SAFETY
The recent mishaps (CRJ200 double
flame out, transatlantic
BA 747 on three engines, China
Eastern A340 tailscrape, JAL
admitting safety was not its top priority,…), lead me to
wonder what definition airlines grant to safety.
Safety gaps could come from new companies, but are BA or JAL emerging?
These events belong to the human factors field. The issue is not
the error(s) made by the crews, but their behaviours, precisely the
ensuing attitudes.
It is interesting to link this to the following situation. As a former
university assistant professor in psychology, I lectured and researched
human factors and aviation safety. I then joined the aviation industry
as an airline pilot. These both experiences, gave me a unique singular
profile. Since my last company bankrupted in 2002, I can not reach
a pilot position. The most often given reason: too educated!
How can be a pilot too cultured about aviation safety, especially
in human factors?
Today, the top reason for accidents/incidents in aviation is human
factors.
While airlines only base hiring on flying hours, they forget ALL
accidents/incidents are made by highly experienced pilots.
Safety departments are not enough innovative about trainings which
must educate and convince to influence operator attitude.
The mishaps reveal a failure regarding the complete training chain:
technical, CRM, safety…. But this failure is much deeper considering
attitudes weren’t swayed. Moreover, attitudes are built mainly
from trainings, not from experience and the trainings must be endlessly..
Frank Caron (PhD)
Pellouailles, France
http://www.culturailes.net
