Crew Resource Management (CRM) has now been in existence for over 2 decades but confusion still exists within the aviation industry and elsewhere as to precisely what the term implies. Some people feel that CRM is ‘psychobabble’ invented by the ignorant and strange, who have schemed to turn ordinarily good chaps, with tons of airmanship and leadership, into uncertain freaks with cloned personalities. This view has been reinforced by various less than adequate attempts to evaluate the outcome of CRM training. Meanwhile, at the opposite pole, others believe that CRM is a panacea for all that is wrong in aviation and will prevent flying accidents for evermore. Between these extremes lie a wide range of views and activities embracing almost the entire spectrum of human factors in aviation.
Despite the considerable amount of effort already devoted to CRM training, aircraft accidents attributable to human factors continue to occur. This trend, together with the lack of a universally accepted view of the route ahead, suggests that in recent years the CRM programme has begun to lose its way. The purpose of this paper, which is addressed to all those involved in the safe and efficient operation of aircraft, is therefore to provide a firm basis for the continuing development of CRM by redefining its constituent elements and summarizing best practice in each area as it exists within the aviation industry today.
CRM encompasses a wide range of knowledge, skills and attitudes including communications, situational awareness, problem solving, decision making, and teamwork; together with all the attendant sub-disciplines which each of these areas entails. The elements which comprise CRM are not new but have been recognised in one form or another since aviation began, usually under more general headings such as ‘Airmanship’, ‘Captaincy’, ‘Crew Co-operation’, etc. In the past, however, these terms have not been defined, structured or articulated in a formal way, and CRM can be seen as an attempt to remedy this deficiency. CRM can therefore be defined as a management system which makes optimum use of all available resources - equipment, procedures and people - to promote safety and enhance the efficiency of flight operations.
CRM is concerned not so much with the technical knowledge and skills required to fly and operate an aircraft but rather with the cognitive and interpersonal skills needed to manage the flight within an organised aviation system. In this context, cognitive skills are defined as the mental processes used for gaining and maintaining situational awareness, for solving problems and for taking decisions. Interpersonal skills are regarded as communications and a range of behavioural activities associated with teamwork. In aviation, as in other walks of life, these skill areas often overlap with each other, and they also overlap with the technical skills required in an aviation context. Furthermore, they are not confined to multi-crew aircraft, but also relate to single pilot operations, which invariably need to interface with other aircraft and with various ground support agencies in order to complete their missions successfully.
Maani Sharma [ MBA Aviation ]
Manager Aviation NEWS Project
www.All-Aviation-NEWS.in
www.AeroSoftCorp.com
www.AeroSoft.in
www.AeroSoft.co.in
www.AeroSoftseo.com
On-Line Assistance:
Gtok: maani.aerosoft@gmail.com
Y!Messenger: maani.aerosoft@yahoo.com
Rediff: maani.aerosoft@rediffmail.com
MSN: maani.aerosoft@hotmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment