Life Lessons From Cockpit

During flight pilots communicate all the time. This goes on until the airplane arrives at the destination, engines shut down and all passengers and crew disembark from the airplane. In fact communication is one of the critical elements, or components of a flight. Studies have shown that a lot of incidents or accidents happened during flights due to a breakdown in communication in the cockpit amongst the pilots as well as miscommunication between pilots and others such as air traffic controllers and engineers.

In our daily life, we too are continuously communicating. It is often said that “we cannot not communicate.” Think about that for a moment. Since we are doing it all the time we become unconscious about it. Yet how many times have we misinterpreted when someone was talking to us or we have been misunderstood when we were talking or saying something to another person.

Oftentimes we underestimate the importance of good communication skills. One can learn to be a good communicator from books or by attending courses. Learning is one thing, we also need to practice this newly learned skill and be aware and be conscious of the response that we get whenever we communicate.

Just how important is good communication in the cockpit? Well, from my own experience I know for sure that it is very, very important. In fact it is crucial for the safety of the flight. Take a typical long haul flight as an example. It flies not only over long periods of time; it also flies across many countries. Although everyone speaks English, however each of them speaks English with a different accent.

Another area that could be of concern is the altitude that an aircraft flies at. Some countries use feet as the unit of measurement whereas some use meters. At most airports the surface wind is reported in knots whereas some other airports report surface wind in meters per second. Apart from the above, different countries could have different air traffic control procedures. All the above could be confusing and if not properly clarified while communicating, it could be a safety hazard.

In my next post I will explain how communication errors are minimized in the cockpit.

Written by Azharuddin Osman

Tags: aircraft, Cockpit, Communication, life lessons, Pilots, workload management

All of us are leaders to some extend and in our own way. We could be a leader at our workplace, a leader at home, a leader in our own neighbourhood or our community. So what is a leader, what are the qualities of a leader, and what do leaders do? How do we see ourselves as a leader?

Perhaps we can learn something from the cockpit discipline at how the commander of the flight, who is the captain, conducts himself during flight, as the team leader in charge of a multi million dollar asset that includes the lives of a few hundred people. The following are some of his roles and responsibilities that I have learned during my years as a captain:

• During flight, the captain is the designated leader. This role is bestowed upon him not only by the company, but also by the regulatory body. He therefore has wide ranging powers.
• He sets the tone for the flight. His crew members will react to his moods and idiosyncrasies. It is therefore important for him to be in a state that fosters teamwork and encourages the crew to be motivated to perform at their best.
• Workload management. Although all his team members have their own roles and responsibilities, the captain will distribute the workload accordingly especially during non-normal situations. He should be able to detect whenever any of his team members is overloaded with tasks.
• Leadership style. A captain will be scheduled to fly with crew members of various experience levels, ranging from a few months experience to a few years. He should therefore be able to use the most suitable leadership style depending on the experience level of his team members. The worst case would be to delegate tasks to an inexperienced crew member or to direct a very experienced crew member.
• Crew members briefing. If his mental state and behaviour sets the tone for the flight, briefing will ensure that all team members are “on the same page.” To work well as a team, it is important for the captain to conduct a briefing. This will address and resolve any differences in expectation amongst crew members. It will also allow crew members to clarify any issues or misunderstandings.
• Debriefing. In the aviation industry, experience is an invaluable asset. It is the captain’s responsibility to ensure that the inexperienced crew members learn something from the flight. Being the most experienced, he could guide them to discover lessons learned from the flight.

Written by Azharuddin Osman

Tags: briefing, Captain, debriefing, flight crew, leader, leadership, lessons from cockpit, non-normal

If you have been in the cockpit of an airplane or if you have seen pictures of an airplane cockpit, you would have noticed a myriad of switches, buttons and dials to control the various systems and as an indication of systems status. The bigger the aircraft, the more complex is the system. These switches and buttons would have to be manipulated during each phase of the flight with different buttons or switches for different phases. Correct and timely switching of the switches and buttons is critical to the safety of the flight. Have you therefore wondered how could pilots possibly remember and not miss a single step of the procedure as dictated? The answer is the use of checklist.

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Sample of a checklist

The airplane checklist has long been regarded as a foundation of pilot standardization and safety. Studies have indicated that the non-use or the improper use of the checklist is one of the major contributing factors to aircraft incidents and accidents. Learning from the strict cockpit discipline and the effectiveness of the checklist, a lot of high-risk and critical industries such as medical care, space flight, maritime and power production have adopted the use of checklist as part of their procedures. The following are reasons why checklists are widely used in the above industries including aviation:

• Offers standardization. With the use of checklists there is no ambiguity with the various procedures. Everyone knows exactly what to expect and what to do during all phases of flight.
• Provides added safety. During a non-normal situation the checklist allows one pilot to manipulate the various switches and buttons on his own without much supervision and frees the other pilot to concentrate on flying the airplane.
• Reduces workload. Checklist reduces pilots’ workload since they do not have to memorise some of the procedures as these procedures are referenced to the checklists.
• Aligns expectations. All modern airplanes are manned by two pilots. Most airlines would have a few hundred pilots flying the same aircraft type. Checklist allows pilots to fly with any of them as whomever that they fly with, will know what to expect.
• Manages workload better. Pilots have to carry out certain procedures during different phases of the flight. By using checklist, their workload would be evenly distributed. One pilot can concentrate in flying the plane while the other pilot can carry out other required tasks.

Learning from the pilots we can use checklists in many of our daily activities. As an example we can create a checklist to plan and arrange our activities for the day. By doing so we will be able to plan our life better, reduces our workload and helps us to distribute our workload better. It ensures that we do not miss anything of importance.

Written by Azharuddin Osman

Tags: airplane, checklists, Life Lessons from Cockpit, non-normal, normal