RCED-98-7, Nov. 24, 1997 (24 pages). Human Factors: FAA's Guidance and
Oversight of Pilot Crew Resource Management Training Can Be Improved.
[Text] [PDF]
Previous studies of aviation safety have found that pilot performance is a
major contributor to airline accidents. Some airlines have provided
training in crew resource management since the early 1980s, and the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) will require all airlines to have implemented
this training for pilots by March 1998. Crew resource management is an
approach to improving pilots' performance that stresses better
coordination--among members of the cockpit crew, flight attendants,
dispatchers, and air traffic controllers--to handle routine and emergency
situations. This report answers the following questions: What are the types
and frequency of accidents in which an airline pilot's performance was
cited as a contributing factor, including that in which failure to use crew
resource management principles was identified? How adequate is FAA's
guidance for and oversight of the airlines' implementation of pilot
training in crew resource management?
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