Introduction to Human Factors
Learn about the human factors of flying.
Physical Airplane:
You need basic stick-and-rudder skills to safely control the airplane itself. When you learn to fly; work on a new pilot certificate, rating, or endorsement; or transition to a new airplane, the emphasis naturally tends to fall on maneuvers (“airwork”) that help you develop the necessary “physical airplane” skills.
Mental Airplane:
You need to thoroughly understand and correctly operate the various aircraft systems, which some experts characterize as the “mental airplane” component. These include avionics, hydraulics, fuel, electrical, and other systems that help you aviate, navigate, and communicate.
Aeronautical Decision-Making (ADM):
Many pilots get in trouble not because of deficient “physical airplane” or “mental airplane” skills, but because of faulty ADM and risk management skills. Why should that be so? One reason is that ADM, unlike physical airplane and mental airplane skills, is an invisible process. An instructor or examiner can easily observe and evaluate your ability to land the aircraft (physical airplane) or your proficiency in programming the GPS (mental airplane). ADM, on the other hand, is a process that takes place inside the pilot’s brain. Because ADM is harder to observe and evaluate than basic aircraft control and systems skills, it sometimes gets less emphasis than it deserves.
ADM Defined
So what exactly is ADM? In AC 60-22, the FAA defines ADM as a Systematic approach to the mental process of evaluating a given set of circumstances and determining the best course of action.
Although this sentence provides a good description of the ADM process, you may be asking yourself how to translate this formal definition into practices that you can easily use in real world flying. Let’s take a look at one approach.
Crew resource management or cockpit resource management (CRM):
CRM is a set of training procedures for use in environments where human error can have devastating effects. Used primarily for improving aviation safety, CRM focuses on interpersonal communication, leadership, and decision making in the cockpit of an airliner. Its pioneer was David Beaty, a former Royal Air Force pilot and later a BOAC pilot who wrote his seminal book The Human Factor in Aircraft Accidents in the late 1950s. Despite the considerable development of electronic aids since then, many principles he developed continue to prove effective today.
Crew resource management formally began with a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommendation made during their investigation of the 1978 United Airlines Flight 173 crash. The issues surrounding that crash included a DC-8 crew running out of fuel over Portland, Oregon while troubleshooting a landing gear problem.
The term "cockpit resource management" (later generalized to "crew resource management") was coined in 1979 by NASA psychologist John Lauber who had studied communication processes in cockpits for several years. While retaining a command hierarchy, the concept was intended to foster a less authoritarian cockpit culture, where co-pilots were encouraged to question captains if they observed them making mistakes.
Crew resource management grew out of the 1977 Tenerife airport disaster where two Boeing 747 aircraft collided on the runway killing 583 people. A few weeks later, NASA held a workshop on the topic, endorsing this innovative training. United Airlines was the first airline to provide CRM training for its cockpit crews in 1981. By the 1990s, it had become a global standard.
SRM is an adaptation of crew resource management (CRM) training to single-pilot operations. The purpose of SRM is to reduce the number of aviation accidents caused by human error by teaching pilots about their own human limitations and how to maximize their performance. The initiative for this training began in 2005 when the NBAA published training guidelines for single-pilot operations of very light jets (VLJs). However, the application of SRM is not limited to VLJ pilots. This training applies to all single-pilot flights in general aviation (GA).
In the United States, GA accounts for 96% of aircraft, 60% of flight hours. It also accounts for 94% of fatal aviation accidents, Airline and military aviation estimates of the number of accidents caused by pilot error range from 70-80% - these are the statistics that SRM seeks to reduce.
The content of SRM is similar to that of CRM training, except the topics relating to pilot crews are excluded (ex. captain and co-pilot communication). Examples of topics included in SRM training are situational awareness, workload management, automation management, and aeronautical decision making.
The use of alcohol and drugs by pilots is regulated by CFR 91.17. Among other provisions, this regulation states that no person may operate or attempt to operate an aircraft:
- within 8 hours of having consumed alcohol
- while under the influence of alcohol
- with a blood alcohol content of 0.04% or greater
- while using any drug that adversely affects safety
