MITIGATION OF ERROR

by

Michael Raynard Mayberry

A Paper
Submitted to the Worldwide Campus
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of
Master of Aeronautical Science
Corporate Aviation Operations
ASCI 622

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Worldwide Campus
November 2011

Abstract
Crew Resource Management (CRM) has been a great asset to flight safety by properly using resources for pilots and aircrew. The use of CRM have been effective with other training tools to help encourage better communication and to improve decision making skills. CRM is a valuable asset to companies training program if the technical skills are utilizes in the proper manner. CRM errors will never be eliminated, but the use of effective CRM skill can prevent a substantial amount of errors from ever occurring.
Keywords: aviation, CRM, error, human error, decision making, safety

Mitigation of Error Crew Resource Management (CRM) has been a great asset to flight safety by properly using resources for pilots and aircrew. Not all researchers accept the concept of CRM to manage error because of its import from other airlines and other training organizational. Other culture and situations could have been worse and not justified use in the United States due to its culture and environment. The researcher will discuss the ability of CRM to eliminate some error; although error can never be completely eliminated, the skills of CRM are an exceptional source that was originally developed to human errors resulting from inadequate coordination among team members (Kanki, Helmreich & Anca, 2010). The CRM needs to be developed into a training and evaluation for pilots and aircrew. The important concept of flight safety needs to be for all aviation to understand, justify, and to make efforts to eliminate error. Helmrich, Merritt, and Wilhelm stated, “Crew Resource Management (CRM) is not and never will be the mechanism to eliminate error and assure safety in high-risk endeavor such as aviation. Error is an inevitable result of the natural limitations of human performance and the function of complex systems. CRM is one of an array of tools that organizations can use to manage error” (1999, p.9). This statement is to show an understanding of human error and to help manage the risk in the flight station In the world of aviation safety, (Wells and Rodrigues, 2003, 4th Ed, p172) stated in Commercial Aviation Safety that pilot training is another way to reduce error. Pilot training can be specific or general purpose. Most general purpose training is a requirement by the Federal Aviation Regulations FARs) and can’t be deviated from. CRM is considered general purpose training that offers remedy for poorly defined class problems that generate for poor and inappropriate cockpit communication. It can be defined as corrected action training program for all aircrew or pilots. CRM can be a broad scale of training to help rectify a behavior in attitudes and social communication behavior. CRM has been accepted by most company’s aircrew as a worthwhile approach. An example of broad base training would be Line-oriented flight training (LOFT). It’s considered as full mission crew coordination training conducted in flight simulators. CRM training that is designed to meet more specific problems or defined problems is being label as Specific training (Wells & Rodrigues, 2003). There are many theories on why CRM fails to be an effective tool to eliminate error and become an important management tool. These reasons include the culture of some pilots having great experience and therefore not wanting to be questioned or trained. Furthermore, because they are so seasoned, a potential contributor will not assert their input because they are intimidated or have what is called a crab mentality which is a person that wants to keep all positive information to themselves for job security purposes. An organization needs to reflect its CRM commitment; this can be achieved by including CRM into the company’s mission statement. The mission statement will give clarity to all that CRM is part of the company’s culture. Most aviation companies fall under the new training rule that complies with FAR Part 121 operational requirements; training requirements for all pilots of passenger operations in aircraft with ten seats or more that CRM training for both crewmembers and flight dispatchers. Furthermore, CRM needs to be implemented into the aviators’ initial training as well as annual refreshers and evaluations. If the Pilots and crew are evaluated on CRM during the annual check flight, this will instill the importance of this skill to the mitigation process and start the roots of a CRM culture into the operators. CRM includes optimizing not only the person machine interface and the acquisition of timely, appropriate information, but also interpersonal activities including leadership, effective team formation and maintenance, problem solving, decision making, and maintaining situation awareness. The main goal of resulting training is “to help stem the stem the tide of accidents caused by human error” (Stone and Babcock, 1988, p 553). The problem of improving teamwork in a task that is so complex to aviation. Clearly, no single approach is likely to address the entire problem without a strong theoretical foundation of understanding individual and team performance and human learning skills. There is nothing more practical than good theory (Lewin, as cited in Marrow, 1969). CRM was always a fundamental tool for aviation safety. It was necessary to assess the effectiveness of the training and identifying specific areas that needed remediation. CRM is one of the most important tools when it comes to human factors in the aircraft. It is concluded that although error will never be eliminated the use of CRM to prevent errors from occurring is an important tool in the world of aviation.

References
Helmreich, R. L., Merritt, A. C., & Wilhelm, J. A. (2001). The evolution of crew resource management training in commercial aviation. Informally published manuscript, Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas. Retrieved from http://homepage.psy.utexas.edu/homepage/group/HelmreichLAB/Publications/pubfiles/Pub235.pdf
Kanki, B. G., Helmreich, R. L., & Anca, J. M. (2010). Crew resource management. (p. 68). San Diego, CA: Elsevier Inc.
Marrow, A. J. (1969) The practical theorist: The life and work of Kurt Lewin. New York: Basic Book.
Stone, R. B., & Babcock, G. L. (1988), Airplane pilot’s perspective. In E. L. Wiener & D. C. Nagel (Eds.), Human factors in aviation (pp. 529-560). San Diego: Academic.
Wells, A. T., & Rodrigues, C. C. (2003). Commercial aviation safety (Fourth Ed. p. 172) New York, NY: McGraw Hill.