Professional Pilot, May 2018

could also be true if we ignore other groups like those on the ground Changing with new technology Of course aviation has remained anything but static since the advent of CRM so it must evolve along with the industry One resource that has been rapidly changing is technology I recall when Flight Management Systems FMS and glass cockpits were first introduced and the trouble they caused for pilots during the transition The addition of each new tool requires pilots to adopt strategies with which to manage them With appropriate administration there should be few if any what is it doing moments However of course this requires adequate oversight and communication Two critical components of technology related RM are pilot monitoring and automation monitoring Recent unfortunate examples of how much work remains to be done with the technological side of RM do exist A clear mismanagement of resources was the loss of an Airbus A330 over the Atlantic due to instrument disagreements and a subsequent high altitude stall that was maintained by counterintuitive control inputs all the way until impact Another example is the case of the improper oversight of automation the autothrottle system in particular in a Boeing 777 which subsequently 62 PROFESSIONAL PILOT May 2018 impacted the seawall short of the runway in San Francisco It has been argued that some cultures especially those in Asia have an extra layer of hierarchical thinking that makes opposing or questioning authority ie the captain problematic Hopefully a proactive RM program can help put such issues to rest for the sake of safety An essential element of effective RM is the identification of weaknesses in the system that must be allocated mitigating assets RM needs to be accepted and advocated How does RM work best Foremost it must be accepted and advocated from the top down Management has to buy in but not force the issue The same goes for the local level ie the captain maintenance manager purser and so on While not everyone is the best communicator or the most congenial one does not have to be a rhetorician in order to effectually promote an open and collaborative team environment If youre an authority figure let folks know that you re open to suggestions and want to be inclusive While various parts of aviation operations cannot be a democracy per se as there has to be someone in charge that someone doesnt have to nor should be an autocrat I have worked for several aerospace entities and 2 extremes come to mind One company had a very contentious and adversarial relationship between pilots and maintenance personnel As you can imagine this was not conducive to RM because there was little trust between groups Thankfully this situation eventually got resolved However another company I worked for was the complete opposite All departments and employee groups got along reasonably well and were able to lean on one another when necessary What good RM boils down to is nothing magical just treat others in the same manner that you want to be treated Additionally respecting people in their positions and realizing no one is perfect can go a long way RM works best when everyone works towards the same goal In summary the takeaways are that RM works best when everyone is on the same page working towards the same goals In aviation we all hope to operate safely Thus there is a common goal If we can all get back to that simple truth personalities and egos should dissolve or at least be less of a factor And this applies to all types of aircraft and operations from corporate to commercial airlines flying anything from Cessna 172s to Airbus A380s Humility is something we can all use at one point or another whether it be asking for help or admitting a mistake Without modesty we cannot effectively ensure we get the help we need or that we will make the necessary corrections Efficacious RM requires open dialogue and acceptance of the concerns of others Whether it be a dispatcher ground crew maintenance personnel or a chief pilot they all deserve to be heard and respected They are each essential assets and essential parts of the flight departments resource management team While there must be a hierarchy of authority in aviation the resource management philosophy today is much less unidirectional rather it is more sharing oriented David Ison PhD has 32 years of experience flying aircraft ranging from light singles to widebody jets Currently he is an associate professor for the College of Aeronautics at ERAU WW