Significance of Issue
Communication Issues between the Crew and Cockpit:
Has CRM Training been Successful?
Human factors from the perspective of human/machine interface and human/human interface are responsible for almost 70-80 percent of civil and military aviation accidents (Taneja, 2002; Shappell & Wiegmann, 2000). General aviation accidents/incidents comprise a vast amount of this percentage, and fully one-third of the GA incidents have been attributed to communication difficulties (Etem & Patten, 1998).
“Communication is the exchange of ideas, feelings, or attitudes between two or more people. We communicate continuously in many complex ways. We speak, scowl, write, preach, touch, smile, sit, stand, cry, stare; all of these behaviors communicate an idea” (Grey Owl Aviation Consultants, Inc., 2004). Obviously, communication skills are very important in relationships, but arguably, nowhere are they more important than in the relationships between the crew and cockpit of an airplane. The lives of those aboard an airplane whether on ground or in the air literally depend on the communication between the crew and the cockpit.
History: Research into what is now referred to as ‘human factors’ can be traced to “the late 19th Century and was done for the sake of improving factory output” (Anzalone, n.d.). In 1939, Professor Sir Frederic Bartlett of Cambridge University, was asked to look into “certain problems associated with military aircraft” (Edwards, 1988). Sir Frederic [later] turned his attention to the “fundamental nature of human skills” (Edwards, 1988) In 1951, the U.S. Air Force Inspector General issued a report “entitled Poor Teamwork as a Cause of Aircraft Accidents…which was based on 7,518 accidents. The consensus of the report suggested that teamwork training programmes be established to study and work on these issues. Twenty-seven years later, as a result of that report, the concept of Crew Resource Management was formed (Hagen, 2013). In 1957, the USA Human Factors Society was formed as “an interdisciplinary organization of professional people, involved in the understanding of human characteristics …applicable to the design of systems of people, machines, and environments” (Anzalone, n.d.). The interest and study of human factors have been burgeoning since then as evidenced by 25,500,000 hits from a Google search.
The study of human factors currently concentrates on virtually all industries including the health industry, manufacturing, transportation (including aviation) and environment among other subcategories. This research will concentrate on a subcategory of interpersonal communication among aircraft pilots and crew which is covered under the concept of crew resource management (CRM).
References
Anzalone, B. (n.d.). Human factors in general aviation. Air Safety Foundation. Retrieved from www.aopa.org/asf/asfquiz/hfactors.pdf
Edwards, E. (1988). Introductory overview. In Wiener, E. & Nagel, D. (eds.). Human factors in aviation (p. 7)
Etem, K. & Patten, M. (1998 December). Communications-related incidents in general aviation dual flight training. ASRS Directline, 10. Retrieved from www.faasafety.gov/files/events/GL/GL05/2008/GL0520920/Communications_Related_Incidents
Grey Owl Aviation Consultants, Inc. (2004). The importance of communication. Retrieved from www.greyowl.com/articles/comm_article.pdf
Hagen, J. (31 October, 2013). What business can learn from airline accidents. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/business-learn-airline-accidents
Shappell, S. & Wiegmann, D. (February 2000). The human factors analysis and classification system-HFACS. U.S. Department of Transportation. Federal Aviation Agency.
Taneja, N. (2002). Human factors in aircraft accidents: A holistic approach to intervention strategies. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 46th annual meeting. Savoy, IL. University of Illinois.