HUMAN FACTORS EXPERIENCE
CRM will always help you save the day...
I became interested in Human Factors (HF) in the year 1994, when I was offered the chance to work on the translation of the DEDALE Human Factors in Aviation training course material from French to Spanish. During this
project, although I was not responsible for the actual content, I was in personal contact with ICAO officials who where responsible for the final result. I was very fortunate to be given this chance, and it became a very rewarding learning
experience. Having gotten my feet wet, I started researching further into the field. This lead me to read several books on HF and other related subjects such as Psychology, Game Theory, Aviation Medicine, Awareness Training, and Human
Performance Limitations (HPL).
Later, after I joined the airline industry as a pilot in 1996, I attended several CRM and HPL courses. I've been lucky enough to work for different airlines around the globe, and I was given initial HF courses dictated
by Aerolineas Argentinas, Ansett Australia, Crossair AG, Swiss International Airlines, JetMagic Ireland, Singapore Airlines, Korean Air and Etihad Airways. Each course had it's particular "cultural flavour".
During my aviation career, I've been able to give my personal contribution as well. While working as a Training Manager for Southern Winds, I developed, in conjunction with a pilot CRM focus group, my first in-house
CRM initial course, which was further approved by the Argentinean Aviation Authority. This course was dictated to technical crew in Buenos Aires starting in 1999. Also, around that time, I had the chance to attend the 4th ICAO Global
Flight Safety and Human Factors Symposium held in Santiage de Chile, in June 1999, which lasted for 4 days, and offered several seminars on subjects related to CRM, Threat and Error Management (TEM) and HF in general.
During the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, the HF community turned its focus to the TEM model developed by Dr Helmreich and his team at the University of Texas. I became acquainted with these and other concepts by
reading the ICAO Document 9803, Line Operations Safety Audit (LOSA), which was published in its First Edition in 2002.
While working for SilkAir, I had the priviledge to be invited to attend the Third ICAO-IATA LOSA and TEM Conference held in Kuala Lumpur, in September 2005. Later that year, I was selected to attend the
Singapore Airlines HPL and CRM Facilitation Skills Training Course in October, dictated by DEDALE (which, funny enough, it included the same material I had translated 10 years before). I worked as an initial and recurrent CRM facilitator at
the Singapore Airlines Training Center (STC), position that I held until the end of my employment with the SilkAir. In the meantime, I was also part of SilkAir's LOSA focus group, which gave recommendations to the Flight Operations
Department regarding operating policies and procedures. Follow this link for a work reference.
The following 8 year period was indeed quite interesting from a professional point of view. Although I was not directly involved in HF and CRM from a facilitating point of view, I was in a position to apply the
formerly acquired skill-set directly, as my career evolved to a higher level. In 2007, I became a long-haul Captain on the A330, while working for Qatar Airways. The operation became more complex, the crew became multi-national and
multi-cultural. The scope of threats and errors became global. This was followed by a brief contract with Korean Air, starting in 2010, which offered me a whole new chance of learning to interact with a new culture, and another 2 year
contract with Scoot Airlines, where I was exposed to the threat environment inherent to a startup airline.
My next chance to become directly involved in Human Factors development and LOSA came shortly after I joined Etihad Airways in 2013. With this company, I was part of the Training Strategy Team for 3 years, where
I participated as a member of the LOSA Project Steering Group and a LOSA auditor. In addition to this, I was able to develop, using my previous software engineering and computer system's knowledge, a sofware tool that helped to complete
additional analysis of the LOSA data set, understanding the influence of Evidence Base Training (EBT) competences in threat and error management. Furthermore, I was directly involved in the development of the new initial CRM course for
direct entry and cadet pilots. I also participated in the development of the command upgrade program CRM course. Follow this link for a work reference.
The last line of defense
Airline operating crew are permanently performing their duties at the last line of defence, and become the recipients of all the information pertaining to the flight. They work at the intersection where all resources
converge, and where decisions are made that directy affect the safety and efficiency of the operation.
To operate safely and efficiently, a pilot must have a high degree of competence, which is necessarily reflected in the effort he continually makes to improve his capacities in three key areas: his knowledge, his
flying skills and his attitude.
Firstly, he must have good knowledge of his machine's limitations and systems, the company's regulations and the operating environment including routings, weather, airports, and infrastructure. Also, he must
have a system in place to ensure that if any doubt arises about specific knowledge, the available documentation is consulted in an open manner. But most importantly, he must have the capacity to apply this knowledge effectively.
Secondly, he must also possess accurate and smooth flying skills, or select the appropriate automation level and mode in a timely manner, considering phase of flight and workload. Also, he must have a system in
place to ensure, should his skills be affected for any reason on a particular day, that other crew will help him cope with the situation. Training conscientiously, and making a sustained effort to keep his tool "sharp", gives the pilot a
sense of balanced confidence to operate his machine, which in turn leads to a higher degree of situational awareness.
Last but not least, he must have the right attitude. This essential attribute will always help him “save the day”, when the other two fail him. A good pilot is a good communicator, a leader and a team player. He
is generally aware of his own limitations, the limitations of his team, and the limitations of the operating environment. He has achieved the goal of becoming a manager of human errors and enviromental threats. He is aware of the bigger
picture. This set of “soft skills” is the glue that binds the crew together, and the lubricant that allows for information, and situations, to flow smoothly.
In a more general context, CRM is the set of tools that can be used everyday by every person involved directly or indirectly with the operation, and is the one of the best alternatives that we have to enhance safety
and efficiency in any airline's operation.
The Bigger Picture
Airline operators need to have an interrelated approach to CRM training and Human Factors development. Since we live in a world that is dominated by technology, no one can deny the influence that data has in our everyday lives. Is all
data useful, though? Once, I heard a Human Factors specialist say: "Do you want data? We have LOTS of data!". Only when this data is placed in the correct context does it become useful and relevant. It becomes information.
However, having access to useful and relevant information is only one side of the coin. Understanding how the different components in the airline's organizational structure are related, and should work together, is the key to a more
comprehensive approach when analyzing the Information available from different sources. It is required to provide a broader context.
Organizing the information flow so that events and experiences are shared among all players involved, must become an essential driving force behind the future planning of training programmes, line audits (LOSA), Air Safety Reporting
(ASR) systems and Flight Operations Quality Assurance (FOQA) programmes. The list of these components is by no means exhaustive. It becomes longer as the airline grows in size and complexity.
As the aviation industry evolves into the future, deep understanding of this synergetic relationship is the key to a safer operation.
