Crew Resources Management Decision Making

Learning Objectives By the end of this session, you will be able to Understand the importance of Decision Making in aircraft operations.

Crew Resource Management CRM is the effective use of all available resources to achieve safe and efficient flight operations. CRM is concerned not so much with the technical skills but rather with the cognitive and interpersonal skills needed to manage the flight. Cognitive skills are defined as the mental processes used for gaining and maintaining situational awareness, for problem solving and decision making. Interpersonal skills are regarded as communications and a range of behavioral activities in the teamwork

Cognitive and Interpersonal Skills Cognitive Skills Situational Awareness Problem Solving &Decision Making Interpersonal Skills Communications Teamwork 4

Major Causes of Human Error in Aircraft Accidents Lack of Situational Awareness Poor Decision Making Lack of Communication Lack of Teamwork Lack of Resources Lack of Knowledge Lack of Assertiveness Distraction Pressure & Stress Crew Fatigue

What’s are the factors lead to poor decision making? WHAT CAUSES ACCIDENTS? Depending on which study, up to 80% of accidents can be attributed to poor decision making. What’s are the factors lead to poor decision making?

Factors lead to poor decision making. Initiating flights under poor conditions. (ex: heavy fog) Continuing flights in worst conditions. (ex: fire catch in the cabin, unpressurized aircraft) Operating aircraft beyond their limits. (ex: No adequate fuels, flying outside the envelope) Operating an un-airworthy aircraft.

What is DECISION MAKING? The ability to use logical and sound judgment to make decisions based on available information.

When Decision Making Take place Situation 1 Time is late and the captain is in a hurry to take-off. But the runway visibility is poor due to fog. DECISION? Situation 2 Low oil pressure reading indicate that the engine is about to fail. DECISION? ENGINE OIL P ENGINE FAIL

When Decision Making Take place Situation 3 The pilot recognize there is insufficient fuel to reach the destination. DECISION? Situation 4 The aircraft is flying to towards a thunderstorm and the co-pilot see a big re dot in aircraft weather radar. But, captain don’t want to avoid the thunderstorm. DECISION?

Question Every problems needs good decision. How you would create decisions in order to overcome problems?

Decision Making Process 1. Begins with Good Situational Awareness 6. Consider consequences of possible actions 5. Identify all possible solutions 2. Define the Problems 3. Evaluate Situation & Gather all Information What resources do you have? What needs to be corrected? How can the resources be best used? 7. Make decision, inform all involved Evaluate decision

Decision Making Process Begins with good Situational Awareness. SA is an important factor in preventing accidents as it encompasses all available information. Define the problem correctly. Evaluate Situation: Evaluate the need to react to it and determine the actions that may be taken to resolve the situation in the time available. Gather all available information. What resources do you have? Identify all possible solutions. How can the resources be best used? Consider consequences of all possible actions. Choose best solution. Make a decision, informs all. Act on decision. Evaluate the results of the decision.

Situational Awareness Situational Awareness is the accurate perception and understanding of all the factors (human, environment, equipment) affecting the aircraft and the crew, including knowing what has happened in the PAST, what’s going on NOW, & what might happen in the FUTURE. In short word know what is going on around you at all times.

Case Study Safe landing but all 301 persons died. WHY? 1980, Lockheed Tri-Star Riyadh to Jeddah. Safe landing but all 301 persons died. WHY?

Synopsis The flight experienced a fire in the aft cargo compartment 6 minutes after taking off from Riyadh. The plane returned to the airport and landed but because of a delay in evacuating the plane, all aboard were killed by smoke and fire. Half a minute before landing the captain decided not to order an emergency evacuation. When he landed, he did not stop immediately but instead proceeded to make a normal landing delaying the fire equipment from putting out the fire. It took a full twenty-three minutes after touchdown before the doors were opened. Although the plane landed safely, all 301 aboard died before rescue crews could reach them.

What Are the Poor Decision Making in CRM? Questions What Are the Poor Decision Making in CRM?

Poor Decision Making Did not fully utilize available resources during emergency (ex: co-pilot, manuals) Did not prepare for emergency descends & landing (because not understand the nature of fire) Did not ask all the crew and passengers to wear the smoke goggles or oxygen mask to fight the smoke. Did not perform emergency landing as soon as possible. (perform normal landing: stop at taxiway instead of immediately stop at runway) Did not decide to order an emergency evacuation (delaying stop the engines) Did not open the outflow valve. Aircraft door can’t be opened while engine runs & outflow valve closed.

What Are the Good Decision Making in CRM? Question What Are the Good Decision Making in CRM?

Question The Saudi Arabian Lockheed Tri-Star experienced a fire in the aft cargo compartment 6 minutes after taking off from Riyadh. The plane returned back to the airport and landed but all aboard were killed by smoke and fire. A) What are the POOR decision making? B) What are the GOOD decision making?

Factors which promote good Decision Making Teamwork Extra time to make decision Alert crew members Decision strategies and experience

Remember Good decisions minimize errors, while poor decisions increase them. Each decision affects your future options Poor decision making is a leading cause of failure to complete missions and of mishaps.

Poor Decision Making Don’t overlook the basic airman tasks at hand while addressing other priorities. Stress getting so far of the situation may cause a pilot to overlook a critical component of what is happening right now. The aircraft experienced a landing gear problem while on approach to runway 28R at Portland International Airport. The aircraft ran out of fuel while the crew circled in an attempt to remedy the problem.

Effective Decision Making Although the aircraft crashed, the crew managed to land on a runway saving 187 of 298. The CRM & Decision Making utilized by the crew is professionalism in aviation. Give praise to the resourcefulness of the flight team. A United Air Lines DC-10 crashed at Sioux City, Iowa after an engine explosion caused the total loss of all hydraulics at FL370.  The crew was able to control the plane only with engine throttle settings. Miraculously, 187 of 298 aboard survived. (July 19, 1989)

Successful Decision Making Use all available information from human and hardware sources in identifying potential or real problems. Always evaluate and crosscheck the available information in the operational environment to support or re-evaluate your actions. Successful decision making requires a pilot to evaluate an entire range of possible responses to the detected change and determine the best course of action.