By Karen Di Piazza
David Perdue, president and CEO of iviation, believes his company’s i-Learn computer-based aviation courses will help increase air safety on a global scale.
David Perdue says that in a perfect world, every pilot would be required to pass a test on human factors/crew resource management. Towards that goal, iviation, his Memphis, Tenn.-based aviation integrated services company, recently released its first i-Learn computer-based learning course on human factors/CRM. Perdue believes the annual price of $195 per person is a bargain.
“Because it’s not a perfect world, training provided to flight departments’ pilots ranges,” says Perdue, company president and CEO. “That’s the problem in our industry. The types of training given to pilots vary too widely.”
Purdue believes that’s a major problem in the aviation industry.
“For instance, the Federal Aviation Administration doesn’t require pilots under FAR Part 135 charter to train for human factors/CRM,” he said.
In late October, the company released two other i-Learn CBL courses, one on aircraft icing and one on FAR Part 135 regulations. Courses on controlled flight into terrain for fixed-wing/rotary, wind shear for fixed-wing/rotary and instrument review will be available Nov. 15, and a course on reduced vertical separation minimums will be released at the end of the month. The company will produce 40 i-Learn courses by the end of 2007.
“Our i-Learn CBL courses won’t replace our live, on-site programs,” he said. “Some of our larger clients, such as Wal-Mart, Lowe’s, Target and Jack Henry & Associates, have the wherewithal to schedule downtime for flight department personnel. But for companies that can’t afford to schedule downtime—which is the case for many charter operators—i-Learn CBL courses are a perfect solution.”
iviation has a team of experts on hand for live, on-site courses, to present case studies and conduct Q&A, and the CBL courses are interactive.
“During each test, questions are asked; true/false or multiple-choice answers are required,” Perdue said. “Each person taking the course will have to go through the whole test. These courses have a three-tier testing score system. Each pilot’s test is compared to the rest of the pilots in the flight department, and then compared against other flight departments.”
The goal is to be able to compare flight departments around the globe.
“Flight departments will have national comparisons, and they’ll also be able to see how they ranked against one another on an international scale,” he said. “This is what we need in order to really improve safety within our industry.”
Perdue said the courses will ensure safer flights and will keep industry professionals updated with the latest information. He doesn’t expect the CBL courses to replace iviation’s on-site classes.
“We believe that i-Learn course participation will increase quite a bit, especially with all the new air-taxi companies emerging in both the U.S. and overseas,” he said. “All of the i-Learn courses deal with critical areas of safety that flight operations need. Since we’ve released this program, the response has been positive. Charter operators are finding this to be cost effective, too, as many of the smaller operations can’t afford on-site programs.”
For more information about i-Learn, visit [http://www.iviation.com].