Teamwork And Safety: How Crew Resource Management
Commercial airline accidents are often very catastrophic and can be attributed to human error in over 60% of all cases (Salas, Burke, Bowers, & Wilson 2001). One of the largest sources of human error is a lack of teamwork amongst the flight crew. The tasks involved in safely flying an aircraft are very complex and require several people to perform them. Because no one person can fly a commercial airliner alone, teamwork is essential to the safety of the passengers. A breakdown in teamwork can ultimately lead to an accident and cost passengers their lives. Because of this, the Federal Aviation Administration now requires that airlines give Crew Resource Management training to their flight crews to improve teamwork and, thereby, improving safety (Salas, Fowlkes, Stout, & Renee 1999).Crew Resource Management was introduced twenty years ago as a way to educate aircrews on better ways to employ all available resources by working as a team. CRM began as a program to focus on individual attitudes and behaviors. It later began to focus on group dynamics in the cockpit. Eventually CRM training was extended to include all personnel involved in the safe operation of the aircraft and not only the cockpit crew (Salas, Fowlkes, et al. 1999).
The crew's communication skills are also found to be greatly improved by CRM training programs. Safety is a very important aspect of the airline industry, and Crew Resource Management is one method the FAA and the airlines are using to work towards improved safety by improving teamwork. Aircrews are usually better able to employ all resources available, and they are able to better coordinate their efforts amongst themselves. According to Helmriech (1997), typically 36% of pilots in a certain Asian country felt that other crewmembers should speak up when they notice a problem. Making entries into the computer also takes the attention of the crewmember off of the environment around the aircraft and focuses his or her attention on the computer. After CRM training, aircrews typically have 6better attitudes towards working as a team. The computer executes the programs it is given, and if the program is flawed, the computer will give the flawed commands to the aircraft. The crew extensively critiques all of the seven skills involved with teamwork to learn what deficiencies the crew may have and what can be done to improve these deficiencies (Morrison 2002). Simulators are also often used that are programmed to recreate these case studies (Helmriech 1997). These skills have been found to be communication, decision making, leadership, situation awareness, mission analysis, assertiveness, and adaptability or flexibility (Salas, Fowlkes, et al. Case studies are also used that show how disaster was avoided or the consequences of a failure were minimized through exemplary teamwork efforts amongst the crew. Simulator runs are often recorded and then 4used during the post simulation debriefing to show flawed or exemplary uses of CRM (Helmriech 1997). The culture of the pilot, the airline, and nation culture may cause conflict in the cockpit (Helmriech 1997). Much of this training takes place in simulators to allow for experimentation of different procedures in an environment where mistakes will not prove catastrophic. Aircrews are typically willing to accept CRM training, with only about 5% of pilots rejecting CRM.
Common topics in this essay:
CRM Helmriech,
Resource Management,
Salas Fowlkes,
Training Simulators,
Southwest Airlines,
CRM CRM,
Bowers Wilson,
According Helmriech,
Qualification Program,
Salas Burke,
crm training,
helmriech 1997,
morrison 2002,
resource management,
crew resource,
crew resource management,
human error,
et al,
safe operation aircraft,
skills found,
training flight,
flight crew,
training flight crews,
burke et al,
salas burke et,
|
Acceptance Essays
