The basics of an operations team

What you will learn

• Name the roles of the pilot (PIC), the observer, the operations manager and the safety lead, and explain who decides what
• Share the six elements of a briefing (purpose, route, roles, weather, NOGO criteria, emergencies) in a logical order
• Catch gaps in communication with read-backs and challenge and response, and judge when to use stop-work authority
• Explain what flight logs, handovers and reports are for, and look back on events by fixing the system instead of blaming individuals

Roles and the briefing

Why fly as a team: four roles

Picture a restaurant kitchen. If one person takes the orders, cooks and plates every dish alone, something gets missed. Drone operations work the same way.

In flight, the pilot has their hands full operating the drone. Their attention is focused on flying, so watching the surroundings, changes in the weather, the plan and the records all at once, without missing anything, is a heavy load for one person. Splitting the work into roles makes it clear who is watching what right now, and who decides what.

The six elements of a briefing, and SOPs

A briefing is a short meeting before the flight in which the whole team checks things together. How it runs is set as an SOP (standard operating procedure) that follows the same pattern every time.

With a fixed pattern, checks are less likely to be skipped, even on days when people change or when everyone is in a hurry. The pattern is there to lighten the mental load, not to tie people down. Keep the briefing short and start with what is different from usual (listeners are said to pay the most attention at the start of a talk). Improve the procedure little by little with what you learn in the field.

1. Purpose: what today's flight is meant to achieve
2. Route: the flight area, the takeoff and landing spots, and the area to keep people out of
3. Roles: who is the pilot, the observer and the recorder. Have each person give a read-back
4. Weather: the forecast for wind, rain and temperature, and the state of the batteries
5. NOGO criteria: the limits beyond which you will not fly, together with who makes the call and who to contact
6. Emergencies: where to land, who to contact, and the signals

Read-backs and challenge and response

When someone has given you a phone number, have you ever repeated it to make sure: "So that's 090…, right?" For example, if you are told "3 o'clock at the south plaza," you answer "3 o'clock at the south plaza, got it." This is a read-back, and it catches mishearing and wrong assumptions on the spot.

The pattern in which one person reads out a check item and the other looks at the real thing and answers is called challenge and response. Because the roles are split, it is easier to notice something missed than when one person checks alone.

1. Read out (challenge): The person checking says the item out loud. Read it out briefly and clearly, for example, "Propellers secure."
2. Look at the real item: The person answering looks at the drone in front of them, not at their memory, and points at it to confirm its state.
3. Answer (response): Answer with exactly the state you saw, for example, "Secure, check." If something is wrong, do not say "check"; stop right there and fix it.

Exercises in this part (solved inside the lesson)

• Daily brief: three things that are different today

Callouts and the authority to stop

Stop-work authority: who gets to call a stop?

Stop-work authority is the authority of anyone who senses danger or has doubts to stop the work, regardless of rank or experience. A brand-new observer may say "Stop" to a veteran pilot.

In a team where nobody calls a stop, people who think "it's probably fine" or "maybe I'm the only one who noticed" stay quiet. Agreeing in advance that anyone may stop the work cuts down the time spent hesitating. Situations like the ones below are examples of when it is fine to stop. When in doubt, stop and check.

• A person is approaching from outside the no-entry area
• The drone makes an unusual sound, or shows an abnormal indication
• You do not feel well enough, or you are very tired
• You have lost track of the procedure, or you have not understood what you were told

Flight logs and handovers

A flight log is not paperwork for its own sake. It is a "letter" to the next person who uses that drone and to your future selves looking back. Write it right after the flight, while your memory is fresh. When crews change over, confirm the four items below verbally as well as in the log.

1. Drone: its condition, parts replaced, anything of concern
2. Batteries: charge state, how many were used, anything of concern
3. Unfinished work: how far it got and what to do next
4. Contacts: who to contact if there is a problem

Exercises in this part (solved inside the lesson)

• The morning someone asked, "What are today's stop criteria?"

Records and reporting

Reporting culture, Just Culture and AAR

A workplace atmosphere and set of systems in which close calls (near misses) and small mistakes can be shared quickly without fear of punishment is called a reporting culture. The sooner small reports come in, the sooner you can fix systems such as procedures and equipment before they turn into big problems.

The foundation of a workplace where reports come in is the idea of Just Culture (a fair culture). Mistakes are met by fixing the system without blame, risky shortcuts are fixed together after asking why, and deliberate or reckless acts are treated separately from both. Which type something is depends on how the person understood the danger and what they intended. Not treating everything the same way lets the people reporting speak without worry.

Exercises in this part (solved inside the lesson)

• Handover: "Aircraft No. 2, propellers replaced"

Summary

• Splitting operations into roles (pilot, observer, operations manager, safety lead) makes it visible who decides what.
• Run the briefing in the order purpose, route, roles, weather, NOGO criteria, emergencies, and start with what is different from usual.
• Use read-backs and challenge and response to confirm on the spot that the message got through. When you answer, look at the real item.
• Stop-work authority belongs not to rank but to whoever notices. Never blame the person who stopped the work; thank them first.
• Keep records, handovers and reports in order to fix the system, not to blame individuals.

Manage resources such as maintenance, batteries, training and duty time with formulas and numbers (f8-l2).

Terms in this lesson

pilot

The person responsible for operating the drone in flight and for deciding whether to continue or stop the flight. In English the role is also called the PIC (Pilot in Command).

observer

The person who helps the pilot by watching the drone and its surroundings and saying out loud what they notice. Lookout and callouts are how the observer supports safety.

operations manager

The role in charge of planning, assignments and records, which also sets the stop criteria and the contacts in advance. This is a label used for learning, not a legal job title.

safety lead

The role that receives reports and turns them into improvements to procedures and systems. This is a label used for learning, not a legal title.

briefing

A short meeting before flying in which the whole team confirms the purpose, route, roles, weather, NOGO criteria and emergency plan.

SOP

Standard Operating Procedure. A procedure set in advance so that anyone can carry out the work safely and to the same standard.

NOGO criteria

Limits agreed in advance (wind, battery, people entering the area, how you feel, and so on) beyond which you do not fly. Each limit is set together with a number and the person who makes the call.

read-back

Saying an instruction or check you received out loud again in your own voice. It catches mishearing and wrong assumptions on the spot.

challenge and response

A checking exchange in which one person reads out a check item (the challenge) and the other looks at the actual state and answers (the response).

stop-work authority

The authority of anyone who senses danger or has doubts to stop the work, regardless of position or rank. It rests on the rule that the person who stops the work is never blamed.

reporting culture

A workplace atmosphere and set of systems in which mistakes and near misses can be shared quickly without fear of punishment. It is the foundation for finding problems early.

Just Culture

The idea that mistakes are met by fixing the system rather than blaming people, shortcuts are fixed by asking why they happened, and deliberate or reckless acts are treated separately. Sometimes also called a "fair culture."

Try it yourself

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Go to the exercises of “The basics of an operations team”

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