Re: 1+1 - 1

JOHN WILEY (jwiley_at_mindspring.com)
Sat, 05 Dec 1998 12:52:35 -0500


At 08:26 AM 12/5/98 PST, you wrote:
>
>Isn't this just a synergistic example of "Co-pilot Syndrome" in which
>one or more of the crew adopt a mindset that says "They know what they
>are doing; everything is OK"? I don't think it's much of a stretch to
>believe that if this syndrome can affect one individual in a crew, it
>can affect ALL members in a crew.
>

In this case, the F/O was flying. The Capt is well respected and check ride
history shows nothing significant. And, in the debrief, each said they were
uncomfortable with the approach..but neither spoke. I do not know most of
the facts but it seems both pilots were fixated.

Vince and others have said this is a product of "touchy-feely" CRM and it
would not happen where CRM *skills* had been taught. I am not so sure.

We read often where crews seem to have a lapse and the error is not
contained. And often it also seems there is no prediction that this will
occur regardless of CRM skills.

The Air Florida accident was not only CRM failure but technical in that the
crew did not appreciate/respect the environment and uptil after Air Florida,
approach to stalls were taught to use only takeoff power and crews were
downgraded if they "overboosted" the engines. Obviously this was a bad
mistake in combining normal limits with an emergency condition so things
changed.

So, back to the original question. Has anyone done research on this problem
where the crew synergy shows a reverse polarity (if you will)

Wiley