Appendix 3 APPENDIX 3. APPROPRIATE CRM TRAINING TOPICS --
1. BACKGROUND INFORMATION.
a. Findings coming from accident investigations have consistently pointed to the fact that human errors contribute to most aviation accidents.
b. Research findings suggest that CRM training can result in significant improvements in flightcrew performance. CRM training is seen as an effective approach to reducing human errors and increasing aviation safety.
c. Aviation safety information is readily available through the World Wide Web. Many websites contain valuable source materials and reference materials that may be helpful in developing CRM training. Websites commonly link to other websites containing related material. Aviation related websites maintained by U.S. Government agencies include the following:
(1) National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), <http://www.nasa.gov.>
(2) National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), <http://www.ntsb.gov.>
(3) Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), <http://www.faa.gov.>
2. TRAINING TOPICS, PRINCIPLES, AND TECHNIQUES. It is recommended that CRM training include the curriculum topics described in paragraph 12 of the advisory circular (AC) and the following topics, principles, and techniques:
a. Theory and practice in using communication, decisionmaking, and team building techniques and skills.
b. Theory and practice in using proper supervision techniques, i.e., captains working with first officers.
c. Theory and practice in selecting and using interventions needed to correct flying errors made by either pilot, especially during critical phases of flight. These interventions may include, but not be limited to, communication, assertion, decisionmaking, risk assessment, and situation awareness skills.
d. During Line Operational Simulation training, information, and practice of nonflying pilot functions, i.e., monitoring and challenging pilot functions, and monitoring and challenging errors made by other crewmembers for flight engineers, first officers, and captains. Training will alert flightcrews of hazards caused by tactical decision errors which are actually errors of omission. Practice in monitoring, challenging, and mitigating errors, especially during taxi operations, should be included.
These skills are important to minimize procedural errors that may occur as a result of inadequately performed checklists.
Appendix 3
e. Training for check airmen in methods which can be used to enhance the monitoring and challenging functions of both captains and first officers. The check airmen training should include the message that appropriate questioning among pilots is a desirable CRM behavior and part of the corporate safety culture; further, that such questioning is encouraged, and that there will be no negative repercussions for appropriate questioning of one pilot’s decision or action by another pilot.
f. Training for new first officers in performing the nonflying pilot role to establish a positive attitude toward monitoring and challenging errors made by the flying pilot. Training should stress that appropriate questioning is encouraged as a desirable CRM behavior, and that there will be no negative repercussions for appropriate questioning of one pilot’s decision or action by another pilot.
g. Training for captains in giving and receiving challenges of errors. Training should stress that appropriate questioning is encouraged as a desirable CRM behavior, and that there will be no negative repercussions for appropriate questioning of one pilot’s decision or action by another pilot.
h. Factual information about the detrimental effects of fatigue and strategies for avoiding and countering its effects.
i. Training for crewmembers which identifies conditions in which additional vigilance is required, such as holding in icing or near convective activity. Training should emphasize the need for maximum situation awareness and the appropriateness of sterile cockpit discipline, regardless of altitude.
j. Training that identifies appropriate levels of automation to promote situation awareness and effective management of workload.
k. Use of autopilot in in-flight icing. All flightcrew members should clearly understand their aircraft’s susceptibility to in-flight icing and should monitor in-flight ice accretion by all means available. One effective means of monitoring ice accretion might be to disconnect the autopilot at intervals, if doing so is consistent with the approved procedures contained in the airplane flight manual.
l. Training for crewmembers in appropriate responses when passengers intimidate, abuse, or interfere with crewmember performance of safety duties. Training should address crew coordination and actions, which might defuse the situation. See AC 120-65, Interference with Crewmembers in the Performance of Their Duties, dated October 18, 1996. Training should include specific communication topics, such as conflict resolution.
m. Line-oriented flight training (LOFT) or special purpose operational training (SPOT) for cockpit crewmembers, which addresses appropriate responses to the effects of pitot-static system anomalies, such as a blocked pitot tube. Emphasis should be on situation awareness, inquiry/advocacy/assertion, and crew coordination, when flight instruments act abnormally.
n. LOFT or SPOT for cockpit crewmembers that contain a controlled flight into terrain scenario.
Emphasis should be on prevention through effective communication and decision behavior. The
Appendix 3 Page 3 (and 4) importance of immediate, decisive, and correct response to a ground proximity warning should also be addressed.
o. Training for pilots in recognizing cues that indicate lack or loss of situation awareness in themselves and in others, and training in countermeasures to restore that awareness. Training should emphasize the importance of recognizing each pilot’s relative experience level, experience in specific duty positions, preparation level, planning level, normal communication style and level, overload state, and fatigue state. Pilots should assess these characteristics actively and continuously, in their fellow crewmembers and in themselves. Training should also emphasize the importance that improper procedures, adverse weather, and abnormal or malfunctioning equipment may have in reducing situation awareness. “Guidelines for Situation Awareness Training” contains expanded guidance on cues and countermeasures, and may by viewed or downloaded from the FAA web page at <http://www.faa.gov/avr/afs/train.htm.>
p. Training in communication of time management information among flightcrew and cabin crewmembers during an emergency. Training should stress that the senior or lead flight attendant can effectively brief other flight attendants and passengers and prepare the cabin only if the time available in the emergency is clearly communicated by the flightcrew. Other information elements that are vital in effective time management are the nature of the emergency and any special instructions relating to the planned course of action.
3. APPROPRIATE TRAINING INTERVENTIONS.
a. The most effective CRM training involves active participation of all crewmembers. LOFT sessions give each crewmember opportunities to practice CRM skills through interactions with other crewmembers. If the training is videotaped, feedback based on crewmembers’ actual behavior, during the LOFT, provides valuable documentation for the LOFT debrief.
b. CRM training can be presented using a combination of the following training interventions:
(1) Operator in-house courses.
(2) Training center courses.
(3) Special Purpose Operational Training.
(4) LOFT sessions.
(5) Computer Based Training courses.