Group think
CRMDEEN (CRMDEEN_at_aol.com)
Fri, 6 Mar 1998 08:16:11 EST
I've got a quizzical spin on "Group-think". While there are documented
cases of unsuccessful events such as the Challenger launch, and the Bay of
Pigs, is "group think" also evident in airplane mishaps?
Several recent Air Force mishaps have all had one element in common:
poor flight planning. During the investigations , conclusions were reach
that said, somewhat simply, "the crew did not do an adequate job of planning
the mission". Examples are things like filing to an instrument approach for
which the aircraft is not equiped to execute, turning toward a mountain
immediately after takeoff inspite of published departure proceedures that
direct otherwise, and finally, not reviewing a video depicting the hazards of
a challenging airport design and not understanding warnings such as "extreme
rates of descents required" which are written on the approach plate.
It interests me that the mishap report will assess some level of fault
on the crew for "poor planning", and I wonder if the crew knew that they had
done a poor job before they started the takeoff. When the pilot lines the
airplane up on the runway, advances the power and begins the takeoff, at that
moment of time, does everyone on the crew think they are "OK"? Do they know
they are in an "error chain"? How many CVRs contain cockpit conversation such
as "let's go crash"? I don't think this happens.
And yet, good people, in good airplanes, depart on a course of action
that, from a historical perspective, is called "flawed and fatal". Did the
crew, the "group", think that they were well-planned for the flight, or did
someone have a doubt, but not insert skepticism into the group's plan?
Can "group-think" be countered by "aggresive skepticism"?
Greg Deen
Raytheon