Capt. Ken's comments

By Ken Armstrong

The epoch of invincible cockpit warriors made famous through decades of Hollywood film productions never really existed. In truth, the mission is best accomplished when a level-headed pilot or crew conducts a flight through the judicious use of the following resources: flight information available to them, knowledge of their equipment, the resourceful use of their fuel and time and of course, the management of the crew’s skills through co-operative effort.
Through the 1970s federal aviation officials became increasingly concerned about the rather high accident rate that resulted from pilots not using the assets available to them. Almost all of the crashes would have been easily avoided had the pilot-in-command utilized various resources he was aware of but not sufficiently organized - especially during emergencies - to utilize. It wasn’t a lack of pilot skill that left areas of the forest pruned, burned out helicopter hulks and grieving family members; but rather simple oversights that could have been easily corrected with cockpit resource management practices.
An American National Transportation Safety Board study intensively researched 37 accidents between 1978-1990 to discover some surprising common threads in these cases. Although this data is not Canadian in origin, it will be indicative of pilot performance in general.
a) In 73 per cent of these cases, the incident occurred on the first day the crew was flying together.
b) The pilot flying in 81 per cent of these incidents was the aircraft captain.
c) Forty four per cent of the accidents occurred when crews were flying their first flight leg with each other.
d) More than half the accident flights were running late which implies the possibility of fatigued and harried crewmembers.
e) The median time for accidents occurred late in the duty cycle when crewmembers had already put in an average of ten hours since awakening.
The NTSB concluded in part: “The complexity of current operations imposes considerable demands on flight crew members, particularly under high workload conditions. Moreover, accident investigations indicate that captains have failed, sometimes at critical points in the flight, to take advantage of important resources that are available to them.” Moreover, they concluded, “These resources have included not only available equipment and supporting services but the assistance of the coordinated crew.”

IS CRM EFFECTIVE?
Efforts of FAA, NASA and many other organizations led to the global spread of CRM training. Most of the world has had the opportunity to take this valuable training over the last two decades.
Some would argue that the accident rate has remained unchanged and that CRM isn’t really working. However, their observation is flawed as there are many other factors that have not allowed the accident rate to decline as much as many experts would have hoped. As CRM techniques improve and expand, it has become readily apparent to the concept users that the techniques are leading to a more coordinated cockpit with less friction, more efficiency and a reduction in stress as standard procedures and emergency handling both benefit from CRM procedures.
Moreover, CRM is an attitude that requires the cooperation of all crewmembers to maximize its effectiveness. The organizations that have developed a co-operative attitude and worked to hone their procedures are benefiting the most. For CRM to be effective, a senior (preferably convincing) member of the flight crew should be charged with program training and implementation and the company progress should be monitored on a continual basis. Weak areas should be identified and procedural modifications introduced to maximize flight safety.

PEOPLE AND PERSONALITIES
We are all different from each other and we often have different meanings for many of our expressions and this can lead to misunderstandings in the cockpit. For instance, there have been numerous accidents/incidents when the command was given “drop the load.” To some, this can mean lower the load to the ground and to others it can mean activate the emergency jettison feature.
Poor communications cannot only lead to incidents and accidents but also to personality clashes in the cockpit. Unfortunately, many pilots don’t realize that “being a good stick” is only a small part of their job in a crew environment. Interfacing and handling other cockpit members effectively and safely will result in safety advances in the aviation world much more quickly than improvement in aircraft handling skills.
CRM is a gentle art and indeed a requisite skill to fly effectively in a multi crew environment. It requires crewmembers to understand each others’ tasks and to be able to communicate effectively. These skills begin with the ability to honestly and openly state an opinion when one is warranted. Regardless of your ranking in the cockpit hierarchy, it is important to observe and point out any activity that jeopardizes aircraft safety. Sometimes, you might have to ask a question to determine what the intentions of an individual are before you can provide an opinion. Nonetheless, whether you are talking with another pilot, an ATC controller or a technician, it is wise to discuss a questionable situation.
It may be necessary to discuss conflicting opinions and it is of course wise to be tactful and considerate of the other’s opinion. In most cases, simply pointing out the developing problem will be adequate to create a course of action. If not, you may occasionally need to constructively criticize the other’s action to convince him/her of the risk to life and limb. This can seem challenging in situations where obvious rank differences make it difficult to speak up. However, developing the skill of persuasive discussion will prove invaluable over the long term and it will certainly lead to the goal of a safe and relatively stress-free flight. Be certain not to personalize your point of view, but rather, wrap your suggestions in the guise of completing the flight safely.
Sometimes there is a selection of “right ways” to conduct a flight and it may be difficult to choose the best solution to a possible problem. In this case, additional discussion leading to a mutually derived course of actions will undoubtedly be the best solution.

EXTERNAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
One part of CRM includes the effective use of resources outside the cockpit. An effective pilot should know all of the sources of information available to his crew, how to establish contact with them and when to seek these various forms of assistance. Moreover, he should ensure all members of the crew are similarly conversant with these information sources. These might include, but are not limited to: ATIS, AWOS, en route weather briefings, company frequencies, customer frequencies, radiotelephone use, etc.

AIRCRAFT STATUS AND SITUATIONAL AWARENESS
The captain and crew should use all of the data available (engine instruments, navigational equipment, ATC data, etc) to be aware of the aircraft’s operational status and its location with respect to mission accomplishment. The crew should use all available resources to maximize their safety margins with respect to environmental conditions. Additionally, they should work cohesively as a crew during any critical situations in order to maintain their focus - regardless of apparent distractions.

PROBLEM SOLVING PROCEDURES
Effective CRM pays dividends any time the workload increases to intensive levels such as during an emergency or when activities conspire in a manner that are typically beyond one pilot’s abilities. Firstly, the crew must recognize the problem and co-operatively collect data to make an informed decision. Next the nature of the emergency must be assessed by considering the data and a solution formulated. If there is more than one possible solution, the crew should determine the procedure with the greatest likelihood for complete success and then accomplish the task. The work isn’t complete until the crew assesses the effectiveness of their solution and if the problem continues, they must re-assess the situation and follow the procedure that will most likely work. This cycle must be continued until the emergency is resolved.

DECISION MAKING
Somewhat similar to problem solving, decision making requires discussion with the other crew member(s) so the command pilot can describe his decision process and solicit input from others. Discussion should introduce any conflicting information and/or clarify the captain’s decision with additional data. This should result in a clear plan of attack that is fully supported by all crewmembers.

MANAGING TASKS
In a multi-crew cockpit, it is important to manage the workload of each member to ensure an “over-load” or fatigue does not occur. The captain must be able to prioritize and sequence the workload between crew members. To effectively accomplish this, he must assign duties and responsibilities while anticipating the possibility of the workload that would be necessitated during an emergency.
While he may not actually have a crewmember “standing by” to react to an emergency, he should consider the onslaught of heavy workload associated with a potential problem and have a plan to handle same.

Next month: Capt. Ken discusses “Challenging the captain and taking control” and “CRM for the single pilot cockpit.”

Ken Armstrong has enjoyed 14,500 flight hours on more than 350 fixed and rotary wing aircraft. He provides aviation consulting/training services and flies his Diamond Extreme motor glider out of a grass strip near Victoria, B.C.