CRM Study Notes

Crew Resource Management (CRM)

Internal Data: CRM Overview

Effective use of all available resources to achieve a safe, effective, and efficient flight. CRM essentially means HELPING EACH OTHER. Aviation is a team sport. Therefore, effective CRM is crucial.

CRM Milestones

Key aviation incidents that highlighted the importance of CRM:

1972, Miami, Florida, Everglades, Eastern Airlines: [Details of the incident would be added here]
1977, Tenerife, Los Rodeos Airport, KLM & Pan Am: [Details of the incident would be added here]
1989, Kegworth air disaster, British Midland flight 92: [Details of the incident would be added here]

WIZZ AIR Competencies

9 Key Competencies:

Cognitive:
- KNO (Knowledge)
- SAW (Situational Awareness)
- PSD (Problem Solving and Decision Making)
Social:
- COM (Communication)
- LTW (Leadership and Teamwork)
- WLM (Workload Management)
Technical:
- PRO (Application of Procedures)
- FPA (Flight Path Management – Automated)
- FPM (Flight Path Management – Manual)
5 CRM Competencies
Pilot COMPETENCIES

Error Definition

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, an error is:

An act or condition of ignorant or imprudent deviation from a code of behavior.
An act involving an unintentional deviation from truth or accuracy.
The difference between an observed or calculated value and a true value.

Error Management

Error Handling Strategies:

THREAT: Identify potential errors.
UAS: Understand the Unwanted States.
TRAP: Recognize when an error is occurring.
AVOID: Prevent errors from happening.
MITIGATE: Reduce the impact of errors that do occur.

Proactive vs. Reactive Approaches:

PROACTIVE: Anticipating and projecting into the future.
REACTIVE: Acting upon the situation and reacting to events.

Stress

Defining Stress:

Different definitions of stress:

“Non-specific response of the body to any demand.”
“Perception of threat, with resulting anxiety discomfort, emotional tension and difficulty in adjusting.”
“A state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or demanding circumstances.”
“A physical, mental, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension.”

Types of Stress:

Acute stress: Happens on the spot or for a short period; it goes away after the situation has passed/was resolved.
Chronic stress: Going through the same stressful situation more than once and for a longer period of time.

Fatigue

Defining Fatigue:

Fatigue is physical or mental weariness resulting from effort or activity. It's the decreased capacity or complete inability of an organism, organ, or part to function normally because of excessive stimulation or prolonged exertion.

Case Study: Cabin Crew Error

Description of the Event:

When the aircraft came to a complete stop, SCA gave the command "Cabin Crew, Doors in Park and Crosscheck". CA4 heard the command and turned towards the 4L door. Instead of grabbing the arming lever to disarm the slides, she accidentally pulled the opening control handle. The door opened automatically, and the slide deployed. SCA immediately called the AFT; CA3 answered from CA4 station and confirmed the door opening and slide inflation. A debriefing was conducted by the SCA after the flight.

Findings:

CA admitted she did not have enough sleep (2-3 hours) before the duty. She fell asleep during landing and taxiing. When SCA gave the command for slide disarming, she was affected by sleep inertia and lifted the door control handle instead of the arming lever.

Threats to the Senses

Examples of Sensory Threats:

Disrupted hearing ability due to pressure changes.
Eyes irritated by smoke.
Blurred vision due to not wearing proper glasses/contact lenses.

Sensory Threshold:

The amount of stimuli required for a person to sense it. If the stimuli is too weak for our sensory system design, we will basically not receive it. For example, we will not feel a mosquito sitting on our skin and biting us, but we can hear it. Conversely, we will not hear whales or elephants communicate because these frequencies are out of our range. We will not feel a very slight turn of the aircraft or a very shallow descent.

Illusions:

Usually caused by mismatching/contradicting/missing data that the brain cannot piece together.

Attention

Types of Attention:

Selective: Can lead to failure to notice other changes and what is happening around – change blindness.
Sustained: Very difficult for humans; vigilance decrement, boredom, and tiredness occur quickly.
Divided: With too many tasks, not able to focus and monitor all of them properly.

Situational Awareness (S.A)

Definition:

The perception of the elements from the environment within a volume of time and space, the comprehension of their meaning, and the projection of their status in the near future. In short terms, it’s basically knowing what goes around us and being able to react based on that.

Factors Improving S.A

Knowledge
Teamwork
Delegating tasks
Experience
Communication

Decision Making

Definition:

Decision Making is the process of choosing from a number of options in order to get the best intended result.

Impairments to Decision Making:

Biases (mental shortcuts that we make based on our past experience). E.g., confirmation bias.

Improving Decision Making:

Search for information from all possible sources.
Avoid judgment.
Communicate/consult with your team.

Assertiveness

Styles:

Submissive
Assertive
Aggressive

Definition of Assertiveness:

Assertiveness is about self-confidence, which means having a positive attitude towards yourself and others. Assertiveness is a form of behavior characterized by a confident declaration or affirmation of a statement without need of proof; this affirms the person's rights or point of view without either aggressively threatening the rights of another (assuming a position of dominance) or submissively permitting another to ignore or deny one's rights or point of view.

Conflict Management

Magic Formula:

I UNDERSTAND… (showing empathy and understanding towards the other person’s problem) HOWEVER… (pointing out facts) THEREFORE… (offering solution/options)

Key Principles:

People are NOT able to process logical arguments when they are highly charged emotionally (startle, most often insecure, or personal conflict).

Talk to the controlling brain (Chimp)! Deal with the emotions first.
Refer to facts, give options.

Communication

Types of Communication:

Verbal (words)
Non-verbal: body language and paralanguage (tone of voice, pitch, volume)
Symbolic (e.g., uniform)

Communication Barriers:

External: noise, distance, environment (hot, cold, dark, bright)
Internal: stress, fatigue, rank, education, language, emotions, motivation, conflicts, age, gender, alcohol

Active Listening

Key Elements:

…focusing on the message heard and not on our reply
…eye contact, if possible
…nodding or repeating last sentence to show understanding
…ask additional questions in case of confusion or need of clarification

Effective Communication

Strategies:

Ask open questions (what, why, when, where, how, who)
Effective briefing (communication starts at the briefing: respectful language, asking open questions, asking for opinions, setting up an open communication atmosphere, etc.)
Making sure everybody understands and uses the same language (English).

Case Study: “Miracle on the Hudson”

Distress Calls:

Mayday, Mayday, Mayday!!!: A distress call used to signal a life-threatening emergency. The distress call has absolute priority over all other transmissions.
Pan Pan: means the situation is urgent, however there is immediate danger to anyone’s life.

Event Summary:

In January 2009, US Airways Airbus 320 suffered a dual engine failure and lost all engine power after hitting a flock of birds. The pilots decided that the only suitable place to land the aircraft was the Hudson River. Even though they were under a lot of stress and the workload in the cockpit was immense, the crew managed to successfully ditch and evacuate the aircraft on the river.