CRM Aviation
Evolution
We are discussing the evolution of
crew resource management training in commercial aviation
here. The roots of Crew Resource
Management training in the United States are usually traced back to
a workshop, Resource Management on the Flightdeck sponsored by the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 1979 (Cooper,
White, & Lauber, 1980).
This conference was the outgrowth of
NASA research into the causes of air transport accidents. The
research presented at this meeting identified the human error
aspects of the majority of air crashes as failures of interpersonal
communications, decision making, and leadership. At this meeting,
the label Cockpit Resource Management (CRM) was applied to the
process of training crews to reduce “pilot error” by making better
use of the human resources on the flightdeck.
Many of the air carriers represented
at this meeting left it committed to developing new training
programs to enhance the interpersonal aspects of flight operations.
Since that time CRM Aviation Evolution programs have proliferated in
the United
States and around the world.
Approaches to CRM Aviation Evolution in the years since the NASA
meeting. The focus is on the generations of CRM training that
reflect this evolution and on the problems that have been
encountered in changing the attitudes and behavior of flight crews.
CRM Aviation Evolution and other CRM training in the military have
followed its own path of growth and evolution and will not be
addressed here (Prince & Salas, 1993, for a discussion of
military CRM programs).
We use the term ‘evolution’ in describing the
changes in CRM over the last two decades. CRM Aviation Evolution, as
formally defined refers to the process of growth and development, a
description that aptly fits CRM. Similarly, the very different
content and foci of programs called CRM justifies defining them in
terms of generations (although temporally a CRM generation is closer
to that of the Drosophila than the human). Our focus is on the most
recent approaches to CRM training. Early generations are described
briefly to show their context and emphases (Helmreich & Foushee,
1993, for a more complete description of early program).
The first comprehensive U.S. CRM
Aviation Evolution was initiated by United Airlines in 1981. The
training was developed with the aid of consultants who had developed
training programs for corporations trying to enhance managerial
effectiveness. The United program was modeled closely on a form of
training called the ‘Managerial Grid’ developed by psychologists
Robert Blake and Jane Mouton (Blake & Mouton, 1964).
The training was conducted in an
intensive seminar setting and included participants’ diagnoses of
their own managerial style. Other airline programs in this era also
drew heavily on management training approaches. These programs
emphasized changing individual styles and correcting deficiencies in
individual behavior such as a lack of assertiveness by juniors and
authoritarian behavior by captains. Supporting this emphasis, the
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB, 1979) had singled out
the captain’s failure to accept input from junior crewmembers (a
characteristic sometimes referred to as the “Wrong Stuff”) and a
lack of assertiveness by the flight engineer as causal factors in a
United Airlines crash in 1978.
First generation courses of CRM
Aviation Evolution were psychological in nature, with a heavy focus
on psychological testing and general concepts such as leadership.
They advocated general strategies of interpersonal behavior without
providing clear definitions of appropriate behavior in the cockpit.
Many employed games and exercises unrelated to aviation to
illustrate concepts.3 It was also recognized that CRM training
should not be a single experience in a pilot’s career and annual
recurrent training in CRM became part of the program. In addition to
classroom training, some programs also included full mission
simulator training (Line Oriented Flight Training) where crews could
practice interpersonal skills without jeopardy. However, despite
overall acceptance, many of these courses encountered resistance
from some pilots, who denounced them as “charm school” or attempts
to manipulate their personalities.
