Effective Aeronautical Decision-Making

The accident rate for helicopters has traditionally been higher than the accident rate of fixed-wing aircraft, probably due to the helicopter’s unique capabilities to fly and land in more diverse situations than fixed-wing aircraft and pilot attempts to fly the helicopter beyond the limits of his or her abilities or beyond the capabilities of the […]

Automation management is the control and navigation of an aircraft by means of the automated systems installed in the aircraft. One of the most important concepts of automation management is simply knowing when to use it and when not to use it. Ideally, a pilot first learns to perform practical test standard (PTS) maneuvers and

An emergency medical services (EMS) helicopter departed for a night flight to transport an 11-day-old infant patient from one hospital to another. No record was found indicating the pilot obtained a weather briefing before departure. The pilot had a choice of taking either a direct route that crossed a remote area of rugged mountainous terrain

In addition to learning to make good aeronautical decisions, and learning to manage risk and flight workload, situation awareness (SA) is an important element of ADM. Situational awareness is the accurate perception and understanding of all the factors and conditions within the four fundamental risk elements (PAVE) that affect safety before, during, and after the

One component of SRM is workload or task management. Research shows that humans have a limited capacity for information. Once information flow exceeds the person’s ability to mentally process the information, any additional information becomes unattended or displaces other tasks and information already being processed. Once this situation occurs, only two alternatives exist: shed the

Risk management is a formalized way of dealing with hazards. It is the logical process of weighing the potential cost of risks from hazards against the possible benefits of allowing those risks from hazards to stand unmitigated. It is a decision-making process designed to identify hazards systematically, assess the degree of risk, and determine the

Many of the concepts utilized in CRM have been successfully applied to single-pilot operations which led to the development of SRM. Defined as the art and science of managing all the resources (both on board the aircraft and from outside resources) available to a single pilot (prior to and during flight), SRM ensures the successful

The PIC of an aircraft is directly responsible for and is the final authority for the operation of that aircraft. The list of PIC responsibilities is long, and nothing should be overlooked. To exercise those responsibilities effectively and make effective decisions regarding the outcome of a flight, a pilot must have an understanding of personal

Making good choices sounds easy enough. However, there are a multitude of factors that come into play when these choices, and subsequent decisions, are made in the aeronautical world. Many tools are available for pilots to become more self aware and assess the options available, along with the impact of their decision. Yet, with all