Cockpit Task Management Bibliography

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Helmreich, R.L, A.C. Merritt, and J.A. Wilhelm (1999).

TITLE: The Evolution of Crew Resource Management Training in Commercial Aviation
PUBLISHER: The International Journal of Aviation Psychology, 9(1), 19-32
KEYWORDS: CRM, human error, complex system, interaction, avoid error, manage error
SUMMARY: Evolution of CRM starting in 1980.  Documents the significant changes in methods, scope and purpose.  Initially CRM was to 'reduce pilot error.' Now is more of a 'manage the errors that do occur.'

 SIGNIFICANT CONCEPTS/EXCERPTS:

"Cockpit" Resource Management started in 1980. The definition was to 'reduce pilot error by making better use of the human resources on the flight deck.

1st generation CRM - applied managerial training methods, not aviation-specific.

2nd generation CRM - changed 'cockpit' to crew resource management. Tried to incorporate the entire crew, not just the flight crew.

3rd generation CRM - again broadened the scope of the training.

4th generation CRM - integrated CRM training into other training programs such as Advanced Qualification Program (AQP).

5th generation CRM - original definition 'to reduce pilot errors' was not sufficient.   Rather, CRM is being redefined to 'CRM as error management.' The assumption is that errors are going to happen in a complex system with error-prone humans.  Therefore, a system should be developed that:

  1. attempts to avoid errors
  2. attempts to trap errors
  3. minimizes the consequences of errors

Misc. Stuff:

Helmreich has a problem of trying to validate CRM training; how can he tell if CRM training is truly effective?

you can't look at the accident rate, since it is so low AND there are many other factors that affect it. you can't use incident reports, they are voluntary. you can't use Line Operational Evaluation (LOE) or LOFT simulations, because who's to say how the pilots act when they are not being evaluated.

This may be additional use for FOQA data.

 

 

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