The Effects of Aircraft Automation on Management of Performance Variability of Pilots: A Case Study of Operational Practice in The Light of Evidence Based Training and Pilot Resilience.

Abstract

In recent years, several studies have raised concern regarding pilot resilience; their capacity to respond to- and manage surprise, adverse, events. This, due to both ever-increasing levels of automation of aircraft on one hand, as well as due to training methods based on repetition of- and training with old (accident) scenarios and failures on the other.

A recently developed pilot training program, Evidence Based Training (EBT), is said to support pilot resilience by means of moving beyond primary reliance on scenarios and instead focusing on building competencies incorporating both technical and crew resource management aspects. The future effects of increasing aircraft automation on pilot resilience and management of performance variablity remain relatively unclear, however.

This research aims to gain an understanding of the practical application of EBT competencies, and to better understand the influence of the level of automation of aircraft on pilot’s risk perception and management of performance variability. This, to see if training, and in particular EBT in its current form, could be improved to further boost pilot resilience and (partially) counter concerns regarding the effects of aircraft automation. This is achieved through in-depth qualitative interviews with experienced pilots operating aircraft possessing different levels of automation and comparing the results with EBT’s competency indicators and previous studies, as well as against relevant literature on decision- making and automation, risk perception and resilience.