I am forwarding the following message from the HFAMI-L mailing list. There
are several items which may be of interest to our members here on
CRM-DEVEL. You can find a link to the Human Factors in Aviation
Maintenance and Inspection (HFAMI) web site in the Resources section of the
CRM Developers web site. Enjoy.
Neil
***************** HFAMI Listserver Bulletin *******************
******************** July 1997 Edition ************************
NEW AND IMPROVED HUMAN FACTORS GUIDE ON THE WAY
It's time to tell us what you think about "The Human Factors Guide for
Aviation Maintenance" as updates are in the works for the latest
edition.
Two changes to be made are that the original training chapter will be
rewritten and that a new chapter on Maintenance Resource Management
(MRM) will be added. Before making revisions, we would like to hear from
you on the following topics:
* What is the current status of AMT training in part 147 schools? in
industry?
* What are the training issues for trainers? for AMTs?
* What do you think about the new MRM courses that are being developed?
Do you know why this initiative is taking place, or what it is about?
Please let us know your thoughts by sending a message to the HFAMI
Listserver at:
The World Wide Web version of the Guide can be viewed at:
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GUIDE WINS VIDEO AWARD
Speaking of "The Human Factors Guide for Aviation Maintenance," the
video clips in the Web version of the Guide recently won the VidWeb
Select Ticket award from VidWeb. VidWeb is a group dedicated to
monitoring rapidly developing video technology on the World Wide Web.
VidWeb's site features selections of the best videos on the Web. Videos
are selected based on overall quality, download time, and
appropriateness for their particular use.
In selecting the Human Factors Guide for its most recent award, VidWeb
said this about the Guide's video clips:
"Excellent use of multimedia. Tons of clips work together to bring this
guide to life. This is where the Web needs to be going."
You can view the Guide's video clips on the Web at:
http://www.galaxyatl.com/hfg/hfg-avi.htm
The VidWeb site is located at:
--0--
**************************************************************
NEWS BRIEFS
Is it time to go wireless?
Wireless technology and electronic maintenance manuals are being put to
the test by Continental Airline's line maintenance mechanics.
Under a study partially-funded by the Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA),
three organizations -- Continental Airlines, EDS in Dallas, and Galaxy
Scientific Corporation in Atlanta -- are studying the benefits of
delivering
aviation maintenance manuals and other references in digital format over
a
wireless network to line maintenance mechanics.
The study entered the testing phase in the third week of July at
Houston's
Intercontinental Airport. Mechanics are using hand-held, pen-based
computers
operating on a wireless connection to simulate certain maintenance
checks.
Two examples of the type of checks they are doing are a check of the
Auto Pilot System and a lightning strike inspection.
The pen computers are accessing pertinent parts of the maintenance
manuals that have been converted to PDF format for the study.
The wireless technology being assessed is a spread-spectrum frequency
hopping signal operating in the 2.4 gigahertz band. EDS will conduct the
technical tests of the effects of interference on wireless networks and
review four different wireless computer products.
Galaxy will perform the human factors review of the study, which is
being funded by the FAA. Areas to be assessed include ease of use and
response time for accessing manuals across the network.
Stay tuned to future bulletins that will report the study results.
--0--
***
And the winner is....MARS
A new international group for human factors in aviation maintenance will
take off, with the catchier name of MARS. MARS stands for "Maintenance
and Ramp Safety."
A steering committee met in early June to determine whether the group
should
become an international resource for aviation human factors
professionals
and maintenance personnel.
Attendees said an international panel is indeed desirable as long as it
doesn't compete or overshadow existing groups, including the Air
Transport
Association or the Flight Safety Foundation.
The concensus is for the new group to remain small and to serve as a
clearinghouse for human factors resources.
One of its first goals will be to sponsor a series of videos on human
factors in aviation maintenance based on true stories. The videos will
provide case studies which can be used in training exercises where AMTs
are challenged to determine what human factors elements contributed to
the error in judgment that led to the accident.
In fact, planning for the first video is already underway. The
Federation Aviation Administration has committed to partially fund the
video. Gordon Dupont, special programs coordinator at the System Safety
branch of Transport Canada, is now drafting the script.
The video's working title is "Death of an Airline." The video will
describe the July 11, 1991 crash in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia of a Nationair
DC-8. No passengers or crew survived.
MARS will distribute the video free of charge and ask for donations of
recipients to in turn produce more videos. It will also
promote videos that have been produced by other organizations.
Another goal is to create and distribute a supplementary set of posters
on
human factors that will serve as an add-on to "The Dirty Dozen" poster
series
created by the Transport Canada's System Safety branch to enhance human
factors training. A total of 1,800 posters have been distributed across
the globe, and recipients have been asked for donations to fund more
posters.
A second meeting of the steering committee is scheduled for Aug. 7, 1997
in Richmond, British Columbia to finalize details of the new group,
including
its full name. One of the attendees at the first meeting suggested MARS
as a
replacement to the original working title of "Ground Safety Foundation."
MARS was quickly endorsed. The steering committee will next decide
whether to add "Society" or "Foundation" to the name.
For more information, contact Gordon Dupont at (phone) 604-666-5876,
(fax) 604-666-9507, or (e-mail) "dupontg_at_tc.gc.ca".
--0--
**************************************************************
CONFERENCES
*** SAE Airframe/Engine Maintenance & Repair Conference & Exposition,
August 5-7, 1997. Landmark Hotel & Conference Center, Vancouver, B.C.,
Canada. Theme: Human Factors in Aviation Maintenance. General conference
topics: Six technical sessions covering all aspects of aviation
maintenance
and repair (airframe, engine, helicopter, airframe systems, human
factors);
panel discussion chaired by National Transportation Safety Board Member
John Goglia on human factors in aviation maintenance.
Registration fee: full conference, SAE members, $300 on-site; full
conference, non-SAE members, $440 on-site. Contact SAE, 400
Commonwealth Drive, Warrendale, PA 15096-0001, phone: (412) 776-4970.
*** "IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics
Conference," Oct. 12-15, 1997, Hyatt Orlando, Orlando, FL. General
conference topics: decision systems, human-machine systems, systems
methodologies, and computational cybernetics.
Registration fee: non-IEEE members, $500 before Sept. 1,
$550 afterward; IEEE members, $425 before Sept. 1, $475 afterwards.
Tutorial fees: $150 each before Sept. 1, $175 each afterwards; IEEE
members, $125 before Sept. 1, $150 afterwards. Contact SMC97
Secretariat, DSES Department, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 110 8th
Street, Troy, NY 12180-3590; e-mail: smc97_at_rpi.edu; phone: (518)
374-1434; fax: (518) 374-1434, or visit the Web site at
http://www.rpi.edu/~-smi97.
--0--
**************************************************************
STATISTIC OF THE MONTH
Data from one engine manufacturer showed that 20 to 30 percent of
in-flight
engine shutdowns are caused by maintenance error and can cost an
estimated
$500,000 per shutdown.
Source: Rankin, W.L. and Allen, J.P., Jr. (1995). Use of the Maintenance
Error Decision Aid (MEDA) to enhance safety and reliability and reduce
costs
in commercial aviation industry. Proceedings of the International Air
Transport Association's 1995 Aircraft Maintenance Seminary and
Exhibition:
"The Changing Vision."
--0--
**************************************************************
**************************************************************
Paul Uzee,
Technical Documentation Manager
Galaxy Scientific
pauluzee_at_galaxyatl.com
770-491-1100 (voice)
770-491-0739 (fax)