Decision-making and Team performance

Aviation has reached a new phase. Getting aeronautical knowledge, airmanship skills and proficiency are relatively easy. Navigation has been reduced to calculator simplicity. Modern autopilots and electronic displays have significantly reduced a pilot’s workload. Today’s technology requires administrative management and aeronautical decision making skills as means of safety and efficiency.

Successful decision making is measured by a pilot’s consistent ability to keep himself, any passengers, and the aircraft in good condition regardless of the conditions of any given flight.

“Team performance obviously depends on individual performance: two unqualified pilots will never make a good team. But even qualified pilots may do a poor job as a team. When crew members work well together, there is good synergy.

Synergy is affected by a lot of factors including stress and interpersonal conflicts. For safety reasons, the leader must be the Captain. But the Captain cannot be a good leader without proper “followership” from the other crew members. A good First Officer would not follow the Captain blindly. Otherwise, there is no crew synergy”

 46 Exercise 5.

Emergency landing

Every airport has a carefully worked-out emergency plan which can be put into operation at a moment’s notice and the rescue services are trained to move at great speed.

When an accident happens at an airport an emergency control center is immediately set up. The centre is manned by police and airport staff who coordinate the activities of the rescue services.

When the air traffic controller picks up the emergency call from a pilot who is coming in to land, he immediately alerts the police, the fire brigade and the ambulance service.

Air traffic controllers then clear the way for the damaged plane to land by alerting all other planes in the area to keep off the approach. They have to direct the plane down the fastest possible approach and at the same time make sure all the other planes are flying safe courses.

Fire is a particular danger in air crashes. It is vital that the flames are put out before they reach the plane’s fuel tanks. So before the plane lands, firemen lay special foam on the runway to decrease the risk of fire.

By the time the plane comes in to land, all the emergency services are on hand to get the passengers and crew to safety. The passengers escape down the emergency chutes and are taken off in ambulances to be treated for shock and minor injuries.

 47 Exercise 6.

European inspection programme targets aircraft during airport turnarounds

A European initiative to perform ramp checks of aircraft arriving from other countries focuses on compliance with ICAO requirements and goes hand-in-hand with ICAO audits of safety oversight systems in European countries.

Rapid changes in the field of avia­tion - among them the growth of charter flights, emergence of low-­cost operators and use of dry leasing arrangements, together with a significant increase in air traffic - have made it necessary for many states to oversee compliance of airlines with the standards of the Chicago Conven­tion.

The European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) has recently developed an ins­pection programme concentrating on checks of air­craft during stops at European airports.

Inspections are conducted in addition to common procedures and the results are described using a common reporting for­mat.

Inspectors categorize the findings according to their seriousness. A Category 1 finding is a minor one which indicates that the safe operation of the air­craft is not affected. Category 2 findings concern deficiencies that have a limited effect on the safe operation of the aircraft. In Category 3, major findings that con­cern the safe operation of the aircraft are listed. Follow-up action is defined on the basis of the category of finding.

In the case of major or significant find­ings, the operator and the appropriate oversight authority are contacted about the corrective measures to be taken, not only for the aircraft that was inspected, but possibly others when the finding is of a generic nature.

 48 Exercise 7.