8.
5 Crew Resource Management (CRM):
Definition of CRM
Training (awareness, line oriented flight training [LOFT], advanced qualification
program [AQP])
CRM and related training issues
Civil aviation Crew Resource Management (CRM) began in the United States in 1979.
Due to concerns over the magnitude of aviation accidents attributed to “pilot error,” the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) sponsored an industry workshop
that year, entitled Resource Management on the Flightdeck. Originally titled Cockpit
Resource Management, each of the major air carriers in attendance departed the
conference committed to the development of CRM training. In its broadest sense, CRM
is the use of all available resources, information, equipment, and people to achieve safe
and efficient flight operations. Since the 1979 conference, the CRM concept has evolved
through several generations.4
The CRM lineage traces back to human factors performance research, much of which can
be linked to efforts initiated by the US Army Air Corps and US Navy during World War
II. Civilian CRM was originally driven by observations indicating uneven distribution of
workload during critical situations such that one crew member, usually the captain,
became overloaded while others were not effective contributors to resolution of the
situation at hand. Research had also shown that a large number of accidents attributed to
human error originated with an aircraft malfunction (frequently, an insignificant
malfunction which would not have caused loss of the plane). Many of these accidents
were caused, or facilitated, by the aircrew’s fixation on the malfunction, which resulted in
their loss of overall situational awareness. Meanwhile the plane flew itself into the
ground or exhausted its fuel. Initial training techniques were derived primarily from
management training approaches and stressed interpersonal teamwork while preserving a
leadership chain. Skills taught in the classroom setting were adapted to training scenarios
in simulators where techniques could be practiced without danger. As CRM skills
became integrated with traditional elements of flight training in simulators or in aircraft,
“real world” missions could be flown. This form of integrated flight training became
known as Line Oriented Flight Training (LOFT). LOFT is the environment, whether in
simulators or actual aircraft, in which CRM is merged with the traditional technical
elements of flight training.
In 1986, NASA convened another CRM workshop. By this time most major carriers had
some form of CRM/LOFT. It was at this time that the name change from Cockpit to
Crew Resource Management occurred, to acknowledge the roll of cabin crews along with
ground handling, maintenance, and dispatching crews. New emphasis in content stressed
team oriented situational awareness, group decision-making techniques, and strategies to
interrupt the chain of errors leading to accidents. Much of the training that originated in
this era continues to be used, either in stand-alone modules, or embedded within newer
programs.
Airport Ramp Safety and Crew Performance
A study to determine the areas of ramp operations most likely to result in
damage during Part 121 and Part 135 ramp operations was reported in April
1995 at The Ohio State University’s Eighth International Aviation Psychology
Program. It was found that ramp damage incidents occurred more often during
aircraft arrival than during aircraft departures. The damage incidents occurred
most frequently at the gate stop area (within 20 feet of the nose wheel parking
line); next most often at the gate entry/exit areas, where taxi lines lead into and
out of the gate area; and least frequently on the ramp fringe areas. In more than
one third of the damage incidents there was only one ground crew member
available to direct and attend the aircraft. The pilots reporting these incidents
attributed error to ground crew personnel in more than half the accidents, but
also faulted themselves almost as frequently.
The so-called, CRM-third generation evolved during the early 1990s. The most
significant changes included an intensifying of efforts to expand to other members of the
operational aviation population. Some saw this as a dilution of the initial concept whose
sole purpose had been to focus on reduction of human error. During this period advanced
CRM was developed for use by check airmen and for the trainers themselves.
Also introduced in 1990 was the Advanced Qualification Program (AQP). This is a
voluntary program in which an air carrier is allowed to develop innovative training
(initial and sustaining) for its crews in order to meet its own specific needs. Once an
approved AQP is established, the carrier is freed from the proscriptive training
requirements stated in the Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR), Parts 121 and 135. In
return, each carrier’s AQP must contain both CRM and LOFT. The incorporation of
CRM / LOFT topics into the AQPs has been termed 4th generation CRM.
In the most recent, or 5th generation CRM, the major philosophical change has been to
assume human error is pervasive and cannot be totally eliminated. Therefore, the current
CRM evolution
has focused on error management with the development of error countermeasures. These
techniques are grouped into three major lines of effort, which lie along a single
continuum:
Error avoidance,
Trapping error before it is committed, and
Mitigation of error consequence.
To gain success in this error management approach, it is necessary for the basic culture of
the air carrier organization to accept error in a non-punitive manner. Error must be
studied closely to create useable “lessons learned,” which may subsequently be applied to
shape future training programs. This has already become manifest in training that
stresses error management as a hallmark of effective crew performance and treats well
managed errors as an indicator of good performance.
CRM/LOFT: Not Just for Air Carriers
Noting that CRM/LOFT procedures used in training by all major air
carriers have resulted in safety and efficiency improvements, similar
techniques have been and are being developed for use in general
aviation pilot training at all levels – initial and recurrent. Often this
involves intensive involvement between instructor and student to instill
an attitude toward safety of flight which results in a behavioral change
with regard to flying, without focusing so much on personal behavioral
change. One of the most significant differences which CRM/LOFT must
address in the general aviation environment is the preponderance of
single pilot operations. This requires an emphasis on effective use of
non-human resources, especially those associated with interaction with
CRM in Context4
CRM is not and never will be the mechanism to eliminate error and assure absolute
safety in a high risk endeavor such as aviation. Error is an inevitable result of the natural
limitations of human performance and the function of complex systems. CRM is one of
an array of tools that organizations can use to manage error.
The safety of operations is influenced by professional, organizational, and national
cultures; safety requires focusing each of these toward an organizational safety culture
that deals with errors non-punitively and proactively. When CRM is viewed in the
context of the aviation system, its contributions and limitations can be understood. What
we do know is that the rationale for human factors training is as strong now as it was
when the term CRM was first coined.
References:
1. Dhenin G, Sharp GR, Ernsting J. Aviation Medicine – Physiology and Human
Factors. London: Tri-Med Books Limited, 1978.
2. Kantowitz BH, Casper PA. Human Workload in Aviation. In: Wiener EL, Nagel DC,
Eds., Human Factors in Aviation. San Diego: Academic Press, Inc., 1988.
3. Wiener EL, Chute RD, Moses JH. Transition to Glass: Pilot Training for High-
Technology Transport Aircraft; Flight Safety Digest, June-August 1999.
4. Helmreich RL, Merritt AC, Wilhelm JA. The Evolution of Crew Resource
Management Training; International Journal of Aviation Psychology 9(1), 19-32, 1999.
5. Caro PW. Flight Training and Simulation. In: Wiener EL, Nagel DC, Eds., Human
Factors in Aviation. San Diego: Academic Press, Inc., 1988.
CRM in Medicine
CRM has been used to assist training simulations for emergency medicine teams. The
emphasis is on leadership, communication, and collaboration. One of the participants
takes the team leader role and the simulation encourages sharing of information. The
simulation also allows the team to make errors. Team performance is discussed during an
immediate debriefing following the end of the active exercise.
Source: Trauma team training in a virtual emergency room. Final report from the MATADOR project;
http://www.telenor.no/fou/publisering/rapporter/R_53_2002.pdf
CRM is used in the training of clinical investigation teams:
Crew Resource Management (CRM), a program developed by airlines in response to a
series of plane crashes, can effectively be applied to the research setting:
encourage all members of the research staff to ask questions
respond seriously to all concerns
build consensus
eliminate intimidation.
when a staff member expresses concern, clarify the actions and freely obtain the
advice of the IRB.
Source: Collaborative IRB Training Initiative Course at http://www.courses.miami.edu
A 1999 Institute of Medicine report claimed that 44,000 –
98,000 people die each year as a result of medical mistakes. Those
numbers have challenged as too high and too low. Without a
standard reporting system, though, nobody knows exactly what the
totals are…Just as commercial airline captains resisted training in
the “soft” skills of personal interactions, doctors have followed
suit, viewing CRM-like training as a challenge to their authority…
Research found that physicians had little appreciation for how
performance drops with fatigue, how autocratic styles in
emergency rooms discouraged inputs from junior staff members,
