How to Hand Off Flight Controls Safely
Learn the FAA’s proven three-step flight controls exchange and why a visual handoff check matters just as much as the verbal script. The episode also breaks down a real Cessna 172 stall in Ravenna, Ohio, showing how cockpit confusion and a panicked tug-of-war can turn dangerous fast.
Show Notes
- AIH Chapter 9: Techniques of Flight Instruction: https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation/aviation_instructors_handbook/11_aih_chapter_9.pdf
- Plane crashes after CFI and student wrestle over controls: https://generalaviationnews.com/2019/06/07/plane-crashes-after-cfi-and-student-wrestle-over-controls/
Chapter 1
The Three Step Script for Staying Alive
Oliver Hart
Imagine you are, um, you are in a steep bank, say, thirty degrees of roll, and the student next to you suddenly screams, you got it, and just... completely lets go of the yoke. Just hands in the air, totally done.
Claire Brooks
Wait, they just... let go? At thirty degrees of bank? That is, I mean, that is a recipe for a spiral dive.
Oliver Hart
Exactly. It, it, it is what we call the fatal, well, the ghost piloted Cessna trap. A casual, you know, your plane, or even just a silent release of the controls. And suddenly, there is this terrifying gap where absolutely nobody is flying the aircraft.
Claire Brooks
Right, because both people think the other person has it. You are basically, what, a passenger in a falling metal box at that point. It, it, it is a communication failure, not a mechanical one.
Oliver Hart
Right, which is why the Federal Aviation Administration, in Chapter nine of the Aviation Instructors Handbook, outlines a very specific protocol. They write that, um, a positive three step process in the exchange of flight controls between pilots is a proven procedure. It is not a suggestion, Claire. It is a proven procedure.
Claire Brooks
Okay, so walk me through this three step script. How does it actually sound in the cockpit when you are doing it right?
Oliver Hart
Well, it is a very deliberate verbal loop. Step one, the instructor says, You have the flight controls. Step two, the student immediately acknowledges by saying, I have the flight controls. And then step three, the instructor confirms it by saying, You have the flight controls.
Claire Brooks
Wait, so you, you, you say the exact same phrase three times between the two of you? It sounds a bit, um, redundant, does it not? Like an echo chamber.
Oliver Hart
It, it, it is an echo chamber by design. That redundancy is what ensures both brains are completely synchronized. But there is a, a critical, often overlooked fourth step. The handbook mentions a visual check. You do not just listen; you actually have to look over and visually verify that the other person has their hands on the yoke before you let go.
Claire Brooks
Oh, wow. Yeah, because if you just trust the verbal part and their hands are actually in their lap... well, that is no good. I, I, I have to confess, my pre solo strategy when I was learning was basically closing my eyes and praying you noticed I stopped touching the controls.
Oliver Hart
Please tell me you did not actually do that, Claire. That is, uh, that is how we end up in the National Transportation Safety Board database.
Chapter 2
Cockpit Wrestling and the Ravenna Ohio Stall
Claire Brooks
Well, maybe not literally, but it, it, it highlights how easily things can go wrong under stress. Look at this real world case from Ravenna, Ohio, back in two thousand seventeen. There was an eighty two hour student pilot and a flight instructor on short final in a Cessna one seventy two.
Oliver Hart
Eighty two hours. That is, um, that is right around the time a student might start getting a bit confident, but short final, when you are low to the ground, that is always a high pressure zone.
Claire Brooks
Exactly. The plane started sinking, the instructor tried to take over to maintain airspeed, but they did not use the three step process. They just both grabbed the yoke. The National Transportation Safety Board report, GAA seventeen CA three three seven, states that the instructor continued to wrestle the controls with the student as the airplane entered an aerodynamic stall.
Oliver Hart
They literally wrestled the airplane into a stall. That is, I mean, the nose gear collapsed, the firewall was completely destroyed. All because of a physical tug of war in the cockpit.
Claire Brooks
Yes! Because they never established who was actually in control. And the handbook actually warns about this exact human behavior. Chapter nine explicitly notes that anxious learners can be incredibly strong and usually exhibit reactions inappropriate to the situation.
Oliver Hart
Oh, absolutely. The, the adrenaline spike is real. When a student panics, their muscles just lock up. It is like a hyper caffeinated death grip. You literally cannot pry their fingers off the wheel because their survival instinct is telling them to hold on for dear life.
Claire Brooks
So, if you are the instructor, how do you actually fight that? What is the rule for surviving a panicked student?
Oliver Hart
Well, we have what we call the guard and take rule. As an instructor, you are always guarding the controls, ready to intervene before the student exceeds your personal limits. But the absolute rule for the student is, the second the instructor says, I have the flight controls, you must let go. Hands off, completely. No matter what your instincts are telling you.
Claire Brooks
Right. Trust the person with the license. Probably a good rule of thumb if you want to keep flying. Alright, that is our quick take for today.