Managing Human Error in Aviation Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Managing Human Error in Aviation - Article Example A co-pilot who always cedes to the judgment of the pilot hurts the team because no redundancy checks exist. The author attempts to review these errors which lead to disasters and create solutions to the problems. The article cites the 1978 United Airlines crash where the pilot focused on the landing gear warning light and not the low fuel indicator. Although the co-pilot warned of the fuel problem, he was not emphatic enough. The jet crashed, not because of a faulty warning light, but because the two pilots failed to act as an effective team. As a team, they stayed focused on the imagined landing gear problem. The second citation is the 1982 Air Florida crash in Washington, DC. Again, the copilot was uncomfortable with the aircraft’s performance, in this case, airspeed indicators; but again, the co-pilot failed to adequately state his concern. The jetliner crashed into the Potomac River. This crash pointed to the importance of collaboration rather than a chain of command.   One suggested a technological solution is smart computers. When these devices were tried in the flight simulators, oftentimes the pilot would concentrate on programming the computer rather than fly the aircraft in crowded airspace. The better solution was to turn off the computer and fly â€Å"stick and rudder† so the attention was on the airspace and other traffic. Crew Resource Management (CRM) resolves these issues to some extent. CRM dissects the cultural, societal and company, psychological and social human factors in communications and decision making. A more collaborative management ensues from this training. All crew members can speak out on safety issues. One study showed an Asian based airline’s pilots considered the chain of command to take precedence over safety. The net result is training teams, rather than leaders and followers.