Evolving Concepts of Crew Resource Management
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Evolving Concepts of Crew Resource Management The roots of Crew Resource Management training in the United States are usually traced back to a workshop, Resource Management on the Flightdeck sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 1979 (Cooper, Lauber, & White, 1980). This conference was the outgrowth of NASA research into the causes of air transport accidents. The research presented at this meeting identified the human error aspects of the majority of air crashes as failures of interpersonal communications, decision making, and leadership. At this meeting, the label Cockpit Resource Management (CRM) was applied to the process of training crews to reduce "pilot error" by making better use of the human resources on the flightdeck. Many of the air carriers represented at this meeting left it committed to developing new training programs to enhance the interpersonal aspects of flight operations. Since that time CRM training programs have proliferated in the United States and around the world. Approaches to CRM have also evolved in the years since the NASA meeting (Helmreich, Merritt, & Wilhelm, 2001). CRM training is now used by all the major international airlines. A recent survey of International Air Transport Association affiliated airlines indicated that 96 per cent of respondents were running CRM courses. Over 60 per cent of these had been in existence for five years or more (O'Leary, 1999). In Europe, the Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) require that pilots flying in multi-crew cockpits have been trained in CRM. Different national regulators set particular regulations to comply with the European requirements. For instance, in the UK, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) requires that CRM training be carried out annually by commercial