The following press release was issued by the U.S. FAA on Monday and may be
of interest to our members.
Neil
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FAA News
Federal Aviation Administration, Washington, DC 20591
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APA 57-97
Monday, April 14, 1997
Contact: Les Dorr, Jr.
Phone: 202/267-8521
FAA Research Helps Airlines Standardize Instructor Pilot Training
WASHINGTON -- In line with the recommendation by the White House Commission
on Aviation Safety and Security to emphasize human factors and training in
aviation safety research, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is
helping air carriers standardize the training and assessment of their
instructor pilots. The effort focuses on how these pilots assess and rate
airline crew performance -- a key practice in maintaining the safety of
commercial flights.
At the request of the FAA’s Flight Standards Service, the agency’s Human
Factors office developed a training course to show airlines how to create
instructor pilot training tools, as well as computer software for the
airlines to analyze the effectiveness of that training.
The FAA developed and validated six different measures of pilot evaluator
standardization. Later, in cooperation with George Mason University, the
agency hosted a workshop entitled "Improving Crew Assessments," to
introduce air carriers to the new evaluator training tools. The
participants, including most major U.S. airlines, received hands-on
training, a user’s manual and software for use at their home stations.
"Making instructor training more uniform is a significant safety milestone
that the FAA has been concerned with for a long time" said George Donohue,
FAA associate administrator for research and acquisitions. "The airlines
that have been introduced to the new training tools have responded to them
enthusiastically."
The FAA’s research focused on developing quantitative measures of pilot
evaluator standardization for use by air carriers participating in the
agency’s Advanced Qualification Program (AQP). AQP is a comprehensive crew
training plan designed to ensure the seamless integration of crew resource
management and technical skills with all other flight procedures required
by specific flight situations. It not only provides systematic training,
but also evaluates that training and addresses weaknesses.
Under AQP, the traditional maneuver-oriented proficiency check is replaced
with a scenario-based evaluation that tests both a crew’s technical skills
and how the crew members work together. For example, a training event might
include working through procedures to deal with an engine loss or flight
through adverse weather conditions.
More than 70 percent of air carrier accidents have been attributed to
inadequate integration of crew resource management and technical skills. In
scenario-based training, pilot evaluation can focus better on the true
causes of accidents.
Because this type of evaluation places special demands on pilot evaluators,
the FAA performed the research aimed at training and standardization of
personnel and familiarized the airlines with the results. The workshop was
well received by participating airline personnel, who recommended that the
FAA offer another such workshop in the near future. Planning for the event
is underway.
Best regards,
Neil Krey
neilkrey_at_why.net
http://users.why.net/neilkrey/