Kieran Daly/TOULOUSE
The almost universal use of cockpit-resource-management (CRM) techniques will be one of the major features of training as airline pilot-recruitment reaches its next peak. Even though the concept is today far from new, its practice is still very much in development and is having to evolve in parallel with man-machine interface changes in the cockpit. There is also a pressing need for CRM principles to be better tailored for use in cultures outside the developed Western nations where, largely, they were born.
At Airbus Industrie, where the manufacturer's CRM syllabus has just been substantially overhauled, vice-president of training and flight operations Pierre Baud says: "We have two problems - providing CRM for a crew of two non-Anglo-Saxon pilots and for an Anglo-Saxon with a non-Anglo-Saxon pilot. It is clear that some cultures are less communicative than others. At Airbus, we will not change their culture - but we will give them all the tools to understand that, in a medium-technology cockpit, we have to cross check each other and check, for example, the flight-management system [FMS] against external navigation aids.
Airbus human-factors specialist Eddy Racca notes that this is in any case delicate ground. Although some studies have suggested a link between accident rates and cultural factors - notably the power-distance index which measures the interpersonal power between two individuals as perceived by the less powerful of the two - the evidence is by no means clear-cut. Racca says: "Some studies show safety-levels related to big [geographical] areas. We have to be very careful about those studies. It is very difficult to relate the level of safety to a specific culture and, anyway, human factors are related to the basic culture of people over 1,000 or 2,000 years. That is mainly a question of distance-power relationships."
Airbus' new programme is named Team Enhancement in Aviation Management and is aimed at cabin and maintenance staff, as well as pilots. Airbus says that some principal features would be the presentation of the philosophy of systems and procedures; the total separation of training in the aircraft (without and with failures); and fully integrated human-factors training.
Despite the adverse publicity that Airbus has had to weather in relation to its advanced technology, training officials at major Airbus operators remain highly supportive. United Airlines manager of fleet operations and A320 fleet captain Bill Reichert concedes that his organisation was "somewhat apprehensive" when United ordered the A320, because it "...had not operated an aircraft with such a high level of sophistication before". That apprehension "...has proven to be unfounded", he says, noting that the type has "...met or exceeded our expectations in all areas" and is "fun to fly". The A320 is the second type, after the Boeing 737-300, for which United has successfully used a US Federal Aviation Administration-approved Advanced Qualification Programme to train its pilots.
Cathay Pacific, which is now operating the A330 and A340, is similarly pleased. Flying-training manager for Airbus types John Bent explains that he and fleet manager Rick Fry researched the A320's history and worked hard to "...demystify the technology and to try to correct extreme and inaccurate perceptions" among pilots and management. Bent says: "It is not enough to just apply traditional training programmes to significantly new technology. Glass/FMS-equipped flightdecks are powerful tools for efficient flight, but can also become powerful traps if they are given dominant priority over plain common sense [or] airmanship."
Source: Flight International
