Cockpit Discipline

Cockpit Discipline

I would like to write today something very interesting to all Pilots. In the past decade, the discipline of Human Factors has become involved in determining the causes of Aircraft Accidents.

But what that mean discipline to you? Discipline in the workplace is the means by which supervisory personnel correct behavioral deficiencies and guarantee adherence to established company rules.

The purpose of discipline is correct behavior. It is not designed to correct or embarrass any Pilot inside the Cockpit. But why discipline? As Pilots and Air Traffic Controllers we have the tools to prevent accidents:

The Experience, Skill, knowledge, Training etc., so what? Part of the answer is that many pilots and also air traffic controllers have a misconception or lack of understanding about what can affect human performance to the point of disaster.

So, our minds consist of five main cognitive functions: Memory, Attention, Language, Visual-Spatial Skills, and Executive Function.

At all times is very important to challenge, stimulate and effective exercise all five areas to stay mentally sharp as Pilots, specifically a good discipline inside the Cockpit.

Remember memory plays a crucial role in all cognitive activities, including when you are reading the checklist, reasoning, and do some mental calculations when flying.

In a book I read few years ago, I remembered that NASA was studied and has shown a dramatic increase in airline accidents caused by procedural deviation in the cockpit. They are trying to explain in the reports and researchers why accidents happened, between 1977 and 1984, specifically in the course of these years. But anyway accidents continued to occur if you as a Pilot don’t pay close attention to the discipline inside your cockpit when you are flying your airplane.

So, during NASA research, 33 % of those accidents were caused by a Pilot Deviation from basic operational procedures, making this the leading Crew to induce the error.

The remaining top three factors included inadequate cross- check by second crew member, pilots not conditioned for proper response during abnormal condition, and pilot did not recognize need for

Go – around.

A comparable study of Part 121 in the United States was conducted in 1991 that illustrated a significant rise from the previous statistics. But anyway the lack of Cockpit Procedural behavior accounted for 69 % of Pilots Errors, more than three times that of the second ranking category of poor decision making.

But all these investigations continued in the following years so far, the connection between flight safety and procedural conduct in the cockpit. All Pilots need to know and focus the most important areas of concentration: a good company philosophy included in your SMS manual, policies, procedures, and practices. Each point I mentioned here considered a good link to sound Cockpit Discipline.

Flying SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) is the best tool to set of guidelines that serve to provide a common ground for Pilots who are usually unfamiliar with each other’s experience when flying.

So, as airline mergers today all around the world and acquisitions continue to be the basis of the industry, standardization becomes increasingly more important for flight safety all the time.

As a result of those changes, pilots from diverse employment backgrounds and experience to various good philosophies must always have a good discipline all the time inside the cockpit.

This is perhaps the most important part of the discipline process to stay away from accidents.

Pilots sometimes deviate from an SOP due to one of several reasons comparable: Individualism, Complacency, Laziness, or Frustration.

So, safety issues and procedures change over the years, and also there have been numerous factors that have caused airlines to develop new cockpit procedures, some of them established in your SMS.

Also the introduction of the TCAS (Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System, into the cockpit few years ago required a new set of procedures to be created,  besides the Sterile Cockpit Rule and FAA regulation requiring pilots to refrain from non-essential activities during critical phases of flight, these procedures are established as a good discipline in the cockpit .

Always remember lessons learned and practical applications and a good communication is the key to avoid future incidents or accidents, take your responsibilities seriously maintaining a good discipline all the time not only in your cockpit in all, always practice effective CRM and maintain a good Situational Awareness all the time. Be decisive of the delegations of responsibilities; don’t complete nonessential tasks during critical phases of flight, maintain vigilance at all times, Fly Safely!!!