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for the absence of electrical power could not be determined.”Standard operating procedure at NWA at the time was for the first officer (FO) to complete the taxi checklist alone, with the aural warning system expected to catch any discrepancies in lieu of challenge-and-response techniques including involvement of the captain. This arrangement was designed to save time, with the FO accomplishing the checklist while the captain taxied for departure. Because of an undetected system failure, however, the back-up didn’t prevent tragedy that August day.Take time to enter your flight plan into the GPS, set up your avionics, and program your Flight Management System (FMS) before you begin rolling from a standingposition on the ramp. You may be able to pre-load a lot of the information before engine start. Alternately, save avionics programming for the run- up area at the end of the runway. This will dramatically improve the precision not only of your taxiing and on-ground collision and runway incursion avoidance, but also of your navigation system inputs—which could suffer from imprecision due to distraction during taxi as well.It’s easy to become so focused on the flight ahead, or so relaxed after completing a long trip, that you don’t pay proper attention to the equally important, ground-based legs of your flight plan. To avoid the “degradation in ‘driving’ performance during multitasking, including s•lower reaction time and narrowed visual scanning,” don’t text and taxi. T&TRunway Incursion InitiativeThe FAA has placed great emphasis on runway incursion avoidance for the past several years. In mid-October 2011 FAA expanded this emphasis to the flight instruction process and the Practical Test Standards (PTS). Although many (perhaps most) Twin & Turbine readers have attained all the pilot certificates and ratings they will ever earn, it’s still instructive to watch developments in the PTS...because changes in flight instruction and evaluation point to improved ways to avoid common types of aircraft mishaps.The FAA’s new Runway Incursion Initiative, aimed at Certificated Flight Instructors (CFIs), says, in part:As a CFI, you are aware of the FAA’s goal to reduce runway incursions. The follow- ing information conveys the seriousness with which the FAA is approaching this goal...Initiatives:Our initiatives begin with including in all the Practical Test Standards a required Runway Incursion Avoidance TASK...To support the certification process, we initiated updating all the pilot certificate written examinations to include detailed Runway Safety material...To support this effort to train, test, and check pilots, detailed Runway Safety and Runway Incursion Avoidance informational material and procedures are being added to the Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge and the Airplane Flying Handbook... to ensure that they possess the knowledge and proficiency in the area of runway safety, and specific knowledge and skill to avoid a runway incursion.We continue our initiative with rewriting FAA guidance in the conduct of remedial training for runway incursion cases. The skills and expertise of a DPE will be employed for category A and B runway incursions, and a CFI associated with the FAASTeam will present runway incursion remedial training to category C and D runway incursions as appropriate......Advisory Circulars, AC-91-73, Single Pilot Procedures During Taxi Operations, and AC 120-74, Flight Crew Procedures During Taxi Operations, are being updated.More information can be found at: www.faa.gov/airports/runway_safety/.NASHUA FLIGHT SIMULATORCustomized & Personalized Recurrent Training Turbo-Prop & Piston TwinsKing Air 90-100-200 Cheyenne I &IICessna 425Piston TwinsBaron 55/58, 58P, 58TC Cessna 337, 335/340, 414, 421 Piper Chieftain, Navajo“I will be back next year. The instructors at4/C AdNashua Flight Simulator were great. Thetraining for my Cessna 414A was top notch.”Philip Davidson, Cessna 414A“Nashua Flight Simulator has a great recurrent ground and flight King Air program at an unbeatable price.” Carl M. Ziegler, Raleigh, NC- C90Syllabus Insurance Company Approved866.505.0077 www.nashuaflightsimulator.comDECEMBER 2011TWIN & TURBINE • 41