Professional Pilot, May 2018

PROFESSIONAL PILOT May 2018 61 behaviors It was readily apparent that open channels of communication were better than the alternative Flight attendants always appreciated their ability to be candid and heard Well executed CRM Excellent examples of well executed CRM have become more frequent since its inception The 1989 crash of a McDonnell Douglas D C10 piloted by Captain Al Haynes is perhaps a quintessential specimen The crew including an extra pilot recruited to assist managed to coerce a barely controllable airplane to make it to an airport Instead of losing almost 300 lives that day the coordinated efforts of the crew and others allowed 185 people to continue to live their lives More recently in 2010 an Airbus A380 had an uncontained engine failure leading to a fuel leak fire and more Due to the coordinated efforts of the crew as well as others on the ground the aircraft landed safely in Singapore The benefits of CRM have come to be recognized by other industries and sectors Maintenance operators have adopted similar philosophies referred to as Maintenance Resource Management MRM Dispatchers are now evaluated on Dispatch Resource Management DRM during check rides and recurrent training The healthcare industry has also adopted elements of CRM Operating rooms were likened to cockpits as surgeons were captains of the room leading to similarly timid staff when it came to questioning the surgeons authority CRM concepts quickly have been adopted elsewhere in healthcare to avoid the unwanted wrong amputations or the leaving of surgical tools inside the patient How can we make things even better While CRM has undoubtedly been a dramatic improvement in the way aviation and other professionals work together a question remains How can we make things even better One answer is expanding the concept of Crew Resource Management even further and to be more inclusive It is a valid argument to say that a better description of what is needed is simply Resource Management RM In this schema all available resources would be managed in a more fluid and proactive way According to the International Federation of Airline Pilots Associations recognizing that safety depends on the coordination of key people in the entire system and not just on the action of pilots Evidence shows that a joint CRM course for flightcrews cabin crews and other operational team members can improve the level of understanding and cooperation within the entire team For example in the aforementioned Airbus A380 incident RM rather than CRM would be a better way of detailing why the outcome that day was favorable The solution resided with the flightcrew the flight attendants maintenance personnel on the ground operational control and dispatch air traffic control as well as airport rescue and firefighting operations Not to mention the use of technology such as onboard systems status capabilities as well as aircraft documents and manuals If time allowed even aircraft manufacturers could be tapped to assist The net that needs to be cast goes well beyond the cockpit and the aircraft The critical concept of Resource Management is to allow persons who are experts in their areas of operation to do what they need to do and to adequately coordinate with and communicate across all resource types There is no such thing as a pilot who knows everything In fact the best pilots are those who can admit when they need help Moreover it is necessary to ensure open dialog in the absence of isolating or snubbing certain groups As we have studied discarding advice from FOs or other flightcrew members can end badly but the same Threats that can lead to crew error Image courtesy FlightSafety Successful management of resources entails utilizing all available persons procedures technology documents and so forth to handle inflight processes normal or not