Wayne Martin

Fear-Potentiated Startle: A Review from an Aviation Perspective

Pilot performance following unexpected critical events has been either ineffective or inappropriate in some recent aircraft accidents. The deleterious effects of startle have been identified as causal or contributory in these events. The startle reflex, fight or flight reaction, and stress response are discussed. Threat has the effect of potentiating startle effects and has significant deleterious effects on cognition. This could contribute to poor performance following an unexpected critical event in aviation. Training strategies for improved performance, which would expose pilots to unexpected critical events more often, and develop greater self-efficacy, are discussed.

Training Flight Accidents

Civil aviation is broadly categorized into two sectors: air transportation and general aviation. While the former sector is considered to be ultrasafe the latter requires a stronger focus on safety improvement. There has been considerable research examining the causes of general aviation accidents with a view to improving safety. However, there has been very limited research specifically focused on accidents involving training flights and associated causal factors. A total of 293 training flight accident reports, comprising 111 fatal and 182 nonfatal accidents were reviewed and analyzed to identify causes of training-flight accidents. The study found that based on the odds ratio, if a fatal accident involving training flights occurred it was 4.05 times more likely to be a dual training flight. Other findings included that most accidents occurred during the landing phase and the majority of accidents related to skill deficiency (e.g., an improper/inadequate flare). This was a major causal factor in nonfatal accidents in both dual and solo training flights. However, on dual training flights there were more fatal accidents involving decision deficiencies and mechanical malfunctions (e.g., loss of engine power). A previous study suggested that lack of supervision of student pilots by flight instructors was found to be a main causal factor and thus flight instructor training and recurrency requirements need to be reviewed.

A Training-Centered Approach to the Situational Control Model

Situational awareness (SA) has been conceptually defined as an awareness of current and past events that contextualize an understanding of what is currently happening and future implications of that state. While SA has been considered widely in previous research, the literature provides little guidance on the actual skill sets that contribute toward a state of SA, or, beyond that, the additional skills that then contribute to a state of controlled flight path management; a state we describe as situational control (SC). A set of social and cognitive skills are required to develop awareness of the current situation and likely future developments; however, the skills that provide SC are additional to those required for SA, and are elaborated on. SC is further considered within the context of flight training.

Command and Control: The Influence of Flight Crew Role Assignment on Flight Safety in Air Transport Operations

Compared with other team settings, flight crew in air transport present a unique situation where the leader or supervisor regularly engages in active control. When the captain is assigned cognitively demanding pilot flying duties, the subordinate and often less experienced first officer must perform equally crucial monitoring and support duties. Using a systematic review methodology, this study reviews the reported effect of crew role assignment on flight safety outcomes. Our review identified 18 relevant studies and suggests crew performance factors linked to flight safety are affected by crew role assignment. Findings suggest a greater number of inherent obstacles may exist for optimal crew performance with the captain as pilot flying, raising the need for further specific research and policy review in this area.

An exploratory study on the post-implementation of threat and error management training in Australian general aviation

Abstract Threat and Error Management (TEM) training, endorsed and recommended by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), was mandated in Australia with the aim of improving aviation safety. However, to date, there has been very limited, if any, formal post-implementation review, assessment or evaluation to examine the ‘after-state’ in terms of the effectiveness of the introduction of TEM. This exploratory study, is a first step in examining how TEM is regarded among Australian general aviation pilots in terms of its use and effectiveness. Fifty-nine general aviation pilots participated in a survey. The survey results indicated a large decline in positive support for TEM compared with the findings of an earlier study. Other results from the current survey indicated a variable uptake of TEM principles and differing opinions as to its effectiveness, suggesting further study should be conducted in respect of TEM as an important safety initiative within Australian general aviation.