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CREW RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Introduction

1.

A B- 747 was coming to Dhaka from Delhi via G- 463 maintaining FL 290. A

reciprocal traffic had taken off from Dhaka for Delhi and cleared to climb initially FL 160 for FL 360. In the meantime the B- 747 gave call, Ready for descend. Dhaka Control cleared him to descend up to FL 190. The Captain replied, Rojar, copied. Unfortunately, neither the controller nor the co-pilot of the aircraft monitored whether the Captain has understood the call or not. And the Captain started descending up to FL 150 as he had heard that he had been clear up to FL 150. This total situation was created due to lack of Crew Management. And it is the Crew Resource Management which takes an attempt to enhance flight safety and operational efficiency by improving the coordination between the crew members with the help of available resources.

2.

We all know that safety is not a resource; it is not an influence; it is not a

procedure; and certainly it is not a program; it is the state of mind; an atmosphere, which must become an integral part of each and every individual. There are many ways to enhance Flight Safety. Effective crew resource management (CRM) is very essential to ensure the highest levels of safety.

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3.

In about 70% of civil and military accidents, flight crew actions or human factors

are cited as a contributory cause. Analysis of the causes of air accidents has shown that inadequate crew communication plays a major role in most of them. That is why; nowa-days crew recourse management training has been widely adopted by various airlines and air forces. To enhance the flight safety, it is imperative to enhance CRM. It is worth mentioning that in the present circumstances, Bangladesh Air Force can also look into this matter to enhance flight safety to a large extent.

Aim

4.

The aim of my presentation is to give an overview of the different aspects of

crew resource management and its effect on flight safety.

Sequence

5.

For that, the sequence I am going to follow is:

a. b.

Why CRM? Principles of CRM I. II. III. Overview of the principles Different barriers of the principles Effects on Flt safety
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c. d.

Factors Affecting CRM Q&A

Why CRM?

6.

Properly trained aircrew members can collectively perform complex tasks better

and make more accurate decisions than the single best performer on the team.

7.

An untrained team's overall performance can be significantly worse than the

performance of its weakest single member.

8.

It makes better cohesion in behavior and attitudes of teamwork and

communication among team members.

Principles of Crew Resource Management 6. Crew resource management is based on some principles. Emphasis on these

principles will give us the successful use of crew resource. These principles can be described in the following headings.

a. b. c.

Psychological Issues Individual Factors Group Factors

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7.

Psychological Issues.

Crew members must work together to ensure that no

individual has excessive work load, communication and decision making are effective, performance is resistance to stress, and situational awareness is maintained. Personality of crew members must not be allowed to interfere with effectiveness of the crews performance.

8.

Individual Factors.

Individual factors depend upon work load and stress.

a.

Work Load.

Work load refers to the demands imposed by tasks in

relation to resources available. Mental workload is multi-dimensional in nature. It has four distinct factors:

I.

Input demand.

It means that every individual has a capacity to

accept demand. Of course this capacity of demand increases with experience and knowledge.

II.

Central demand. It means that every individual has a limit of

capacity to process the demand.

III.

Output demand. One may be able to process a demand correctly

but he may not be able to fulfill the output demand always.

IV.

Time pressure.

Time factor is very important on fulfilling a job.


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All these factors determine the efforts required to acquire external information, process the information, make appropriate responses and complete activities within particular limit.

b.

Stress.

Stress is defined as response to unfavorable conditions known

as stressors. The aviation environment is rich in stressors such as noise, heat, vibration, danger, loss of sleep, etc. The level of alertness/arousal is likely to decrease after long stressors. But with the increase of stressors to an optimal level arousal increases and then it starts to decrease tremendously. Difficult task Easy task Per for ma nce Level of arousal Fig: Level of arousal vs. Performance 9. Group Factors. Basing on analysis of critical incidents, seven dimensions of team process behaviors were identified: communication, leadership, situational awareness, decision making, assertiveness, adaptability and mission analysis.
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a.

Communication. Effective communication is the clear and accurate

sending and receiving of information, instructions or commands, and providing useful feedback.

I.

Types of Communication.

There are mainly two types of

communication: verbal and non-verbal.

II.

Responsibilities. Now I will highlight some of the responsibilities

of sender and receiver.

(1)

Senders Responsibilities.

(a) (b) (c) (d)

Communicate in appropriate mode Convey information accurately and concisely Provide information at appropriate time Request verification or feedback

(2)

Receivers Responsibility.

(a) (b) (c) (d)

He is to listen actively He is to take action as a result of communication Answer, or respond, to communications Ask for clarification of unclear communication
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(e)

Feedback

b.

Leadership.

Leadership is the ability to direct and coordinate the

activities of other crew members or wingmen, and to encourage the crew to work together as a team.

I.

Responsibilities of Leadership.

leader

should

be

responsible to:

(1) (2) (3)

Ensure crew performance Direct actions Ask for assistance

II.

Behavior of an Effective Leader

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)

Respected Influential Delegates tasks Provides feedback Keeps all the crew informed about the situation Open to suggestions/accept mistakes Builds team spirit Directs and coordinates activities
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(9)

Maintains a professional atmosphere

(10) Knowledgeable of how to do the mission

c.

Situational Awareness. Situational

awareness

is

the

continuous

extraction of environmental information, integration of this information to a previous knowledge and the use of that in directing further perception and anticipating future events. There are some Factors that Reduce Situational Awareness.

I. II. III. IV. V. VI.

Insufficient communication Fatigue / stress Task overload Task under load Group mindset Degraded Operating Conditions

A newly operational pilot was flying in the training area B of Chittagong and was under Chittagong Training. Again one civil airline had set course from Jessore for Chittagong via W- 5. The civil airline was maintaining FL 90 and was under Chittagong Tower. At 40 DME from CTG the civil airline gave call for descend to CTG Tower and Tower cleared him up to 4000 ft. At the same time Tower informed CTG Training about the traffic. Then Training informed the Pilot who was operating in Training Area B, Traffic is coming from Jessore
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via W- 5, avoid the route for time being. The newly operational pilot was not aware of the route and he just replied, Copied. Just one minute after that he saw that the aircraft was just heading towards his aircraft and he could merely avoid the collision by giving a hard turn. This situation happened just for not having the situational awareness of the pilot.

d.

Decision Making.

Effective decision making refers to the ability to

use logical and sound judgment to make decisions based on available information. This includes; assessing the problem, verifying information, identifying solutions, anticipating consequences of decisions, informing others of decision and rationale, evaluating decisions.

I.

Factors Which Promote Good Decision Making.

(1) (2) (3) (4)

Teamwork Extra time to make a decision Alert crew members Decision strategies and experience

II.

A Decision Making Strategy for Troubleshooting.

All tactical

decision making models include the fol steps:

(1)

Recognizing the prevailing condition


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(2)

Assessing short-term consequences and long-term

consequences for the flt (3) (4) (5) Evaluating aval options and procedures Deciding a course of act Taking act in accordance with the defined procedures, as aval,

and task sharing (6) (7) Evaluating and monitoring results, and Resuming standard flg duties

III.

Barriers to Good Decision Making.

Barrier Time

How to Overcome Use SOP's and select the best decision using available information

Inaccurate or Cross-check information ambiguous info Pressure to Evaluate rationally for making a decision perform Rank difference IV. Use assertive behaviors Once a hazard has been

Decision Strategy for Risk Assessment.

detected, evaluate it to determine its potential effect on the planned flight by considering its impact on the:

(1)

Aircraft
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(2) (3) (4) (5)

Environment Situation Operations People

The analysis should consider the crew's relative ability to cope with changes in each of the five basic elements. We should remember that good decisions optimize risk management and minimize errors, while poor decisions can increase them. Poor judgment or decision making is a leading cause of failure to complete missions and of mishaps. Each decision affects future options.

e.

Assertiveness.

It is the willingness/readiness to actively participate,

state and maintain a position, until convinced by the facts that other options are better and it requires initiative and courage to act. Following are the barriers of assertiveness:

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

Position of Authority Experience Rank Lack of confidence Fear of punishment

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f.

Adaptability/Flexibility.

Adaptability/Flexibility refers to the ability

to alter a course of action when new information becomes available. Situations that require quick adaptation when: un-briefed situations arise, a routine mission becomes an emergency, transitions occur, a crew member is incapacitated or interactions are stressed. For maintaining adaptability:

(1) (2) (3)

Anticipate problems Recognize and acknowledge any change Determine if an SOP or habitual response is appropriate to the

demand (4) (5) (6) Offer alternative solutions Provide and ask for assistance Interact constructively with others

g.

Mission Analysis.

Mission Analysis refers to the ability to develop

short term, long-term and contingency plans, as well as to coordinate, allocate and monitor crew and aircraft resources.

I.

Preflight Mission Analysis.

It involves:

(1) (2) (3)

Planning Preparation Briefing


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II.

In-flight Mission Analysis.

It involves:

(1) (2) (3)

Short-term planning Monitoring mission progress Identifying and reporting changes

III.

Post-flight Mission Analysis. It involves:

(1) (2) (3) Factors Affecting CRM 10.

Selective review Interactive discussion Timely discussion

The fol factors may adversely affect implication of effective CRM: a. b. Company culture and policies Belief that act and decisions are the correct once at the time, although they

deviate from manuals c. Effects of fatigue and inadequate countermeasures for restoring vigilance

and alertness, and d. Reluctance to accept the influence of human factors and CRM in Flt

Safety.

Conclusion
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11.

So far I have discussed about why CRM is required, different principles of CRM

and their effect on flight safety by giving some examples and factors affecting CRM.

12.

There is nothing called absolute safety. But we should always try to minimize the

rate of accidents and incidents as minimum as possible. Behind all incidents and accidents human errors are always involved. But the main causes of human errors are lack of co-ordination, indiscipline, improper attitude towards responsibility, work load, over stress, lack of situational awareness, wrong decision or improper judgment. It is the CRM which actually deals with all these factors of human error. Enhancing CRM will actually help us to minimize incidents and accidents due to human errors. More so, this is a powerful tool to optimize flt crew performance.

Thank you all.

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