ab-initio CRM training
CRMDEEN_at_aol.com
Sun, 30 Mar 1997 15:46:13 -0500 (EST)
Hello CRM'ers,
I'd like to inject a slight subject change, and ask for some advice.
Our current initial CRM training is accomplished AFTER aviators have
completed their "Initital Qualification" training. Many of our students
report to us only knowing what the airplane looks like, and it is possible
some of them have never been inside of an aircraft of any type ever before.
One of our crew positions has students who were in high school six months
ago. It has always been mine and my collegues' position that individual
crewmembers should have their basic "technical" skills prior to engaging
seminat training about crew/team behavior, especially to the sophistication
of recognizing error chains in sufficient time to recover.
Recently there has been some strong advocacy from an agent of our
customer to alter the sequence of training. Their proposal is to accomplish
the CRM training prior to their receiving ANY actual aircraft flight
training. I have repeatedly debated that the individuals should have had an
opportunity to experience the actual flight environment and interact with the
other crew positions (since they each have very different positional skills)
BEFORE the formal CRM training. Additionally, the flight simulators used by
some of the trainees does NOT fully replicate the holistic flight
environment, nor utilize each of the crew positions simultaneously.
The debate continues, and I am increasingly challenged to tell the
customer's agent that they are wrong. Toward this challenge, I ask for
help: when should a truly inexperienced aviator be trained in the language
and process of CRM? By this training, I mean to the level of recognizing the
concepts of human factors, not just inteacting through a checklist. Also,
during the initial flight qualification training, each positional student has
a respective instructor, and the communication flow is not the same as a
flight without instructor supervision.
Is a research project indicated? Should there be a study of the
cultural impacts which affect our different crewmembers. Is there a research
facility available to examine the current methods, and evaluate the
effectiveness of the current methodology compared to the possible changes
this agent wishes to effect?
Admittedly, it is possible that I and my collegues do not have all of
the answers, and the customer might possibly be right ( although I seriously
doubt it).
So how do I tell the customer that they are truly about to upset the
apple cart, which translated means, leave the current training sequence as it
is. (?)
Thanks for your help!
Greg Deen-HTI