I bring you a weekly bite-sized chunk of the science behind helicopter human factors and CRM in practice, simplifying the complex and distilling a helicopter related study into a summary of less than 500 words.
TITLE:
Helicopter pilots’ views of air traffic controller responsibilities: a mismatch.
WHAT?
Study investigating helicopter pilots’ perception of air traffic controller responsibility for flight in different types of airspace.
WHEN?
2018.
WHERE?
UK, (London Airspace Class A-D)
HOW?
Interviewed pilots (UK & EASA) using different flight scenarios to ascertain their perception of the level of responsibility they share with controllers for key tasks (Separation from: terrain; aircraft; vertical obstructions; choice of flight rules.)
WHY?
To investigate the role shared mental models play in procedures and regulations and its impact on diverse team performance and the functioning of complex socio- technical systems.
FINDINGS:
- Pilots tend to assign a greater level of responsibility to controllers than is defined in regulation.
- Pilots’ expectation of controller responsibility was highest for aircraft separation.
- Pilots tend to see aircraft separation as a shared responsibility with controllers even in airspace where it is not.
- There was high variability in pilot responses with many outliers, especially for terrain and obstacle clearance.
SO WHAT?
- In aviation regulation controllers have no responsibility for terrain and obstacle clearance, and the selection of flight rules. Controllers only have responsibility for aircraft separation in Class A airspace.
- A mismatch between this and pilot expectation could create misunderstanding between what tasks pilots expect controllers to be responsible for. For example, the assumption that a controller is monitoring a helicopter flight profile on radar, when not required to do so.
Blurring of responsibility could occur in minds of pilots due to the radar service given by controllers. Controllers might remind pilots of obstacles, or terrain, and provide traffic information that they are not strictly required to do. Even if pilot knowledge of respective responsibilities is correct, this can normalise an erroneous level of expectation which, over time, could create lower levels of vigilance on the part of the pilot.
REFERENCE:
Martin, D., & Nixon, J. (2018). Helicopter pilots’ views of air traffic controller responsibilities: a mismatch. Ergonomics, 62(2), 268–276. https://doi.org/10.1080/00140139.2018.1440635
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