Foreword

A lot of air has passed over the foil since the first edition of Human Factors
in Aviation appeared in 1988mergers, bankruptcies, security concerns,
new generation glass cockpit aircraft. This revised edition of the classic volume edited originally by Earl Wiener, David Nagel, and Edward
Carterette is a much needed addition to the aviation literature.
What is human factors? A common definition that it is the discipline
that deals with human-machine interface. It deals with the psychological,
social, physical, biological, and safety characteristics of individuals and
groups at the sharp end of organizations and the environmental context
in which they perform. I certainly didnt know this when I began to pursue my Ph.D. My doctoral training at Yale University was in social psychology. Yale had no courses or program in human factors. Indeed, the
zeitgeist there and in much of academic psychology was that the only
valid approach to research was through carefully controlled laboratory
experiments using as data sources two- (or four-)legged subjectsusually
bored undergraduates fulfilling a course requirement.
Before entering graduate school, I spent four years as a destroyer officer in the U.S. Navy. My naval experience included searching for Russian
submarines off Cuba during the missile crisis. When I arrived at graduate school fresh from sea I was directed toward laboratory studies, trying
to change student attitudes about mundane issues. As a president was
assassinated, riots broke out in American cities, and the country continued in a frenzied race to land humans on the moon, I became less and
less enamored with my research path.
Because of my military background, I was given the opportunity for
my doctoral dissertation to study the behavior of aquanauts living on
the ocean floor during Project Sealab. Using in-habitat video cameras
and open microphones, the crews behavior in an extremely dangerous
and stressful environment could be captured and analyzeda precursor of todays confidential observations of flightdeck behavior. I certainly
did not realize that my study could best be classified as research into the
human factors of an extreme environment.
This completely revised and updated version of Human Factors in
Aviation is edited by two distinguished human factors experts. Eduardo
Salas is an eminent scientist whose research in aviation psychology has
contributed greatly to aviation safety, training, and flight operations.

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Foreword

Daniel Maurino, through his role at the International Civil Aviation

Organization, has communicated the importance of human factors and
system safety throughout the world.
This edition covers human performance from its system, organizational,
and cultural context to relevant kinesthetic and cognitive components.
Especially important, given the growing number of extremely long flights
crossing many time zones is the summary of research into fatigue effects
and circadian rhythms.
Section IV, discussing design issues from cockpit displays to unmanned
[sic] aircraft will be of particular interest to aeronautical engineers but
also provides important insights for the rest of the aviation community.
Section V provides perspectives from the central components of the aviation domain. This section gives the audiencewhether students, flight
crews, managers, or regulatorsa nuanced view of aviation, civil and airline. It should be required reading for all to gain a needed perspective on
all aspects of aviation.
Finally, I must comment on safety. Aviation has an extraordinary record
that has become even better in two decades since publication of the first
edition. Advancing from 1.9 hull losses per million flights to less than
1.0 per million is a remarkable achievement. Despite this progress,
aircraft continue to crash. In 2009, a regional jet crashed in the United
States, raising questions about the training and continuing qualification
of flight crews. In the same year, a modern, widebody jet plunged into
the ocean off the coast of Brazil. Although the wreckage remains on the
Atlantic seabed, attention has focused on speed sensors and their reliability. The clear lesson from these tragedies is that human factors remains a
critical component of aviation safety. It is an exciting field that can save
lives and increase operational efficiency and economy.
Robert L Helmreich, Ph.D., FRAes
Professor Emeritus of Psychology
The University of Texas at Austin
Granite Shoals, Texas