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 Highlights of Vectors 2007Last February, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Bombardier, and Frasca co-hosted a symposium titled “ERAU: CRM Vectors 2007”. CRM leaders and participators in military, academe, government, and industry were invited. The symposium was comprised of 80 participants, including representatives from many foreign governments, military flight operations, general aviation, flag air carriers, and several non-aviation industries using CRM techniques and theories. The objective of the symposium was to identify where CRM is and, more importantly, where CRM is going. The symposium was conducted in a rather unusual format. The first day was a plenary session, the intent of which was to allow experts in the field of CRM state where CRM is now, and where they envision it going. The second day, however, each attendee had the opportunity to convene a 60-75 minute session on a CRM-related field THEY felt was important. Proposed sessions were posted on a large board, and attendees could place their name in the session they wanted to attend. Embry-Riddle faculty and staff served as facilitators to help ensure the conveners stayed on track, and accomplished their goals. There were a total of 13 audience-presented sessions on the second day of the symposium. Since the audience was allowed to select any CRM-related topic that they felt was important, it is interesting to note what topics areas they selected. Here is a summary:
I will discuss each group’s opinions, conclusions, and recommendations on each of the above six topics. Transforming theory into classroom design – A learning environment must be created that encourages group-work and the sharing of ideas. The standard classroom arrangement of all-forward facing desks is ineffective. Classroom design must be configured as to the appropriate mode that conveys what is being taught, to include usage of video, scenario re-enactments, group exercises, teamwork exercises, role-reversal exercises, learn-by-doing/sharing experiences, and corporate or school policies which encourage cross-departmental sharing of training experiences, procedures, and sharing of both effective and ineffective training tools. Training for regulatory requirements for Parts 91/135/142 – The one Part in which training tools are well-defined is Part 121. An industry-wide effort needs to be made to define CRM training and develop these tools in 91, 135, and 142 operations. While this is being done by most operators, the extent to which the training is conducted, the tools being used, and the basis of evaluation vary widely across the industry. A good method to accomplish this would be a solicitation letter from the Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) to industry-users for their suggestions on how they accomplish their CRM training. From this, an ARC team can be formed to begin a formal rule-making “Part 121-type” effort that would be driven by industry. Emphasis should be placed on the non-technical (Notech) skills. Teaching/learning strategies for collegiate aviation CRM courses – University program should encourage and develop the following strengths:
To accomplish these, universities must share ideas and resources, not only between schools, but with industry, as well. A central informational, Web-based “clearinghouse” should be available for access by all members of the industry. Applied CRM research should be encouraged, and CRM thesis and dissertation research should be encouraged at the Master’s and Doctoral degree level. Universities need to encourage higher skill levels of the students, including the application, analysis, and synthesis of ideas. When should we introduce CRM into the training process? – It should be introduced from a human factors standpoint on the first day of training and made regulatory at all levels. The following emphasis should be made:
In addition, a program should be developed to catch older pilots who have never had formal CRM training and give them the opportunity to take an FAA-approved class on CRM to “catch them up” with current CRM trends and theories. Behavioral markers can be used to evaluate effectiveness of the training. Using human factors to define CRM and enhance data sharing across the industry – To accomplish this, this group makes the following recommendations:
How can CRM and MRM (Maintenance Resource Management) work together to improve communication and control the precursors to human error? – This area was discussed by 14 attendees. They made the following conclusions:
Owning your errors: personal professional development – Corporations must develop a philosophy that includes a self-monitoring of errors, provide organizational support to the individual, if needed, and develop a culture that encourages activity debriefs both personal and crew. This group felt that error assessment and error correction is the next evolution of CRM. How do we prove CRM works? – While the group recognizes it is difficult to prove that it is working (how can you document accidents that did not happen), it felt that there is a need for new measuring techniques. In addition, Operational Resource Management (ORM) which represents the philosophy of the organization must be conducive to CRM to encourage it to flourish. The group proposed these four steps to allow CRM to work:
How de we measure CRM training success in a way that encourages improvement while measuring their performance? – We are currently measuring success by a lack of failure. This negative concept has established a paradigm that needs to be broken. Also, current methods of measuring success are predominantly subjective tools such as Advanced Qualification Programs (AQP), check rides, and grade sheets. The items that are measured are typically attitude and behavioral outcomes. Tools need to be developed using more quantitative measures, (such as FOQA) to validate and support the qualitative evaluations. Many of these tools do exist in the European CAA CAP 737 document. Next year’s CRM Symposium will center on this document, as it has a great deal of valuable CRM information. Airplane design for CRM – The current level of technically advanced aircraft now coming on to the market need to allow the pilot to choose the level of automation he/she desires. In addition, the Flight Management Computer must be more “user-friendly”, and be simple and quick to reprogram when ATC clearance changes need to be made during critical phases of flight. Effective training methods of the vertical navigation modes need to be developed, and successful methods shared across the industry. Automation indications, especially functions and commands, need to be made very clear and visible to the pilots. Coordination of Split-Cockpit during emergencies – This is an area that has caused accidents in the past. The Captain needs to have proper protocols in place to designate workload during abnormal and emergency procedures. To accomplish this, this group makes the following recommendations:
Single Pilot Resource Management (SRM) Using CRM principles to develop SRM – This is a complex issue due to the vast diversity of aircraft being flown single-pilot, from the low-powered single-engine airplane to a complex fighter aircraft and the new very light jet (VLJ). This group discussed the issues at length, and came up with the following recommendations:
Perceived Captain Command Erosion Is there a problem with command erosion? If so, how and why does this occur, and what can be done to correct the problem? – The group felt that there has, in fact, been an erosion of command authority of the Captain. Some of the factors leading to this are:
To solve these issues, limits of authority should be made clear to all individuals making decisions concerning a flight, both on the ground and in the air. The Captain’s authority must be made clear to all individuals. CRM works well on all levels. While weak leadership pulls down all crew interactions, strong leadership will raise the performance of all individuals. Summary Overall, the attendees thought the Symposium was a very good meeting to share others’ ideas about where we are, and where we are going. Many unanswered questions were asked, and food for thought was imprinted on nearly all attendees. We plan on having another conference next year. Please consider all the issues discussed above, and plan on attending the Vectors 2008 Symposium so you can be the architect of CRM for the 21st century. To view videos of the presentations, visit our Vectors page.Prof. Tim Plunkett Co-Chair, CRM Vectors Committee 386-226-6956 beneight@erau.edu Mr. Andrew Coffman
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