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Safety aspects of personnel selection and training of pilots
2 Safety aspects of personnel selection and training of pilots A . J. J. B U T L E R
This chapter is devoted solely to the selection and training of pilots for civil aviation. SELECTION OF PERSONNEL Any selection procedure must clearly identify the nature and role of the task to be performed. It must then identify the means whereby that task can be assessed and measured. Thirdly, the administrative arrangements, including the selection and training of assessment staff to a common standard, need to be addressed. The pilot's primary role in civil aviation is to fly an aircraft as safely and expeditiously as possible from departure to destination. Aircraft operators will impose additional requirements upon their pilot force, such as commercial interest. They will also seek to employ people who represent the company image, projecting the ethos and values of that company at all times. However, the fundamental role being to fly aeroplanes, let us see what characteristics are needed to be successful in this task. Clearly first of all, one must have well co-ordinated psycho-motor skills. In flying we traditionally refer to this as 'stick-and-rudder' ability. Flying involves a high degree of co-ordination between hands, feet, muscle and eye. It is generally thought that there is a large innate component in these skills. Certainly amongst those of us involved in flying we can recognize the few natural pilots, and most of us envy them. We also recognize that our own natural abilities are of a high order and that the training that is given to develop these natural abilities would probably be successful with only a relatively small percentage of the population. The skills are related to those necessary for driving a car but are of a higher order. The author has never seen a pilot who is not a good car driver, but there is undoubtedly a number of good car drivers who would not transfer that skill to becoming a pilot. Flying aeroplanes, however, is not solely a matter of stick-and-rudder skills. It involves judgement, crew co-ordination, team work, and the ability to co-ordinate a number of activities and prioritise amongst competing demands within a very short time scale. It is said that 95% of flying is Bailli~re's ClinicalAnaesthesiology--Vol. 2, No. 2, June 1988
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boredom and 5% is sheer terror. The percentages may not be right, but when the sheer terror factor is evident pilots must have the necessary attributes and abilities to handle the problems and ensure a successful outcome for the safety of the passengers and themselves. Judgement does not mean the ability to fly the aeroplane at the correct height above the runway and do an absolutely perfect touchdown; it means the co-ordination of activity, sometimes in unusual circumstances, to conclude a flight successfully. As an example, one might be flying over a large stretch of water and suffer the failure of an engine. Judgement is then required in order to make the correct decision as to the course of action to take, and this in turn will depend upon the aircraft's position, the weather factors, the airfields available, the likelihood of any further problem arising, company requirements, and other such related matters. To help in his judgement, the pilot of a modern airliner has other crew members to assist him. It is here that team membership performs a vital function. A good captain will utilize the resources and experience of his team within the cockpit in order to assist his own judgement and decisionmaking. In such a way synergy is achieved, i.e. the decisions made by the team are better than the best individual decision of any single member of that team. Human error has a part to play in approximately 80% of flying accidents these days, so that crew co-operation and team membership are fundamental qualities required in all pilots. We therefore have an array of qualities which are necessary and for which there must be a selection procedure. To select for stick-and-rudder skills is comparatively simple. Tests for them, developed by the Royal Air Force over at least 30 years, have been updated and computerized, and are now applied to the selection of pilots for civil aviation. Analysis of the test scores for these skills has been used to establish criteria, and a simple grading system has been devised which has proved to have very high predictive ability in flying training. Testing for judgement, leadership and small-team effectiveness is a much more difficult task. As an example, the qualities required to be effective in a small team are thought to be sensitivity to the individual; awareness of the needs and opinions of others; friendliness; an ability to accommodate; to participate in group activities, to communicate intentions, plans, thoughts etc., and to keep others in the picture (i.e. to be a 'joiner'); an ability to accept criticism and respond to feedback in a positive way; and to understand and use the contributions of others to solve problems. Assessment of these characteristics is done by group activity tasks, by structured leadership tasks in which individuals play the roles of both leader and follower, and by interview. Turning to the assessment skills necessary, subjective evaluation of people at interviews is notoriously difficult. To minimize the problems one should, if possible, have a small team of dedicated assessors; the larger the team the more variation there will be. But, small or large, it is necessary for the team of assessors to undergo a structured interview and assessment course which will not only provide them with the ability to assess these areas of leadership and team skill but also ensure that there is a standardized level of assessment from all the assessors.
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Finally, an analysis of the candidates' performance during the selection process is made by the board who undertook that process, and only those who have met its criteria continue on to pilot training. The success of the selection system is not known immediately, but success in subsequent training is easier to evaluate and this can be fed back into the selection process to enable any necessary changes to be made. However, ultimate success or failure may not be known for many years because flying is extremely safe and the rate of accidents and incidents is so small that trends take a long time to develop; it is even longer before any trend could be established as relating to the selection procedure of the individual pilot. TRAINING OF A SELECTED PILOT Ab initio training is not discussed in detail as this is the province of the approved flying schools, of which there are four in the UK (at Oxford, Prestwick, Perth and Cranfield). These schools have approval from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to train pilots to meet the commercial pilot's licence and instrument rating, which is the minimum standard required to fly an aircraft for hire and reward in Great Britain. This section refers to the further higher training undertaken by British Airways, which follows the ab initio training and which, in particular, addresses the methods by which the airline ensures the continuing operational competence of its flight crews by a system of recurrent training and checking. The framework within which any air operator exists is laid down by the CAA to comply with the Air Navigation Order (ANO). The CAA has powers under the ANO to ensure that aircraft are operated safely. To exercise these powers the CAA has a number of different departments which lay down rules interpreting the ANO. The department which particularly affects the operation of aircraft is the Flight Operations Inspectorate. Air operators must work very closely with the Flight Operations Inspectorate to ensure that any activity in which they are engaged complies with the ANO and with the rules and regulations as laid down by the CAA. Within British Airways there is an Operational Standards Group which is chaired by the Head of Technical and Training and has as its members the chief pilots of all the fleets within the airline together with the technical standards manager and flight crew training manager. Broadly speaking, the chief pilots are responsible for the operation of their individual fleets, whilst the technical and training members are concerned to see that a common direction is maintained throughout the airline and that all activities conform with the requirements of the ANO and the CAA. Thus the flight crew technical standards manager and flight crew training manager could be seen as the Staff Officers in this context. This group is the major operational decision-making forum within British Airways. It determines the philosophy and the policy by which the company will fly its aeroplanes, and, stemming from that philosophy and policy, standard operational procedures (SOPs) are established for each individual aircraft fleet. These of course are not the same for every aircraft because aircraft have differing technical
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aspects and differing operational aspects. However, so far as is possible the intention is to pursue a common thrust. SOPs are extremely important. It is vital that all our flight crews operate the aeroplanes in an identical manner. This is crucial, firstly because the manner of operation has been developed over a number of years and has shown itself to be safe, and secondly because pilots and flight engineers must all have the ability to fly with any other pilot or flight engineer. It is not uncommon to report for a flight and find that none of the crew members know each other. This presents no operational problems because all are trained to SOPs. Once SOPs have been established, it is essential to ensure that these are maintained. This is achieved in four areas of.training: ground school, flight simulators, non-revenue training, and route training. Not only are the courses for flight crews all approved by the CAA, but so also are the examiners who undertake those courses. Ground school
Audio-visual training is now the normal way of conducting courses within the ground school. This is a system of tape-slide presentation in which two or three crew members will be in a carrel, which is simply a small room with pictorial representation of the flight deck of the aircraft upon which they are being trained. The trainees play the tape-slides at a speed appropriate to their rate of learning, and after a period of 12 to 14 days, depending upon aircraft type, they will have completed this audio-visual training. This system has largely replaced the 'chalk-and-talk' methods of yesteryear and has been found to be much more efficient, allowing a speedier conclusion of courses to a higher level of understanding. The problem with the so-called 'chalk-and-talk' courses is that they very much depend upon the skill of the individual instructor and are therefore not of a consistent standard. Audiovisual courses, on the other hand, have been developed using more advanced learning techniques. The system has other advantages. It is largely self-paced, although there is a prescribed time for the completion of the course. Flight crew may, if they wish, stay late in the evening or start early in the morning in order to gain a more complete understanding of a particular subject. It also has team benefits in that, as people learn at different rates, it provides the opportunities within the carrel for those who grasp a subject more quickly to assist those who are slower at picking up the information. It may be, for instance, that one pilot is very knowledgeable about electrical systems, and he will learn the subject quickly and be able to help a colleague. The colleague may be much more knowledgeable about hydraulic systems and the reverse process may take place. Crew co-operation and team management are fundamental concepts in modern airline flying, and it is important that these are established at an early stage in the training of pilots and flight engineers. The audio-visual training is supplemented by cockpit procedures trainers (CPTs). These are devices in which aircraft systems such as the electrics, hydraulics, pneumatics, and air-conditioning, and in some cases the autopilot and navigational systems as well, function in the same way as in the
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aeroplane. A CPT looks like an aircraft but does not in fact fly. It does not have flight dynamics and is not a full flight simulator which is discussed later. Flight crews can practise the normal operation of drills and procedures and also the abnormal procedures in the CPT. This is, therefore, 'hands on' training, and trainees have the advantage of feeling their way around the cockpit, finding out where to look for any particular switch, and understanding how the systems operate and the function of the various controls. A third method of providing information is by computer-based training. This is a programme learning system in which a touch screen is utilized, and students are led through a predetermined sequence to increase their understanding of any particular topic. The tremendous advantage of CBT is that it is very interactive. Questions can be set and must be answered correctly before a student may move on to the next subject, and it requires a high degree of involvement by the participants. Finally, these three training methods are further supplemented by instructors. The instructor is there during audio-visual training to assess understanding of a topic. He assists the explanation of the CPT and its functions, and he is a 'fall-back'. Any student may ask the instructor any question in order to increase his understanding of a particular topic. These four methods of presenting information are highly effective. Different people learn in different ways, but one of the four, or the combination of all four, satisfies all the pilot trainees, allowing, for example, a conversion course from a BAC 1-11 to a B737 to be completed in 12 working days of ground school instruction. Furthermore, the ground school courses are approved by the CAA such that, throughout the course, progress tests and examinations are taken every two to three days, and successful completion of these progress tests is recognized by the CAA as the type technical aircraft examination.
Flight simulators After the ground school, pilots and flight engineers will move to the flight simulator stage of the course. Flight simulators are multi-million pound devices. They represent exactly the aircraft flight deck. They have advanced six-axis motion systems (Figure 1) and highly sophisticated visual displays (Figure 2). Flying characteristics are identical to that of the aircraft, as the advanced computer systems are programmed with the data which has been established by flying the aircraft itself. In most respects flight simulators these days are regarded as aeroplanes; so much so that, in certain cases, experienced pilots transferring from one aircraft to another may do the conversion course without having to fly the second aircraft in a non-revenue capacity. This means that their first landing on the aeroplane may be with passengers on board, with of course the training captain supervising that operation! Why are flight simulators used in preference to the aeroplane? The first thought is that of course it is cheaper to use the flight simulator. An aircraft may cost somewhere between 10 and 30 times as much to operate, depending upon its type. However, thai is not the primary reason; the primary reason for using flight simulators is safety. Flight crews can practise
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Figure 1. British Airways"newest lacilit~: B737No. 2 simulator. Courtesy of British Airways.
and rehearse any procedure, normal or emergency, with which they may be faced, and this is done in the sure knowledge that, no matter what they do, the trainees can always step out of it at the end. To rehearse and check some of these manoeuvres in an aircraft in flight is, to say the least of it, potentially dangerous. Indeed training accidents have in the past been proportionally much higher than those in normal line operation. Of course, it may be suggested that since the trainee knows he is simply in a simulator and anything he does cannot possibly harm anyone, a certain reality is lost. This is certainly not the case; the realism is so great that pilots under training become totally involved with the task in hand and very few make any distinction in their performance whether they are in a simulator or an aeroplane.
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Figure 2. The interior of the B747 flight simulator. Courtesy of British Airways.
These flight simulators are checked by the CAA to ensure that they comply in all respects with the aircraft characteristics. As a result of that inspection British Airways achieves approval of their flight simulators to conduct training and checking of their flight crews.
Non-revenue flight training Flying an aeroplane without passengers on board (doing 'circuits and bumps') is largely disappearing. It still exists for certain categories of pilots and after conversion to certain aircraft types, but is used solely to validate the simulator process, and normally an experienced pilot would only do three take-offs and landings on a non-revenue flight before moving to route training.
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Flight instructors As already mentioned, the CAA approves British Airways ground courses and simulators; so also the flight instructors hold CAA approval to undertake the testing of pilots on their behalf. British Airways flight instructors are selected from the pilot community and are normal line pilots who are trained by the CAA as examiners and, subsequent to that training, are approved as delegated examiners of the CAA. In a way they wear 'two hats'--a British Airways hat and a CAA hat--when they are undertaking checking duties. Their own competence in this role is checked annually by the CAA Flight Operations Inspectorate.
Route training After the ground school, flight simulator, and non-revenue training, the pilot receives a type rating on the aircraft that he is to fly. He then flies on the route, under the supervision of a training captain, and after a period of time undertakes a route check. At this point he is fully qualified on that particular aircraft type.
Competency checks/refreshers The airline is obliged to maintain the competency of its pilots and flight engineers, and this is again done in the flight simulator. All flight crews must pay a biannual visit to the simulator in which they will practise those items which, it is hoped, have not occurred during the previous six months while they have been flying aeroplanes. In the simulator their handling skills ('stick and rudder') are checked, their abnormal and emergency procedures are looked at, their ability to fly the aircraft under instruments is reassessed, and they have the opportunity to demonstrate their skills at teamwork in a flight deck management exercise. Handling skills are checked by the failure of an engine at the most critical point on take-off followed by an 'engine out' climb and an approach and landing. In the abnormal and emergency procedures flight crews are given the opportunity to practise those items, which can really only successfully be done in a simulator, and need reinforcing at occasional intervals; an example is some form of electrical or air-conditioning failure. The most interesting developments are taking place in the areas of flight deck management and the team-related roles of flying. As already mentioned, human factors play a very large part in many accidents and incidents. No longer is 'pilot error' referred to as it is a fairly pejorative term. It is now recognized that human beings are fallible and that steps must be taken to ensure that, in flying, fallibility does not result in an accident. The standard operating procedures are established to utilize all the resources on the flight deck, both technical and human, and to ensure that, should there be any failure in either, the technical systems will protect the operation while the training and checking of the crew will cope with the problem successfully. In human error terms it could be said that it is
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acceptable for one flight crew member to make a mistake but it is not acceptable for that mistake not to be recognized, picked up and corrected by another flight crew member. It is essential to ensure that the same mistake is not made by more than one person at the same time, so there are flight deck management exercises commonly known in flying as 'line-orientated flight training' (LOP-T). These exercises give the crews the opportunity of using judgement and making decisions to ensure the successful outcome of a flight. This judgement and decision-making are above and beyond the stick-and-rudder skills which are required to fly the aeroplane. An example of one recent LOFT exercise occurred when the flight instructor put a camera lens case between the two pilots, and, playing the role of the steward, said that this had been left on board the aeroplane and would the pilots inform the company so that the passenger could retrieve his lens. Pilots are inquisitive, and upon opening the lens case a device with wires could be seen; furthermore it was ticking. The crew were clearly faced with a potential explosive device and they had to combine the standard operating procedures with their judgement and experience in order to make a decision as to their course of action. It is not sufficient for the captain to make his own decision without consultation with the other crew members; their input is also necessary. Exercises such as this are very challenging; they have a very powerful learning role and are seen as most beneficial by flight crews. These competency checks are designed to fulfil both the requirements of British Airways and those of the CAA. As a result of them the flight crew member's licence is validated and he may continue to operate as a crew member. Annual route check In addition to this biannual simulator check, flight crews are checked once a year in their normal route operation. No emergencies are introduced. This is best regarded as a standardization check of the pilots on the fleet. The route check captain will bring to the attention of the pilots or flight engineer any areas in which he thinks they are wavering from the standard operating procedures, and a record of this annual route check is maintained by the management. Non-flying check In addition to these flying checks, there is an annual safety equipment procedures check in which crews are reacquainted, using slides, with the ditching and emergency landing procedures, the safety equipment on the aeroplane, and the courses of action that are followed in the case of, say, hijacking or bomb threat. British Airways has a very large safety equipment procedures hall in which mock-up fuselages with fully inflatable escape slides are available for this training. It should be noted that cabin crews also undertake the safety equipment procedures training in this way, and British Airways will put approximately 15000 people through such training annually.
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The final technical element of the check procedure is a technical refresher. Flight crews are obliged to complete annually a technical questionnaire which will be written to illustrate problem areas that have occurred in the previous 12 months as well as to refresh the flight crew on technical aspects of the aircraft and its operation. This is not done under examination conditions but is useful in that it obliges pilots to open the operations manuals and seek the information in order to answer the questions which are asked.
The monitoring of flight crew performance Once flight crews have been selected and trained and are flying aeroplanes on a worldwide network, how can one be sure that the procedures laid down are being adopted all the time, and that there is no deviation from standard operating procedures? How can aircraft operation be analysed and developed? First of all, captains all have a supervisory role over co-pilots and flight engineers. In the original selection process, high priority is given to the potential ability to command, and it is expected that all pilots will eventually, subject to seniority, become captains on the flight deck. Captains should set the highest standards and have a role in monitoring and encouraging the performance of the less experienced, more junior flight crew members. Secondly, the training captains are drawn from those in post. Approximately 10% of the pilot force is involved in training of some description. Because of their involvement with this activity they will be more knowledgeable, competent, and up-to-date. Thus they are able to ensure that the standard procedures are followed at all times. Thirdly, British Airways has a flight data recording system. Most people have heard of the 'black box'. This 'black box' (in fact it is orange) is the crash recorder, and it is this which is always sought by accident investigators because it continuously records numerous parameters of the aircraft's flight. Examination of the recordings can usually be interpreted to reveal the cause of the accident. British Airways also fits a supplementary flight data recorder called a quick-access recorder. This will also record continuously a number of flight parameters. For instance, the heading of the aircraft, the height, the air-speed, the rate of climb or descent, the pitch attitude of the aircraft, the aircraft configuration (i.e. whether the undercarriage is up or down), and the flap position. It will also record engine parameters in such a way that a very accurate picture of any flight can be made by examination of the flight data recording. Event markers can be put on this recording, such that if an aircraft exceeds predetermined parameters an event will take place. The quick-access recorder is removed from each aircraft every day and played to reveal, any events; it depends very much for its success on the help and co-operation of the British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) in this programme. The events remain anonymous so far as British Airways flight management is concerned. Each one is examined by a team from management and BALPA, but if any action is necessary this is taken by the BALPA representative together with the flight crew concerned. The anonymous
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nature of this programme has ensured its success. If any pilot has transgressed, he needs no further reminder other than the confidential talk with the BALPA representative. However, the major benefit of this flight data recording programme is not in revealing individual transgressions from standard operational procedures. It is in fact twofold. In the first place it shows the rates and trends of incidents for any aircraft fleet within British Airways and enables the management to highlight these to the flight crew and to take any necessary remedial fleet action. Secondly, it has a significant training role, particularly in the introduction of a new aircraft type. This is best shown by a simple illustration. On take-off the normal rate of pitch rotation of a modern jet aeroplane is about 3 ~per second and the normal pitch attitude after take-off is approximately 15~. If after initiating rotation the pilot counts 'one, two, three, four, five' he should, after 'five', have approximately 15~ pitch attitude and be climbing away nicely after take-off. If it were only 10~ he would know that he had to increase the rate of the rotation. If he had achieved 20 ~ after 5 seconds he would know that he rotated too quickly. The dangers of under-rotation are in using an excessive amount of runway in order to get airborne, which, on a short runway, may prove critical. The dangers of over-rotation, or too rapid rotation, are that the tail of the aircraft may strike the ground before getting airborne, or the aircraft may get airborne at too slow a speed. Any of these conditions will be revealed by an examination of the flight data recording of a flight. This can be brought immediately to the attention of the flight crew, and the correct rotation technique can be re-emphasized in a note or in a newsletter. Furthermore, in the simulator the capability exists to re-examine the take-off procedure and the crew's understanding and compliance with the procedure, because the simulator itself has the ability to measure the rate of rotation of the aircraft and the pitch angle achieved on take-off. This means that British Airways has a system of continually monitoring the aeroplanes whilst in flight and is able to take any action necessary to ensure that standard operating procedures are being used and, where necessary, are modified in the light of any experience gained to enhance the safety of the operation.
Air safety review British Airways holds a monthly air safety review which is chaired by the Director of Flight Crew; the members are the participating Operating Standards Group together with members of BALPA and the flight engineers. At this review significant incidents which have taken place during the month are discussed and analysed, and any action considered necessary is implemented. Items of special significance are brought to the attention of the air safety review board by the Director of Safety Services for further discussion at main board level. Thus it can be seen that the Operating Standards Group which has the responsibility for the setting of the Standard Operating Procedures can, by its involvement with the air safety review, judge the success of operating procedures and if necessary make changes to those procedures as experience dictates.
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SUMMARY
British Airways does not provide basic flying instruction but chooses its candidates for training from those who already hold a commercial pilot's licence. A lengthy and sophisticated selection process is employed to ensure that those chosen for further training possess the required intellectual and emotional attributes which include, inter alia, potential for leadership together with the ability to work harmoniously as a member of a team. Most of the further training, both technical and personal, is done on the ground using a variety of modern educational techniques, especially the flight simulator; this is a multi-million pound device which can accurately reproduce all the routine and emergency situations which may be encountered in the air. An important aspect of safety training is based on the knowledge that human error is inevitable. It is therefore regarded as acceptable that one member of the flight crew may make a mistake in judgement or performance, but it is essential that this error does not remain undetected by another member of the crew, who must report it. This policy of shared responsibility, whereby the collective opinion of the crew is of greater value than any individual's opinion (synergy), is of great importance and is facilitated by training all pilots to the same high standard. The maintenance of that standard of competence and safety after qualification is no less important. This is achieved in a variety of ways: attendance at courses, safety conferences, annual examinations, and most notably by continuous automatic monitoring of performance--with confidential feedback of this information when necessary--and biannual refresher sessions on the flight simulator. The overall aim is that the pilot should not only be competent and safe but that he should also inspire confidence in his passengers and crew and be a worthy ambassador for his company.
This chapter is devoted solely to the selection and training of pilots for civil aviation. SELECTION OF PERSONNEL Any selection procedure must clearly identify the nature and role of the task to be performed. It must then identify the means whereby that task can be assessed and measured. Thirdly, the administrative arrangements, including the selection and training of assessment staff to a common standard, need to be addressed. The pilot's primary role in civil aviation is to fly an aircraft as safely and expeditiously as possible from departure to destination. Aircraft operators will impose additional requirements upon their pilot force, such as commercial interest. They will also seek to employ people who represent the company image, projecting the ethos and values of that company at all times. However, the fundamental role being to fly aeroplanes, let us see what characteristics are needed to be successful in this task. Clearly first of all, one must have well co-ordinated psycho-motor skills. In flying we traditionally refer to this as 'stick-and-rudder' ability. Flying involves a high degree of co-ordination between hands, feet, muscle and eye. It is generally thought that there is a large innate component in these skills. Certainly amongst those of us involved in flying we can recognize the few natural pilots, and most of us envy them. We also recognize that our own natural abilities are of a high order and that the training that is given to develop these natural abilities would probably be successful with only a relatively small percentage of the population. The skills are related to those necessary for driving a car but are of a higher order. The author has never seen a pilot who is not a good car driver, but there is undoubtedly a number of good car drivers who would not transfer that skill to becoming a pilot. Flying aeroplanes, however, is not solely a matter of stick-and-rudder skills. It involves judgement, crew co-ordination, team work, and the ability to co-ordinate a number of activities and prioritise amongst competing demands within a very short time scale. It is said that 95% of flying is Bailli~re's ClinicalAnaesthesiology--Vol. 2, No. 2, June 1988
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boredom and 5% is sheer terror. The percentages may not be right, but when the sheer terror factor is evident pilots must have the necessary attributes and abilities to handle the problems and ensure a successful outcome for the safety of the passengers and themselves. Judgement does not mean the ability to fly the aeroplane at the correct height above the runway and do an absolutely perfect touchdown; it means the co-ordination of activity, sometimes in unusual circumstances, to conclude a flight successfully. As an example, one might be flying over a large stretch of water and suffer the failure of an engine. Judgement is then required in order to make the correct decision as to the course of action to take, and this in turn will depend upon the aircraft's position, the weather factors, the airfields available, the likelihood of any further problem arising, company requirements, and other such related matters. To help in his judgement, the pilot of a modern airliner has other crew members to assist him. It is here that team membership performs a vital function. A good captain will utilize the resources and experience of his team within the cockpit in order to assist his own judgement and decisionmaking. In such a way synergy is achieved, i.e. the decisions made by the team are better than the best individual decision of any single member of that team. Human error has a part to play in approximately 80% of flying accidents these days, so that crew co-operation and team membership are fundamental qualities required in all pilots. We therefore have an array of qualities which are necessary and for which there must be a selection procedure. To select for stick-and-rudder skills is comparatively simple. Tests for them, developed by the Royal Air Force over at least 30 years, have been updated and computerized, and are now applied to the selection of pilots for civil aviation. Analysis of the test scores for these skills has been used to establish criteria, and a simple grading system has been devised which has proved to have very high predictive ability in flying training. Testing for judgement, leadership and small-team effectiveness is a much more difficult task. As an example, the qualities required to be effective in a small team are thought to be sensitivity to the individual; awareness of the needs and opinions of others; friendliness; an ability to accommodate; to participate in group activities, to communicate intentions, plans, thoughts etc., and to keep others in the picture (i.e. to be a 'joiner'); an ability to accept criticism and respond to feedback in a positive way; and to understand and use the contributions of others to solve problems. Assessment of these characteristics is done by group activity tasks, by structured leadership tasks in which individuals play the roles of both leader and follower, and by interview. Turning to the assessment skills necessary, subjective evaluation of people at interviews is notoriously difficult. To minimize the problems one should, if possible, have a small team of dedicated assessors; the larger the team the more variation there will be. But, small or large, it is necessary for the team of assessors to undergo a structured interview and assessment course which will not only provide them with the ability to assess these areas of leadership and team skill but also ensure that there is a standardized level of assessment from all the assessors.
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Finally, an analysis of the candidates' performance during the selection process is made by the board who undertook that process, and only those who have met its criteria continue on to pilot training. The success of the selection system is not known immediately, but success in subsequent training is easier to evaluate and this can be fed back into the selection process to enable any necessary changes to be made. However, ultimate success or failure may not be known for many years because flying is extremely safe and the rate of accidents and incidents is so small that trends take a long time to develop; it is even longer before any trend could be established as relating to the selection procedure of the individual pilot. TRAINING OF A SELECTED PILOT Ab initio training is not discussed in detail as this is the province of the approved flying schools, of which there are four in the UK (at Oxford, Prestwick, Perth and Cranfield). These schools have approval from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to train pilots to meet the commercial pilot's licence and instrument rating, which is the minimum standard required to fly an aircraft for hire and reward in Great Britain. This section refers to the further higher training undertaken by British Airways, which follows the ab initio training and which, in particular, addresses the methods by which the airline ensures the continuing operational competence of its flight crews by a system of recurrent training and checking. The framework within which any air operator exists is laid down by the CAA to comply with the Air Navigation Order (ANO). The CAA has powers under the ANO to ensure that aircraft are operated safely. To exercise these powers the CAA has a number of different departments which lay down rules interpreting the ANO. The department which particularly affects the operation of aircraft is the Flight Operations Inspectorate. Air operators must work very closely with the Flight Operations Inspectorate to ensure that any activity in which they are engaged complies with the ANO and with the rules and regulations as laid down by the CAA. Within British Airways there is an Operational Standards Group which is chaired by the Head of Technical and Training and has as its members the chief pilots of all the fleets within the airline together with the technical standards manager and flight crew training manager. Broadly speaking, the chief pilots are responsible for the operation of their individual fleets, whilst the technical and training members are concerned to see that a common direction is maintained throughout the airline and that all activities conform with the requirements of the ANO and the CAA. Thus the flight crew technical standards manager and flight crew training manager could be seen as the Staff Officers in this context. This group is the major operational decision-making forum within British Airways. It determines the philosophy and the policy by which the company will fly its aeroplanes, and, stemming from that philosophy and policy, standard operational procedures (SOPs) are established for each individual aircraft fleet. These of course are not the same for every aircraft because aircraft have differing technical
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aspects and differing operational aspects. However, so far as is possible the intention is to pursue a common thrust. SOPs are extremely important. It is vital that all our flight crews operate the aeroplanes in an identical manner. This is crucial, firstly because the manner of operation has been developed over a number of years and has shown itself to be safe, and secondly because pilots and flight engineers must all have the ability to fly with any other pilot or flight engineer. It is not uncommon to report for a flight and find that none of the crew members know each other. This presents no operational problems because all are trained to SOPs. Once SOPs have been established, it is essential to ensure that these are maintained. This is achieved in four areas of.training: ground school, flight simulators, non-revenue training, and route training. Not only are the courses for flight crews all approved by the CAA, but so also are the examiners who undertake those courses. Ground school
Audio-visual training is now the normal way of conducting courses within the ground school. This is a system of tape-slide presentation in which two or three crew members will be in a carrel, which is simply a small room with pictorial representation of the flight deck of the aircraft upon which they are being trained. The trainees play the tape-slides at a speed appropriate to their rate of learning, and after a period of 12 to 14 days, depending upon aircraft type, they will have completed this audio-visual training. This system has largely replaced the 'chalk-and-talk' methods of yesteryear and has been found to be much more efficient, allowing a speedier conclusion of courses to a higher level of understanding. The problem with the so-called 'chalk-and-talk' courses is that they very much depend upon the skill of the individual instructor and are therefore not of a consistent standard. Audiovisual courses, on the other hand, have been developed using more advanced learning techniques. The system has other advantages. It is largely self-paced, although there is a prescribed time for the completion of the course. Flight crew may, if they wish, stay late in the evening or start early in the morning in order to gain a more complete understanding of a particular subject. It also has team benefits in that, as people learn at different rates, it provides the opportunities within the carrel for those who grasp a subject more quickly to assist those who are slower at picking up the information. It may be, for instance, that one pilot is very knowledgeable about electrical systems, and he will learn the subject quickly and be able to help a colleague. The colleague may be much more knowledgeable about hydraulic systems and the reverse process may take place. Crew co-operation and team management are fundamental concepts in modern airline flying, and it is important that these are established at an early stage in the training of pilots and flight engineers. The audio-visual training is supplemented by cockpit procedures trainers (CPTs). These are devices in which aircraft systems such as the electrics, hydraulics, pneumatics, and air-conditioning, and in some cases the autopilot and navigational systems as well, function in the same way as in the
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aeroplane. A CPT looks like an aircraft but does not in fact fly. It does not have flight dynamics and is not a full flight simulator which is discussed later. Flight crews can practise the normal operation of drills and procedures and also the abnormal procedures in the CPT. This is, therefore, 'hands on' training, and trainees have the advantage of feeling their way around the cockpit, finding out where to look for any particular switch, and understanding how the systems operate and the function of the various controls. A third method of providing information is by computer-based training. This is a programme learning system in which a touch screen is utilized, and students are led through a predetermined sequence to increase their understanding of any particular topic. The tremendous advantage of CBT is that it is very interactive. Questions can be set and must be answered correctly before a student may move on to the next subject, and it requires a high degree of involvement by the participants. Finally, these three training methods are further supplemented by instructors. The instructor is there during audio-visual training to assess understanding of a topic. He assists the explanation of the CPT and its functions, and he is a 'fall-back'. Any student may ask the instructor any question in order to increase his understanding of a particular topic. These four methods of presenting information are highly effective. Different people learn in different ways, but one of the four, or the combination of all four, satisfies all the pilot trainees, allowing, for example, a conversion course from a BAC 1-11 to a B737 to be completed in 12 working days of ground school instruction. Furthermore, the ground school courses are approved by the CAA such that, throughout the course, progress tests and examinations are taken every two to three days, and successful completion of these progress tests is recognized by the CAA as the type technical aircraft examination.
Flight simulators After the ground school, pilots and flight engineers will move to the flight simulator stage of the course. Flight simulators are multi-million pound devices. They represent exactly the aircraft flight deck. They have advanced six-axis motion systems (Figure 1) and highly sophisticated visual displays (Figure 2). Flying characteristics are identical to that of the aircraft, as the advanced computer systems are programmed with the data which has been established by flying the aircraft itself. In most respects flight simulators these days are regarded as aeroplanes; so much so that, in certain cases, experienced pilots transferring from one aircraft to another may do the conversion course without having to fly the second aircraft in a non-revenue capacity. This means that their first landing on the aeroplane may be with passengers on board, with of course the training captain supervising that operation! Why are flight simulators used in preference to the aeroplane? The first thought is that of course it is cheaper to use the flight simulator. An aircraft may cost somewhere between 10 and 30 times as much to operate, depending upon its type. However, thai is not the primary reason; the primary reason for using flight simulators is safety. Flight crews can practise
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Figure 1. British Airways"newest lacilit~: B737No. 2 simulator. Courtesy of British Airways.
and rehearse any procedure, normal or emergency, with which they may be faced, and this is done in the sure knowledge that, no matter what they do, the trainees can always step out of it at the end. To rehearse and check some of these manoeuvres in an aircraft in flight is, to say the least of it, potentially dangerous. Indeed training accidents have in the past been proportionally much higher than those in normal line operation. Of course, it may be suggested that since the trainee knows he is simply in a simulator and anything he does cannot possibly harm anyone, a certain reality is lost. This is certainly not the case; the realism is so great that pilots under training become totally involved with the task in hand and very few make any distinction in their performance whether they are in a simulator or an aeroplane.
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Figure 2. The interior of the B747 flight simulator. Courtesy of British Airways.
These flight simulators are checked by the CAA to ensure that they comply in all respects with the aircraft characteristics. As a result of that inspection British Airways achieves approval of their flight simulators to conduct training and checking of their flight crews.
Non-revenue flight training Flying an aeroplane without passengers on board (doing 'circuits and bumps') is largely disappearing. It still exists for certain categories of pilots and after conversion to certain aircraft types, but is used solely to validate the simulator process, and normally an experienced pilot would only do three take-offs and landings on a non-revenue flight before moving to route training.
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Flight instructors As already mentioned, the CAA approves British Airways ground courses and simulators; so also the flight instructors hold CAA approval to undertake the testing of pilots on their behalf. British Airways flight instructors are selected from the pilot community and are normal line pilots who are trained by the CAA as examiners and, subsequent to that training, are approved as delegated examiners of the CAA. In a way they wear 'two hats'--a British Airways hat and a CAA hat--when they are undertaking checking duties. Their own competence in this role is checked annually by the CAA Flight Operations Inspectorate.
Route training After the ground school, flight simulator, and non-revenue training, the pilot receives a type rating on the aircraft that he is to fly. He then flies on the route, under the supervision of a training captain, and after a period of time undertakes a route check. At this point he is fully qualified on that particular aircraft type.
Competency checks/refreshers The airline is obliged to maintain the competency of its pilots and flight engineers, and this is again done in the flight simulator. All flight crews must pay a biannual visit to the simulator in which they will practise those items which, it is hoped, have not occurred during the previous six months while they have been flying aeroplanes. In the simulator their handling skills ('stick and rudder') are checked, their abnormal and emergency procedures are looked at, their ability to fly the aircraft under instruments is reassessed, and they have the opportunity to demonstrate their skills at teamwork in a flight deck management exercise. Handling skills are checked by the failure of an engine at the most critical point on take-off followed by an 'engine out' climb and an approach and landing. In the abnormal and emergency procedures flight crews are given the opportunity to practise those items, which can really only successfully be done in a simulator, and need reinforcing at occasional intervals; an example is some form of electrical or air-conditioning failure. The most interesting developments are taking place in the areas of flight deck management and the team-related roles of flying. As already mentioned, human factors play a very large part in many accidents and incidents. No longer is 'pilot error' referred to as it is a fairly pejorative term. It is now recognized that human beings are fallible and that steps must be taken to ensure that, in flying, fallibility does not result in an accident. The standard operating procedures are established to utilize all the resources on the flight deck, both technical and human, and to ensure that, should there be any failure in either, the technical systems will protect the operation while the training and checking of the crew will cope with the problem successfully. In human error terms it could be said that it is
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acceptable for one flight crew member to make a mistake but it is not acceptable for that mistake not to be recognized, picked up and corrected by another flight crew member. It is essential to ensure that the same mistake is not made by more than one person at the same time, so there are flight deck management exercises commonly known in flying as 'line-orientated flight training' (LOP-T). These exercises give the crews the opportunity of using judgement and making decisions to ensure the successful outcome of a flight. This judgement and decision-making are above and beyond the stick-and-rudder skills which are required to fly the aeroplane. An example of one recent LOFT exercise occurred when the flight instructor put a camera lens case between the two pilots, and, playing the role of the steward, said that this had been left on board the aeroplane and would the pilots inform the company so that the passenger could retrieve his lens. Pilots are inquisitive, and upon opening the lens case a device with wires could be seen; furthermore it was ticking. The crew were clearly faced with a potential explosive device and they had to combine the standard operating procedures with their judgement and experience in order to make a decision as to their course of action. It is not sufficient for the captain to make his own decision without consultation with the other crew members; their input is also necessary. Exercises such as this are very challenging; they have a very powerful learning role and are seen as most beneficial by flight crews. These competency checks are designed to fulfil both the requirements of British Airways and those of the CAA. As a result of them the flight crew member's licence is validated and he may continue to operate as a crew member. Annual route check In addition to this biannual simulator check, flight crews are checked once a year in their normal route operation. No emergencies are introduced. This is best regarded as a standardization check of the pilots on the fleet. The route check captain will bring to the attention of the pilots or flight engineer any areas in which he thinks they are wavering from the standard operating procedures, and a record of this annual route check is maintained by the management. Non-flying check In addition to these flying checks, there is an annual safety equipment procedures check in which crews are reacquainted, using slides, with the ditching and emergency landing procedures, the safety equipment on the aeroplane, and the courses of action that are followed in the case of, say, hijacking or bomb threat. British Airways has a very large safety equipment procedures hall in which mock-up fuselages with fully inflatable escape slides are available for this training. It should be noted that cabin crews also undertake the safety equipment procedures training in this way, and British Airways will put approximately 15000 people through such training annually.
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The final technical element of the check procedure is a technical refresher. Flight crews are obliged to complete annually a technical questionnaire which will be written to illustrate problem areas that have occurred in the previous 12 months as well as to refresh the flight crew on technical aspects of the aircraft and its operation. This is not done under examination conditions but is useful in that it obliges pilots to open the operations manuals and seek the information in order to answer the questions which are asked.
The monitoring of flight crew performance Once flight crews have been selected and trained and are flying aeroplanes on a worldwide network, how can one be sure that the procedures laid down are being adopted all the time, and that there is no deviation from standard operating procedures? How can aircraft operation be analysed and developed? First of all, captains all have a supervisory role over co-pilots and flight engineers. In the original selection process, high priority is given to the potential ability to command, and it is expected that all pilots will eventually, subject to seniority, become captains on the flight deck. Captains should set the highest standards and have a role in monitoring and encouraging the performance of the less experienced, more junior flight crew members. Secondly, the training captains are drawn from those in post. Approximately 10% of the pilot force is involved in training of some description. Because of their involvement with this activity they will be more knowledgeable, competent, and up-to-date. Thus they are able to ensure that the standard procedures are followed at all times. Thirdly, British Airways has a flight data recording system. Most people have heard of the 'black box'. This 'black box' (in fact it is orange) is the crash recorder, and it is this which is always sought by accident investigators because it continuously records numerous parameters of the aircraft's flight. Examination of the recordings can usually be interpreted to reveal the cause of the accident. British Airways also fits a supplementary flight data recorder called a quick-access recorder. This will also record continuously a number of flight parameters. For instance, the heading of the aircraft, the height, the air-speed, the rate of climb or descent, the pitch attitude of the aircraft, the aircraft configuration (i.e. whether the undercarriage is up or down), and the flap position. It will also record engine parameters in such a way that a very accurate picture of any flight can be made by examination of the flight data recording. Event markers can be put on this recording, such that if an aircraft exceeds predetermined parameters an event will take place. The quick-access recorder is removed from each aircraft every day and played to reveal, any events; it depends very much for its success on the help and co-operation of the British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) in this programme. The events remain anonymous so far as British Airways flight management is concerned. Each one is examined by a team from management and BALPA, but if any action is necessary this is taken by the BALPA representative together with the flight crew concerned. The anonymous
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nature of this programme has ensured its success. If any pilot has transgressed, he needs no further reminder other than the confidential talk with the BALPA representative. However, the major benefit of this flight data recording programme is not in revealing individual transgressions from standard operational procedures. It is in fact twofold. In the first place it shows the rates and trends of incidents for any aircraft fleet within British Airways and enables the management to highlight these to the flight crew and to take any necessary remedial fleet action. Secondly, it has a significant training role, particularly in the introduction of a new aircraft type. This is best shown by a simple illustration. On take-off the normal rate of pitch rotation of a modern jet aeroplane is about 3 ~per second and the normal pitch attitude after take-off is approximately 15~. If after initiating rotation the pilot counts 'one, two, three, four, five' he should, after 'five', have approximately 15~ pitch attitude and be climbing away nicely after take-off. If it were only 10~ he would know that he had to increase the rate of the rotation. If he had achieved 20 ~ after 5 seconds he would know that he rotated too quickly. The dangers of under-rotation are in using an excessive amount of runway in order to get airborne, which, on a short runway, may prove critical. The dangers of over-rotation, or too rapid rotation, are that the tail of the aircraft may strike the ground before getting airborne, or the aircraft may get airborne at too slow a speed. Any of these conditions will be revealed by an examination of the flight data recording of a flight. This can be brought immediately to the attention of the flight crew, and the correct rotation technique can be re-emphasized in a note or in a newsletter. Furthermore, in the simulator the capability exists to re-examine the take-off procedure and the crew's understanding and compliance with the procedure, because the simulator itself has the ability to measure the rate of rotation of the aircraft and the pitch angle achieved on take-off. This means that British Airways has a system of continually monitoring the aeroplanes whilst in flight and is able to take any action necessary to ensure that standard operating procedures are being used and, where necessary, are modified in the light of any experience gained to enhance the safety of the operation.
Air safety review British Airways holds a monthly air safety review which is chaired by the Director of Flight Crew; the members are the participating Operating Standards Group together with members of BALPA and the flight engineers. At this review significant incidents which have taken place during the month are discussed and analysed, and any action considered necessary is implemented. Items of special significance are brought to the attention of the air safety review board by the Director of Safety Services for further discussion at main board level. Thus it can be seen that the Operating Standards Group which has the responsibility for the setting of the Standard Operating Procedures can, by its involvement with the air safety review, judge the success of operating procedures and if necessary make changes to those procedures as experience dictates.
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SUMMARY
British Airways does not provide basic flying instruction but chooses its candidates for training from those who already hold a commercial pilot's licence. A lengthy and sophisticated selection process is employed to ensure that those chosen for further training possess the required intellectual and emotional attributes which include, inter alia, potential for leadership together with the ability to work harmoniously as a member of a team. Most of the further training, both technical and personal, is done on the ground using a variety of modern educational techniques, especially the flight simulator; this is a multi-million pound device which can accurately reproduce all the routine and emergency situations which may be encountered in the air. An important aspect of safety training is based on the knowledge that human error is inevitable. It is therefore regarded as acceptable that one member of the flight crew may make a mistake in judgement or performance, but it is essential that this error does not remain undetected by another member of the crew, who must report it. This policy of shared responsibility, whereby the collective opinion of the crew is of greater value than any individual's opinion (synergy), is of great importance and is facilitated by training all pilots to the same high standard. The maintenance of that standard of competence and safety after qualification is no less important. This is achieved in a variety of ways: attendance at courses, safety conferences, annual examinations, and most notably by continuous automatic monitoring of performance--with confidential feedback of this information when necessary--and biannual refresher sessions on the flight simulator. The overall aim is that the pilot should not only be competent and safe but that he should also inspire confidence in his passengers and crew and be a worthy ambassador for his company.