Author Note
This paper was prepared for ASCI 604: Human Factors in the Aviation/Aerospace Industry.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Taught by Amanda Mori
Pilot to Aircraft Relationship as the most Influential Contribution to study of Human Factors in the Aviation Industry
The interaction between the pilot and the aircraft is the foundation of Aviation, as flying an aircraft from point A to point B for any cause – transportation, agriculture, photography, warfare, aerial firefighting, to name a few – would be impossible without it.
Human operation has been associated with errors, whereas aircraft configuration and design have been associated with particular inducements to human performance patterns. Pilot mistakes had been implicated in an alarming number of mishaps during training and flight operations over time (FAA, 2012).
Naturally, the need to improve the safety record of aviation operations has led to a more in-depth examination of the interaction of man and machine in aviation. This link has made it necessary for the aviation industry to emphasize the discipline of Human Factors in order to increase efficiency while reducing errors and consequent mishaps.
History of Human Factors in Aviation
According to FAA (2012), Leonardo DaVinci investigated human factors without focusing on a specific field in the 16th century, whereas Frank and Lillian Gilbreth introduced human factors to medicine in the early 1900s. When Orville and Wilbur Wright found out how to fit a human into the first airplane in the 1900s, they pioneered human factors in the aviation industry (FAA, 2012). According to the FAA, the US Army examined physical and mental qualities when choosing flight training candidates in the 1900s, as well as human aspects as contributing factors to accidents Multiple countries noted that a lot of training and operational mishaps were caused by human error in the 1940s through World War II and beyond (FAA, 2012), and this understanding brought to the fore the idea that human factors as a subject is of highest relevance in the Aviation Industry
Contribution of Pilot and Aircraft Relationship to Aviation Human Factors
According to Guastello (2014), the efficacy of a machine is dependent on the human who operates it, thus there are challenges and opportunities in the phase between man and machine (pp.2-3). This observation confirms that human variables in aviation are mostly dependent on the relationship between the pilot and the aircraft. Due to inadequate communication and control between the pilot and the aircraft, the Tenerife accident exposed room for error. According to Weick (1990), the only way to turn off the runway at C3 as instructed was to see the taxiway sign – C3, but due to low visibility in cloud, the PanAM 1736 Pilot steered the plane in the wrong direction, keeping the plane on the active runway with the information (or lack thereof) at hand. As a result of this and other human and machine faults, current radar monitoring and enhanced GPS equipped moving maps with superimposed taxi charts, or IFR taxi, have been developed.
Aircraft manufacturers such as Bombardier, Boeing, and Airbus, as well as avionics companies such as Collins and Honeywell, have done an excellent job of constantly re-engineering to achieve these human-centered designs, and as a result, aviation human factors has institutionalized Pilot to Aircraft interaction as a priority consideration. Flying the Bombardier CL-600, CL-601, CL-604, CL-605, and CRJ 200, CRJ 900, and CRJ 1000 provided me with the opportunity to witness the evolution of Honeywell and Collins flight-deck avionics, as well as the re-engineering of aircraft systems and the incorporation of these changes into Pilot training. I can attest that the difference between my bottom CL-600 (basic avionics flight deck) and my top CL-605 (human centered avionics flight deck) is equaling night and day. This interaction between pilots and aircraft led to improvements in automation, flight deck standardization, phraseology, airport design, and aircraft re-engineering to make routine maintenance and repairs easier.
Conclusion
The largest influence on the formation of human factors as a discipline in Aviation Industry. is clearly the potential progression in the human-machine relationship with a better understanding and significantly reduced errors and, as a result, minimum disasters. In retrospect, the discovery that aircraft design for human interaction was poor, with large margins of error, highlighted the importance of prioritizing human factors consideration. It is therefore only natural and not by chance that the Pilot-Aircraft relationship heralded the creation of human factors as a discipline in the Aviation Industry.
References
FAA.(2012,August 30). The history of human factors-FAA human factors [videofile].
Retrieved from https://youtube.com/watch?v=5r1aFRiqLCI
Guastello, S. J. (2014). Human factors engineering and ergonomics: a systems approach (2nded.). Boca Raton: CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group.
Weick, K. E. (1990). The vulnerable system: An analysis of the tenerife air disaster. Journal of Management, 16(3), 571-593. doi:10.1177/014920639001600304