Crew Resource Management

Robert Gibbs

Embry Riddle Aeronautical University

Abstract

CRM, known as Crew Resource Management was once called Cockpit Resource Management. This term got expanded due to the fact that the teamwork of the crew of an aircraft went far beyond just the realm of the cockpit of the aircraft, which basically referred to only the personnel in the cockpit, the pilot, co-pilot, flight engineer, and any other personnel who was stationed in the cockpit area. CRM is very crucial to the safe operation of the aircraft and ground crew personnel. In my opinion, the two crucial aspects of CRM are leadership and communication in the cockpit. There are other important characteristics of CRM as well, such as having a sterile cockpit is very important. So let’s take a look at CRM as we know it.

What Is Crew Resource Management?

Crew Resource Management—CRM, in layman terms is the teamwork of all aircrew personnel of an aircraft to conduct the safe flight of an aircraft. Now the official definition of CRM is a management system which makes optimum use of all available resources, equipment, procedures, and people- to promote safety and improve the efficiency of flight operations. CRM focuses on interpersonal communications, leadership, and decision making in the cockpit.

CRM also focuses on the proper response to threats to safety and the proper management of crew error. We need to look at and make clear what establishes a “team” in CRM. Basically, everyone who participates in moving a flight from A to B is a member of the team, which entails management, ground services, and Air Traffic Control (ATC). But when we are talking aviation, the key members of a team are on board the aircraft, those who operate the controls and manage the aircraft systems, and handle the human and other cargo from gate to gate. The team consists of the cockpit crew and flight attendants ( Kanki, 2010).

Mission of CRM Training

CRM training has been conceived to prevent aviation accidents by improving crew performance through better crew coordination. The basic concept of CRM is training that is based on awareness, that a high degree of technical expertise is essential for safe and well-organized operations. Demonstrated mastery of CRM concepts cannot overcome a lack of ability. Likewise, high technical proficiency cannot guarantee safe operations in the absence of effective crew coordination.

Experience has shown that lasting behavior changes in any environment cannot be achieved in a short time, even if everything is flawless. Trainees need awareness, practice and feedback, and continuing reinforcement: in short, time to learn attitudes and behaviors that will tolerate. To be real, CRM concepts must be permanently integrated into all aspects of training and operations.

CRM training is most effective within a training program centered on clear comprehensive Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). This training should focus on the functioning of crewmembers as teams, not as a collection of technically competent individuals. CRM should instruct crewmembers on how to behave in ways that foster crew effectiveness. This training should also provide crewmembers the chance to practice the skills, necessary to be real team leaders and team members. CRM exercises should include all crewmembers functioning in the same roles, such as the captain, first officer, flight engineer, etc., that they normally perform in flight. Crew resource management training should include effective team behaviors during normal, routine operations

As we all know, good training for routine operations can have a positive effect on how well people function during times of high workload and stress. But during times of high stress and emergency conditions, it is most unlikely that any crewmember would take time, to look back on their CRM training( AC 120-51E).

Effective CRM has these following features. CRM is a comprehensive system of applying human factors concepts to improve crew performance, in which is incorporated in the SHEL concept, the Liveware-Liveware interface. This interface where human factors are concerned is between people. Questions of performance in flight have been focused on the characteristics of the individual pilot or crew member. However attention is being turned to the breakdown of team work or the system of assuring safety through redundancy. Flight crews function as groups and so group influences can be expected to play a role, in determining behavior and performance. In the cabin, interaction between passengers can also be expected to influence their behavior and this can be vital in emergency situations (Hawkins, 1993).

CRM embraces all operational personnel and can be blended into all forms of aircrew training in commercial flight. It also concentrates on crewmembers’ attitudes and behaviors and their impact on safety. It will use the crew as the unit of training. In CRM, the training will require all participating crewmembers an opportunity for individuals to examine their own behavior and to make decisions on how to improve cockpit teamwork.

When simulators in CRM are not accessible, crewmembers can participate in group problem solving events, designed to exercise CRM skills. Crewmembers may also participate in role-playing exercises. These exercises permit practice in developing strategies, for dealing with events or event sets, and enable analysis behaviors shown while dealing with them. The success of CRM training depends upon check airmen, instructors, and supervisors who are highly qualified in the operator’s SOPs and specially trained in CRM.

Fundamentals of CRM Training Implementation

Airline operational experiences suggest that the greatest benefits are achieved by adhering to some of these practices. Assess the status of the organization before you implement your CRM training program. You should survey the crewmembers, management, training, and standards personnel. Get a commitment from all your managers, beginning with your senior managers. Your program will receive more positive feedback from your operations personnel, flight operations managers, and flight standards officers. A central CRM is communication. It is essential that every level of management support a safety culture, in which communication is promoted by encouraging appropriate questioning.

You should customize the training to reflect the nature and needs of your organization. When you use the knowledge of the state of the organization, priorities should be established for topics covered, including special issues, such as the effect of mergers or the introduction of advanced technology aircraft. You could define the scope of your program, in which you institute special CRM training for key personnel.

CRM training must be integrated as a regular part of the recurrent training requirement. Recurrent CRM training should include classroom or briefing room refresher training to review and amplify CRM components. It is highly recommended that recurrent CRM exercises take place with a full crew, each member operating in his or her normal crew position. Recurrent training with performance feedback allows participants to practice newly improved CRM skills and to receive feedback on their effectiveness.

The most effective feedback is identified in Indoctrination/Awareness training. Practice and feedback are best accomplished through the use of simulators, training devices, and videotape. Taped feedback, with the guidance of a mediator, is effective because it allows participants to view themselves from a third-person perspective, in other words, outside looking in. CRM should be continually reinforced. A one-time exposure is not enough. CRM should be embedded in every stage of training. CRM should become an inseparable part of the organization’s culture (AC 120-51E).

Social Psychology of the Cabin and the Cockpit

Today’s flight and cabin crews are much different than they were during the early years of commercial aviation as we know it. The captain of the airplane, who was considered “God”, and his decisions were never questioned, and in his mind his decision(s) were always right. No one in the cockpit had any input into what was happening in the cockpit. Everyone would assume that the captain knew what he was doing.

Back in those days it was consider disrespectful to question the decision of the captain or an superior flight officer. This type of thinking had its origin from the military. The reasoning why this occurred was due to the fact that at the time, the military was the biggest producer of pilots, which generated a good dose of machismo, big egos, and autocratic decision-making processes. This attitude did not carry over well to the civilian side of aviation or to the cockpit of commercial airlines (Baron).

This type of attitude in the cockpit began to cause problems and to manifest in pilot error and airline accidents. Something had to be done to address this problem. Airlines began to note, that the pilots were competent, but their people skills were bad. They could fly great, but could not work in a synergistic surrounding to do their jobs. CRM teaches pilots how to improve communication, prioritize their tasks, delegate authority, and screen automated equipment. Believe it or not, CRM training is not required or mandatory for charter operations.

When CRM began to expand out of the cockpit and into the rest of the aircraft, flight attendants became an important part in CRM training. Today a stewardess, also known as flight attendants, roles has changed even further. These flight attendants of today are highly trained and skilled and safety is core of their function.

So what is the problem with pilot and flight attendant working together? The disparate job functions of the pilot and flight attendants and communications between both causes problems. Most pilots are male and most flight attendants are females. Also the division of job functions and responsibilities is another reason why these two groups have difficulty in getting along.

There are also physical barriers as well. I literally mean “physical” barriers. After the 9/11 attacks, the cockpit crew is separated from the cabin crew, by a reinforced door and communications are conducted through an impersonal interphone. Pilots considered the cockpit their territory and flight attendants considered the cabin theirs. This type of division is not good. Research shows that the division in these groups may be attributable to organizational, environmental, psychological, and regulatory factors (Chute & Wiener, 1995). The separation of pilots and flight attendants was further widened by another factor: the sterile cockpit rule, which meant no unnecessary chatter or talk in the cockpit. During takeoff and landing, where the majority of accidents occur, communication between the cockpit and the cabin needs to be at its best.

CRM training is a broad-scale approach to social communication based behaviors and attitudes. CRM attempts to change cockpit behavior, not the pilots. Line-oriented flight training (LOFT) is another example of broad-based training. CRM training is another strategy for reducing pilot error (Wells, 2004).

CRM training is not an end in itself. The training for operational personnel must be relevant to their professional needs. Changes in equipment design are expensive. Changes in the aviation system are painfully slow. The people can only work at the interface between pilots and equipment, as well as pilots and the system through CRM. Research has produced evidence that CRM practices were considered to be of universal application, are culturally influenced. CRM is a process, the output of which is improved safety and efficiency of aviation operations. Culture is among the many input factors, and cultural preferences influence CRM practices.

Failure to consider cultural issues may result in what Merritt (1993) called “cultural imperialism,” which in turn produces “cultural mutiny.” CRM training that is the product of “cultural imperialism” may be at odds not only with the national culture, but also organizational culture (Wise, 2010).

Skills Learned in CRM

Some skills that are learned in CRM are decision-making skills, leadership skills, communication skills, judgment skills, and crew coordination skills. Decision making skills are crucial for all crewmembers in all situations. A pilot must be confident of the choices he or she makes and be able to competently communicate their decisions. Leadership skills are individualized, but everyone can be taught basic qualities of being a leader, as well being a follower or a team player. Communication is probably the most important factor in any relationship. Without communication there will be chaos. If a situation is not clearly heard by all parties and accident is going to happen.

The use of good judgment is difficult to communicate. Attitude, personality, intelligence, and knowledge are key elements of good judgment skills. Judgment also comes from applying lessons learned in situations that went wrong. Crew coordination comes from applying all these skills, in order to accomplish one thing: getting the aircraft off the ground, to its destination, and back on the ground safely, with passengers and aircraft intact. Other skills include: stress management, situation awareness, problem-solving, team management, and interpersonal skills.

Some deterrents to good CRM are poor cockpit procedures, lack of assertiveness, lack of effective leadership, and poor group decision making. A good training program in CRM should include at least three distinct phases: an awareness of the many CRM issues, a practice and feedback of lessons learned using CRM techniques, and a continual reinforcement of CRM principles.

Conclusion

It is very important to conceptualize the task of flying as cooperative exercise between a human and an automation system. Remember, automation is a very important part of the aviation community today. We cannot get around it, automation and it is everywhere. But the key to intertwining CRM, crew coordination, and cockpit displays, buttons, dials, gauges, lights, bells, horns, and all the distractions that occurs in a cockpit during flight, and to complete your mission as a pilot, is to have a strong CRM program.

References

American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological

Association (6th ed.).

Reinhart, R. (1996). Basic Flight Physiology. (2nd Ed.) McGraw-Hill Companies

Hawkins, F. H. (1987). Human Factors in Flight.(2nd ed.). Ashgate Publishing Company

Wise, J.A., & Hopkins, V.D., & Garland, D.J. (2010). Handbook of Aviation Human Factors.

(2nd ed.). Boca Raton, FL. CRC Press.

Wells, A.T. & Rodrigues, C.C. (2004). Commercial Aviation Safety. (4th ed.). McGraw-Hill.

New York.

Baron, R. The Cockpit, the Cabin, and Social Psychology. The Aviation Consulting Group.

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