Professional Pilot, October 2017

Task and environmental factors Workload Stressors System design Complexity 84 PROFESSIONAL PILOT October 2017 Individual factors Goals Experience Preconceptions Training Knowledge Abilities Perception of data and the elements of the environment Level 1 Comprehension of the meaning and significance of the situation Level 2 Projection of future states and events Level 3 DESICION SITUATIONAL AWARENESS PERFORMANCE OF ACTION State of the environment system Loss of SA may creep up on you A loss of SA may creep up on you in any phase of flight from long stretches of night overwater flight to intense approaches in mountainous terrain Look for clues Is there ambiguity does all your information match Are you fixated on a target do you feel a degree of confusion Did you fail to pass an expected goal or fix Even a bad gut feeling may indicate a loss of SA Immediately ask your fellow flightcrew members What is your mental picture What do you see Are we all in agreement Many times you will find that one crewmember has noticed some additional facts that will help us to regain control of the situation Open and clear team communication goes a long way in ensuring good SA But again and again flightcrew communications fail in critical situations such as during the approach of Asiana Flight 214 Why would a junior officer not speak up Well maybe the question has to be put the other way Why would he speak up at all Maybe in his experience the organization that he is part of encourages open communication on the surface such as in manuals and presentations but actually sanctions openness and critique of superiors If a pilot has determined for himself that he is better off and maybe will be recommended for command faster if he goes with the flow he may just observe quietly and not speak up Pointing out the mistakes of superiors is seldom a recipe for success or a fast track up the career ladder Its hard to admit but in fact any superior your boss or captain wants to hear how great he his or how good he flies even when actively asking for feedback If you as the junior pilot point out to the captain that there may have been some slacking of skills or there is room for improvement your honesty may not be rewarded when promotion time comes You may be marked as difficult to work with or overly restrictive in the application of rules Another factor is that you probably want to be 100 sure that you are right when you call out an error made by your superior This is why a good knowledge of your aircraft its systems and limitations is essential Additionally your organization and your team must encourage pilots to speak up even when you are not 100 sure that something is wrong In a more informal way this is also true for all other team members that work in and around the aircraft the flight attendant the mechanic the fueler the de icer They should also be encouraged to report unusual items that they have noticed PACE model On the flightdeck the 4 step Prompt Alert Challenge Emergency PACE model is a good way to structure the handling of a perceived irregularity by the other pilot Step 1 Prompt The callout sink rate is as far as the FO on Asiana Flight 214 went But while prompting is important and in many cases sufficient to get a reaction by the other pilot the next 3 steps are an escalation and essential part of a PMs work Step 2 Alert If we continue at this sinkrate we will be too low and below the glidepath If the pilot flying still does not react in an acceptable manner the next step will escalate the issue Step 3 Challenge We will have to go around if you do not reduce the sinkrate Step 4 Emergency Here no more time can be lost and immediate action is necessary Saying I have control Go around and taking action would end the critical situation and fly the aircraft out of danger The key to good CRM is the culture of the organization While the selection and training of individual pilots plays an essential role the key to good CRM is to inculcate it in the culture of the organization To encourage honesty assertiveness and the constructive critique of superiors while not encouraging disrespect or milder forms of mutiny is a difficult path to navigate It requires highly qualified individuals that understand the subtleties of teamwork And outstanding leadership from the top down It is interesting to note in this context that the concept of seniority was already introduced in Lord Nelsons Royal Navy Sailing a ship requires good teamwork and teamwork requires that competition between officers is at a minimum The knowledge that everyone will have their chance for promotion in a fair sequence creates peace of mind and an environment of trust and mutual cooperation Well run flight departments will select and hire pilots who fit into the team and have the desire to stay for the long term An atmosphere of trust and respect among all pilots of the department from the top down will go a long way to achieving good CRM and establishing high safety standards Peter Berendsen flies a Boeing 747 as a captain for Lufthansa Airlines He writes regularly for Pro Pilot on aviation related subjects Model of situation awareness in dynamic decision making such as that experienced in the cockpit by former Chief Scientist of the USAF Dr Mica Endsley Attention and working memory are critical limiting factors that can be mitigated by mental models and goal directed behavior PACE model