SECTION C SITUATION AWARENESS, COMMUNICATION,

LEADERSHIP AND DECISION MAKING

Human error has been cited as a major factor in the majority of aviation accidents and
incidents in the past two decades. Investigations into the causes of air operator accidents have
shown that human error is a contributing factor in 60 to 80 percent of all air operator incidents and
accidents. Long term research has demonstrated that these events share common characteristics.
Many problems encountered by flight crews have very little to do with the technical aspects of
operating in a multi-person cockpit. Instead, problems are associated with situation awareness loss,
poor group decision making, ineffective communication, inadequate leadership, and poor task or
resource management. In 1979, Resource Management on the Flight deck sponsored by the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration. This conference was the outgrowth of NASA
research into the causes of air transport accidents. The research presented at this meeting identified
the human error aspects of the majority of air crashes as failures of interpersonal communications,
decision making, and leadership. At this meeting, the label Cockpit Resource Management (CRM)
was applied to the process of training crews to reduce "pilot error" by making better use of the
human resources on the flight deck. In this section, we will discuss some basic questions about
CRM, such as situation awareness, communication, leadership, and decision making.

WHAT IS CRM

CRM is the abbreviation for Cockpit Resource Management or Crew Resource

Management.
The application of team management concepts in the flight deck environment was initially
known as Cockpit Resource Management. As CRM training programs evolved to include cabin
crews, maintenance personnel and others, the phrase Crew Resource Management has been
adopted. Briefly defined, crew resource management is a process using all available information
and resources, i.e. equipment, procedures and people, to achieve a safe and efficient flight
operation. CRM training is one way of addressing the challenge of optimizing the human/machine
interface and accompanying interpersonal activities. These activities include team building and
maintenance, information transfer, problem solving, decision making, maintaining situation
awareness, and dealing with automated systems.
Effective CRM has the following characteristics:
1) CRM is a comprehensive system of applying human factors concepts to improve crew
performance.
2) CRM embraces all operational personnel.
3) CRM can be blended into all forms of aircrew training.
4) CRM concentrates on crew members' attitudes and behaviors and their impact on safety.
5) CRM uses the crew as the unit of training.
6) CRM is training that requires the active participation of all crew members. It provides
an opportunity for individuals and crews to examine their own behavior, and to make
decisions on how to improve cockpit teamwork.
 SITUATIONAL AWARENESS

Situational Awareness (SA) is a new, but an important, concept in CRAM. It is the key
component of safe flight. Some study shows that many accidents axe owing to pilot's SA falling or
losing, on the other hand, good SA can increase safety, reduce workload, enhance pilot
performance, expand the range of pilot operations, and improve decision making. Pilots need to
perceive relevant information, integrating various pieces of data in conjunction with operator
goals provides an understanding of the meaning of that information. Based on this understanding,
future events and system states can be predicted, allowing for timely and effective decision
making.

What Is Situational Awareness

There are two good definitions about SA. At the 1989 Fifth International Symposium on
Aviation Psychology, Douglas Szchwartz stated: "Situation awareness is the accurate perception of
the factors and conditions that affect an aircraft and its flight crew during a defined period of time.
In simplest terms, it is knowing what is going on around you -- a concept embraced to the need to
think ahead of the aircraft". In 1993, Mica Endsley gave it a scholarly definition: "Situation
awareness is the perception of the elements in the environment within a volume of time and space,
the comprehension of their meaning and the projection of their status in the near future."
From these definitions, we can see that building and maintaining better SA is the key to
increasing cockpit safety. In general, SA covers five areas:
The first area gives status information -- the physical state or condition of the airplane, e.g.
the amount of flaps or spoilers, the amount of power being drawn from the engines, the flue states,
or the position of the landing gear or flaps.
The second area is the position of the airplane in respect to the flight plan, to any natural or
man made obstructions, or to any other airplane of interest from an avoidance point of view.
The third area is the total external environment, including the present and future weather
and details of the aviation infrastructure.
The fourth area involves: the time the airplane will meet its next navigational fix; the time
it will reach its destination; the time available for holding or diversion; the time limit for the fuel
available; the time before the weather will change, etc.
The fifth area is the state of the other members of the operating team (the cockpit and
cabin crew), the passengers, and even the cargo that might be aboard.

Three Levels of SA

In a highly successful effort to better analyze SA incidents, Mica Endsley developed a

3-level taxonomy in 1995. the three levels are:
Level 1 -- Failure to correctly perceive the situation;
Level 2 -- Failure to comprehend the situation;
Level 3 -- Failure to comprehend the situation into the future.
Using the taxonomy, ASRS reviewed 113 SA incidents that were reported it and found 169
SA errors. In the 113, 80.2% were classified as Level 1 errors, 16.9% as Level 2 errors, and only
2.9% were classified as Level 3 errors. These findings strongly suggest that Level I errors (failure
to correctly perceive the situation) need the most attention. There can be several reasons for these
errors. One is that the information may be known but temporarily forgotten. The cause may be a
shortcoming in the system design, a failure in the communication process or because of
inadequate training. The date may have been available but difficult to detect or perceive; or it may
have been clearly available but simply missed. The date may have been missed because of
distractions, complacency, the narrowing of perception, because of concentration in other areas, or
because of a too high task load. SA is not a simple process, and is not the safe and efficient
operation of an air transport a simple process.
In the past ten years or more, pilot and flight crew's SA has been studied widely, such as
how to measure our SA, the clues of SA weaken or loss, and how to set up and holding our good
SA. In this section, we will give you 10 clues to loss of SA and 10 tips for good SA management.
10 Clues to Loss of SA
These clues can warn of an "error chain" in progress -- a series of events that may lead to
an accident. Most accidents involving human error include at least four of these clues.
1) Ambiguity-information from two or more sources that doesn't agree.
2) Fixation-focusing on any one thing to the exclusion of everything else.
3) Confusion-uncertainty or bafflement about a situation (often accompanied by anxiety or
psychological discomfort).
4) Failure to fly the plane everyone is focused on non-flying activities.
5) Failure to look outside-everyone heads down.
6) Failure to meet expected checkpoint on flight plan or profile-ETA, fuel burn, etc.
7) Failure to adhere to standard operating procedures.
8) Failure to comply with limitations, minimums, FARs, etc.
9) Failure to resolve discrepancies- contradictory data or personal conflicts.
10) Failure to communicate fully and effectively- vague or incomplete statements.
10 Tips for Good, SA Management
1) Predetermine crew roles for high-workload phases of flight.
2) Develop a plan and assign responsibilities for handling problems and distractions.
3) Solicit input from all crew members including cabin, ATC, maintenance, dispatch, etc.
4) Rotate attention from plane to path to people - don't fixate.
5) Monitor and evaluate current status relative to your plan.
6) Project ahead and consider contingencies.
7) Focus on the details and scan the big picture.
8) Create visual and/or aural reminders of interrupted tasks.
9) Watch for clues of degraded SA.
10) Speak up when you see SA breaking down.

COMMUNICATION

Effective communication is the most important of all CRM elements, it is critical to the
safe operation of the flight. Human factors issues related to interpersonal communication have
been implicated in approximately 70% to 80% of all accidents over the past 20 years. To some
extent, communication is the center of all CRM.
Communication is the exchange of ideas, information and instruction in an effective and
timely manner, so messages are correctly received and clearly understood. Communication is a
process of some information transferring, which is possible in many different forms. Through the
spoken or written word, through body language, through symbols and gestures and through art and
music. No matter what it is, a communication consists of a sender, a massage, and a receiver. For
an effective communication, it is important that the receiver can interpret the message and respond
accordingly. In this section, we will mainly discuss the spoken word, a form of communication,
which is used almost exclusively during flight.

A Communication Model

Before a communication can take place, a purpose expressed as a message to be

conveyed is needed. It passes between a sender and a receiver. The message is encoded (converted
to symbolic form) and is passed by way of some medium (channel) to the receiver, who
retranslates (decodes) the message initiated by the sender. The result is a transference of meaning
from one person to another.
Figure 7-14 depicts the communication process. The model is made up of seven parts: the
communication source (sender), encoding, message, the channel, decoding, the receiver and
feedback.

The sender sends a message to the receiver, he/she initiates a message by encoding a
thought, four conditions have been described, which affect the encode message: skill, attitudes,
knowledge, and the social culture system. The message is the actual physical product from the
sender's encoding. It is affected by the code or group of symbols we used to transfer meaning, the
content of the message itself, and the decisions we make in selecting and arranging both codes and
content. The channel is the medium through which the message travels, it is selected by the sender.
The receiver is the object to whom the message is directed. But before the message can be
received, the symbols in it must be translated into a form that can be understood by the receiver.
This is the decoding of the message. Just as the encoder was limited by his/her skill, attitudes,
knowledge, and the social culture system, the receiver is equally restricted. The feedback loop is
the final link in the communication process. Feedback is the check on how successful we have
been in transferring our message as ordinary intended. It determines whether understanding has
been achieved. That's to say, we can use it to put the message back into the system as a check
against misunderstanding.
Verbal and Non-verbal Communication

In general, there are two types of communication, verbal and non-verbal communication.
Verbal communication is the use of words and language to give and receive information.
Language is inextricably linked with the cognitive or thinking processes as well as with
communication. Interpersonal relationships are influenced by the manner of speech as well as by
the content. The manner or paralanguage includes voice pitch, word stress, timing and pauses.
This can cause difficulties when communicating in a language which is not native language to the
speaker, such as may occur ewe in the use of English as the international aviation language.
Non-verbal communication is also known as body language. This involves communication
using eye contact, facial expression, touch, body orientation and posture, hand and head
movement, and physical separation. Communication Barriers
Whether a communication is available or not is not only depending on the characteristic of
the information itself, but also lying communicators' mental trait, such as apperception, memory,
thinking, personality, and etc. The background of the communication affect its validity too.
Factors that ':.an inhibit effective communication can be external or internal. External factors are
the most obvious, they include high environmental noise levels, distractions of a busy work
environment or physical discomfort, and poor enunciation or an unfamiliar accent. Internal factors
are mainly associated with the perception of what is said. A message spoken with perfect
enunciation and clarity can still be misunderstood if the receiver misinterprets its intended
meaning. One of the most common internal factors is the error of expectancy. This occurs when
the receiver assumes that he has heard what he expects to hear rather than what has actually been
said. In some cases the receiver listens to part of the message which says what is expected, but
fails to register other information that maybe relevant.
"Authority gradient" is an important factor that can have an effect on communication in a
multi-crew environment. This concept is used to describe the composing of flight crew. Authority
gradient refers to the difference of rank, ability, longevity and status between the captain and the
other members of the flight crew. No matter authority gradient is too steep or too shallow, it is not
beneficial to flight safety, if the authority gradient too steep, the captain may assume total
command leaving the first officer out of the "loop". The first officer may be unlikely to contribute
anything to the decision making process- even when he is sure that the captain has made a mistake!
If the authority gradient too shallow, the caption may consult the first officer on every issue and
may never take command, in an emergency it is likely that no clear cut decision will be made. In a
flight crew, an apt arranging is the caption's power, ability, longevity and status is higher than the
other members of the flight crew in some short. In this arrangement, the captain can assume
overall command but involves the first officer as a useful member of a team which he leads. The
first officer respects the captain's command status but feels free to contribute.

Effective Communication

Poor crew communication can lead to misunderstandings that may result in crew error. In
order to ensure flight safety, we must know how to avoid misunderstanding, and make an effective
communication. Generally speaking, an effective communication requires skill in inquiry,
advocacy and an awareness of potential communication barriers. Using of standard phrases,
thinking before you speak, keeping control over the pace and clarity of speech, avoiding the effect
of motion, am helpful for effective communication.
Moreover, fight crew is matched reasonable, the captain has good leadership, the other
flight crew member can recognize his/her role in assuring the flight safety, these are all benefit to
enhance communication effective.

LEADERSHIP

In modern civil aviation, most flight operations should be a team activity. A flight crew is a
team, although it is small, it still has leader and followers. According to the rules, the captain takes
charge the aircraft, he/she will be the leader of the flight deck group by virtue of status, the other
flight members should be the followers.
A leader in a given situation is a person whose ideas and actions influence the thought and
behavior of others. A leader uses example and persuasion combined with a personal understanding
of the goals and desires of the group he/she happens to be leading as well as those of the employer.
A leader feels responsible for trying to implement these goals, he should take the initiative to
promote teamwork and professionalism, foster a productive staff climate, mentor other staff
members to improve their skills and abilities, demonstrate standards of professionalism and
resolve conflict. Authoritative and Participatory
There are many different definitions of leadership. Authoritative and participatory are the
more broadly accepted types of leadership. Authoritative is derived from the word "authority. An
authoritative leader tends to make all team decisions and controls all resources because the team is
structured as a hierarchy. A hierarchical structure is one in which many levels of management exist
and there is a clearly defined boss. But true leadership is not equal to authority. Whereas authority
is usually assigned, true leadership is acquired. The status of authority has effect immediately it is
assigned, but the quality of leadership takes time to develop. People who are leaders will be
automatically granted authority by the group, while people in authority often show no trace of
leadership.
A participatory leader allows each team member to have a say and to participate in team
processes. The team leader is more egalitarian, or equal, under participatory leadership than with
an authoritative leader. The participatory leader may, however, ultimately decide the team's actions,
but takes into consideration the team members' experience, knowledge, and preferences.
Whether one form of leadership is better than another form? The answer to that question
usually depends on the organization of the team and the task being performed. For example, a
fully participative team where a vote is taken and every, team member surveyed on every little
detail of the workday would be unable to perform their duties in a timely manner. However, an
overly authoritative supervisor or manager who fails to request input from anyone may suppress
the free flow of ideas and dictate team activities that negatively impact safety. Good leadership is
a balancing act between the two, he should recognize different behavioral styles and balance
concern for people with concern for performance.
In summary, a good leader should:
A. Lead by example. Set high standards of performance by demonstrating a high level
personal performance.
 B. Advise intent. Communicate with the team and keep them informed of intentions before
acting on those decisions.
C. Delegate. Delegate appropriate duties to team members to allow time for the leader to
perform a monitoring or supervising roll.
D. Motivate. One of the most effective means of motivation is to offer praise for good
performance (Positive reinforcement).
E. Consult. Involve the team in most decision making processes.
F. Set priorities. The most efficient use of resources is achieved when energy is directed to
tasks in a logical order of priority. Most students have heard it summed up by the slogan
"aviate, navigate, communicate."

Management Styles

Management styles, is another good description of leader's behavior. A leader may be task-
oriented or relationship-oriented, or may combine elements of both depending on individual
personality.
A leader at the extreme of task orientation will show a style which may be dominant,
opinionated, aggressive and stubborn. Conversely, a leader at the relationship extreme of
orientation will demonstrate a style which is practical, trusting, friendly, accommodating, but does
not voice qualms.
Blake and Mouton integrated the ideas of task and relationship orientations into a grid with
five main styles. It is based on the concept that leaders vary (from I to 9) in their concern for
people (relationships) and their concern for getting things done (tasks) (See Figure 7-15).
9.1 Authority-Obedience: The leader's maximum concern is for task completion and is
combined with a minimum concern for people, i.e., dictation to followers what they
should do and how they should do it.
1.9 "Country Club" Management: The leader shows a minimum concern for getting tasks
completed, but a maximum concern for people.
1.1 Impoverished Management: The leader has a minimum concern for both production
and people and puts forth only the least effort required to remain in the organization.
5.5 "Organization Man" Management: The leader does what is minimally expected,
which results in conformity to the status quo.
9.9 Team Management: The leader integrates the concern for production and the concern
for people at a high lever; is goal centered; and seeks results through the participation,
involvement and commitment of all those who can contribute.
This model of leadership was developed as a guide for managers who deal with multiple
subordinates. The ideal leader will have a style which combines the extremes of either orientation
and will be confident and relaxed, communicate and involve others, accept criticism, and be
technically competent. Powers of command will be exercised in a way which gains the respect and
commitment of all crew members, generating an atmosphere in which all members of the team
feel that they are actively and positively contributing to the achievement of the goal.
Followership

Any team must have both a leader and followers. A follower is a member of the team that is
being led. In a flight crew, a follower should be anyone except the captain. Followership is a new
term, which covers the ability, to be a good team player and the ability to effectively help a
recognized leader. A leader displays leadership by directing operations with confidence, gaining
trust and cooperation, and inviting initiatives from the other crew members while ensuring task
completion. A follower displays followership by inquiring, advocating, critiquing and through
practices such as planning ahead to preclude surprises, anticipating requirements and being ready
to provide input to support the leader.
A survey conducted in the UK revealed that 93% of first officers and 74% of captains
admitted that there were other pilots with whom they preferred not to work. As a team member,
you may not always has the luxury, of working only with those that you genuinely like. To be an
effective team member, you must be able to put personality differences aside and still contribute
effectively to the task goals.
A good team member will not agree with a plan of action just to "keep the peace" if he/she
is feeling uneasy about it. On the other hand, once an appropriate plan of action has been decided
upon, a good term member will fully support it if he/she might personally prefer a different plan.
The degree of assertiveness displayed by a particular team member is controlled to a very great
extent by that person's personality, however if you are convinced that a particular course of action
is incorrect or dangerous. It is vital that you put your opinion forward for consideration. Just as we
have discussed, decision making is the key to safety. The leader, in general, has final responsibility
and authority, for decision making, but all other members must participate in the decision-making
process as necessary and time permitting. Many of the worlds worst aviation disasters may have
been avoided if the first office or other crew member had strongly voiced their objections to a bad
decision.
There are something we should notice that the position of leader and the follower may be
changed in some special conditions. Captains can become followers, and followers can become
captains. While remaining overall leader of the flight crew, the captain might not be the leader in
a specific circumstance in which another member of the team has great knowledge. For example,
the first office has a great deal of experience with a particular airport as compared to the captain.
Soliciting inputs and utilizing this experience from other crewmembers can be
a confidence-building situation for all concerned, yet it does not mean that the captain has
relinquished his command. More precisely, the captain is making good use of the resources in the
cockpit. It might also be mentioned that this type of leadership behavior by the captain is radically
different from that of the stereotypic autocratic captain. So, it is right that some people say a good
leader also has the ability to act as a good follower.

DECISION MAKING

Decision making is the process of determining and implementing a course of action and
evaluating the outcome. Act as a special conveyance, flying is a combination of events which
requires pilots to make a continuous stream of decisions. Especially, when we find that something
has changed or that an expected change did not occur, it is needed. The decision making process is
shaped by the type of problem, degree of threat, time available and resources. During any job
there are many opportunities for decision making, ranging from simple to complex, and from
short-term to long-term. Experience plays a large part in our decision making process by
enhancing our ability to define possible threats and generate a safe course of action. The decision
making process also encompasses the ability to handle errors that we may or may not have
experience handling.
Decision making can be known in two ways:
On the one hand, it is an ability to search for and establish the relevance of all available
information regarding a flight situation, to specify alternative courses of action, and to determine
expected outcomes from each alternative. From it, we can see that pilots decision making refers to
intellectual capabilities, it relies on our abilities to sense, store, retrieve, and integrate information.
This part of decision making is purely rational.
On the another hand, it is a motivation to choose and authoritatively execute a suitable
course of action within the time frame permitted by the situation, which implies that, in part, our
decisions are based on tendencies to use other than safety-related information when choosing
courses of action. For example, pilots might consider such items as job demands, convenience,
monetary gain, and self-esteem before taking action.

Decide

The decision-making process is quite complex; however, it can be condensed into six
elements, using the acronym DECIDE. The steps in the DECIDE process are as follows:
D -- Detect the fact that a change has occurred;
E -- Estimate the need to counter or react to the change;
C -- Choose a desirable outcome for the success of the flight;
I -- Identify actions which could successfully control the change;
D -- Do the necessary, action to adapt to the change;
E -- Evaluate the effect of the action.

Hazardous Attitudes

There are five hazardous attitudes which affect pilot decision making
Anti-authority: "Don't tell me what to do, I'll do it my way!"--People with this attitude
may refuse to listen to the advice or suggestions of others, or they may just regard rules,
regulations, and procedures as silly or unnecessary.
Impulsivity: "Do something quickly!" -- This is the thought pattern of people who
frequently feel the need to do something immediately. They do not stop to consider what they are
about to do So they can select the best alternative, they do the first thing that comes to mind.
Invulnerability: "It won't happen to me!"--Many people feel that accidents happen to
others but never to them. Pilots who think this way are more likely to take chances and run
unnecessary risks.
Macho: "There's nothing! Cant do", "there's nothing I won't try!"--These people are
always trying to prove that they are better than anyone else by taking risks and by trying to
impress others.
Resignation: "What's the use?"--This is an unwillingness to take control of a situation and
do something different when the unexpected happens. People with this attitude do not see
themselves as making a great deal of difference in what happens to them. When things go well,
they think "That's good luck." When things go badly, they attribute it to bad luck or feel that
someone is "out to get them" They have the action to others for better or worse.

Antidotes for Hazardous Attitudes

There are ways to overcome the five major hazardous attitudes which contribute to poor
pilot decision making. One way is to become thoroughly aware of them by studying the preceding
paragraphs, another is to use antidotes. By telling yourself something to counteract the hazardous
attitude, you're "taking an antidote". Learn to recognize a hazardous attitude, correctly label the
thought, and then say its antidote to yourself (See Figure 7-16).

The False Hypothesis

One of the most common contributors to human error in the decision making process is
the false hypothesis or mistaken assumption. No pilot would deliberately commence a take-off
without a clearance, however there are countless cases on record when the pilot has falsely
assumed that a clearance has been given.

High expectancy: A good example of this is provided by the world's worst aviation
accident occurred when two Boeing 747s collided on the runway at Tenerife in 1977 after one of
the captains made such an assumption. Analysis of a number of aviation and railway accidents
shows that there are certain situations in which the false hypothesis is most likely to occur.
Diverted attention: When the pilot is preoccupied with one problem, a false assumption is
made about the status of other systems. Many a pilot has grappled with a radio problem in
controlled airspace only to end up landing with the wheels up. There is one case of an airline crew
who run out of fuel while trying to solve a problem with an undercarriage warning light!
When it serves as a defense: This involves accepting the assumption which promises the
happiest outcome and ignoring or evading the truth. A pilot accepts any evidence that the weather
is likely to improve while rejecting any evidence to the contrary.
 Following a period of high concentration: After coping with a demanding or dangerous
in-flight situation there is a tendency to relax. A pilot who has just landed after coping with an
engine failure in a light twin turns off the runway and taxies into a ditch!
As a result of the effects of a motor memory: An action involving the operation of a
lever or switch which selects the wrong one or operates it in the incorrect sense. The pilot of a
light twin was asked to make the best possible speed on approach to assist in traffic separation. He
obliged by retracting the undercarriage and increasing the approach speed. He then proceeded to
land with the gear still up.