight documents are assessed as pre-flight actions this lesson, not taught fresh — they build on earlier lessons' underpinning knowledge and today's workbook. Cargo task: C5.3 is about managing the loading, unloading and security of cargo, and identifying dangerous goods and applying the procedures. The batteries are the hook — let the student find the questions themselves: are they dangerous goods (lithium batteries, in particular), what do the operator's procedures say about carrying them, where can they go within the compartment and aircraft limits, how are they secured and kept clear of the controls and exits, and what does it do to the weight and balance? What's acceptable depends on your operator's procedures and the aircraft's flight manual, so decide the answer beforehand, and use plain boxes rather than real batteries.

Short-field take-off (A2.5: level 2) is revised here if the flight's practice fields allow it; otherwise assess it on departure from the home aerodrome instead.

CASA A6.4(f-p). Narrate every step out loud — this demonstration is the model the student repeats next. Common student error: rushing the inspection pattern to get to the landing — insist on both the low pass and the dummy approach before committing.

CASA A6.4: assess flight circumstances and decide, configure aeroplane, perform precautionary search procedure, select and inspect landing area, maintain orientation and visual contact, advise ATS, re-brief passengers, land ensuring the safest outcome. Common student error: fixating on the field during the inspection pattern and losing airspeed/altitude awareness — the aeroplane still comes first.

Revision of Lesson 22's A4.5 standard (level 3 there; level 2 required this lesson). Reinforce: "you cannot convert a bad short-field approach into a good landing."

CASA A6.5(a): correctly identify the situation and maintain safe control of the aeroplane at all times; manage the abnormal/emergency situation in accordance with relevant procedures. Keep this distinct from the main demonstrated/student-flown exercises above — the point here is recognising a *different* trigger and choosing the *right* response, not repeating the same drill.