JU professor discusses FAA ‘distracted flying’ proposal

JU Assistant Professor of Aeronautics Wayne Ziskal says that he and his colleagues continually stress to their students that flying planes — like driving cars — requires being “engaged mentally.”

“We say in flying, don’t let the airplane go where your mind has not gone five minutes before,” Ziskal said in a Thursday, Jan. 17 First Coast News (WTLV NBC-12 and WJXX ABC-25) story on a Federal Aviation Administration proposal to prohibit pilots from using personal electronics during flights except if it directly relates to operating the plane.

In the television news story, Ziskal demonstrated the JU aviation program’s passenger jet simulator, the only flight training device of its kind at a higher-education institution in northeast Florida.

“This is a rare inside look at what happens behind the locked door of the cockpit,” First Coast News reporter Jeff Marcu said in the story.

Ordered by Congress, the FAA proposal is a result of a 2009 incident involving a Northwest Airlines crew who overflew Minneapolis by 150 miles. The pilots said the mistake occurred as they reviewed a work schedule on a personal computer.

Here is the TV report featuring Ziskal:

Jacksonville University’s Davis Aviation Center in the Davis College of Business has been educating and training future professional pilots and aviation executives for more than 25 years. JU’s Aviation Management and Flight Operations degree programs are accredited by the Aviation Accreditation Board International. For more information, call (904) 256-7895 or visit www.ju.edu.