One Year of H2F BITESIZE!

Posted byAlex PollittPosted inAviation, Crew Resource Management, Flight Safety, H2F 500wd Study, Helicopters, Human FactorsTags:, , , , , , ,

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.

Celebrating the first birthday of H2F Bitesize!

When I started posting H2F Bitesize I committed myself to make one summary a week for a year with the objective of regularly reading and absorbing some research relevant to my field of study.

Every Wednesday for a year I have dropped a post sharing findings from important human factors studies, past and present, related to helicopter aviation. By way of celebrating the first anniversary of this endeavour, I look back at what 52 weeks of helicopter human factors posts looks like and what I have taken from them.

A year on, I find that an unanticipated by-product of this weekly activity is a body of literature. The 52 studies collectively provide a broad snapshot of contemporary aviation human factors research, of which over half are specifically focused on rotary wing operations, including such themes as mountain flying, hoisting, degraded visual environments, and low-level and night flying,

Unsurprisingly, these studies consistently portray helicopter flying as one of the most cognitively demanding environments in aviation, owing to the high level of manual flying skill required, task variety and load, time and mission pressures, rapidly changing environmental conditions, degraded visual cues, and frequently dynamic operational decision-making.

Unsurprisingly, these studies consistently portray helicopter flying as one of the most cognitively demanding environments in aviation

Looking back at the list, a collection of studies emerges, some informal analysis of which offers a few themes of interest.

A number of the studies were focused on measuring pilot cognition, examining areas like cognitive load, attentional focus, physiological stress responses, gaze behaviour, and spatial disorientation. Some of these reflect an increasing focus in research taking advantage of advances in easily available technology such as wearable sensors to monitor physiological signals, eye-tracking, and new machine learning techniques to aid with the classification of pilot cognitive state. They perhaps reflect a broader shift in aviation human factors toward objective workload measurement, real-time human performance monitoring, predictive safety systems, and adaptive cockpit technologies. Future safety systems are likely to incorporate this kind of physiological and behavioural data increasingly into operational risk management.

Fourteen of the 52 studies are related to non-technical skills and CRM. When you look at these studies together, they suggest that CRM is expanding beyond traditional definitions of cockpit co-operation and communication, and that the field is continuing to evolve towards new paradigms such as distributed cognition, emotional regulation, and human-automation collaboration. There is a clear movement underway toward systems-level teamwork involving organisations, digital systems, and the integration of AI.

CRM is expanding and continuing to evolve towards new paradigms

Artificial intelligence, human–automation teaming, and trust in automation are emerging rapidly across human factors domains as a major future theme. We are fast approaching the dawn of a new era of AI-supported safety, machine-learning, and data analysis that is likely to permeate every aspect of aviation training.

Above all, as I look down the list at the variety of the subject matter in these summaries, my attention is drawn to the sheer breadth of human factors as a multidisciplinary field of study.

Above all, my attention is drawn to the sheer breadth of human factors as a multidisciplinary field of study.

Below is a full list of the papers reviewed from June 2025-2026.

52 studies in 52 weeks:

  1. The role of native English speakers in safe, efficient radiotelephony.
  2. Hero or hazard: A systematic review of individual differences linked with reduced accident involvement and influencing success during emergencies.
  3. Exploring the role of pilot attributes and skills in response to in-flight emergencies.
  4. Human factors in helicopter air ambulance accidents, incidents, and safety reports.
  5. Emotions-Based Training: Enhancing aviation performance through self-awareness and mental preparation, coping with stress and emotions.
  6. The reliability of instructor evaluations of crew performance: Good news and not so good news.
  7. Helicopter flights with night-vision goggles: Human factors aspects.
  8. Addressing differences in safety influencing factors – a comparison of offshore and onshore helicopter operations.
  9. Safety in high-risk helicopter operations: The role of additional crew in accident prevention.
  10. Helicopter pilots encountering fog: An analysis of 109 accidents from 1992 to 2016.
  11. Effects of acute stress on aircrew performance: Literature review and analysis of operational aspects.
  12. Pilot see, pilot do: Examining the predictors of pilots’ risk management behaviour.
  13. Quantifying the impact of spatial disorientation on pilot mental workload and attentional focus.
  14. The first fatal helicopter emergency medical services crash in Turkey: Weather, human factors, and lessons learned.
  15. Resilience and brittleness in the offshore helicopter transportation system: The identification of constraints and sacrifice decisions in pilots’ work.
  16. Is It All about the Mission? Comparing Non-technical Skills across Offshore Transport and Search and Rescue Helicopter Pilots.
  17. Pilot monitoring: Summary of research and applied training tools.
  18. Using SHERPA to predict human error on the maritime SAR helicopter hoist task.
  19. Crew resource management: What aviation can learn from the application of CRM in other domains.
  20. Pilots gaze more outside while performing an auditory cognitive task.
  21. Helicopter pilot performance and workload in a following task in a degraded visual environment.
  22. Effects of hydration on cognitive function of pilots.
  23. Helicopter pilots’ views of air traffic controller responsibilities: a mismatch.
  24. The role of shared mental models in team coordination crew resource management skills of mutual performance monitoring and backup behaviors.
  25. Workload in helicopter rescue operations – A comparison of two different rescue methods in a randomized cross-over design.
  26. Machine learning methods for cognitive load analysis and classification in aviation: A systematic review.
  27. Factors affecting safety during night visual approach segments for offshore helicopters.
  28. Effectiveness of a new basic course incorporating medical trainer simulator for HEMS education in Japan: A pre–post intervention study.
  29. Incidence and challenges of helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) rescue missions with helicopter hoist operations: Analysis of 11,228 daytime and nighttime missions in Switzerland.
  30. Distributed cognition in search and rescue: Loosely coupled tasks and tightly coupled roles.
  31. Integrating digital competency into aviation training: An auditable inputs–processes–outcomes framework.
  32. Non-technical skills in the civil aviation sector.
  33. Impact of adverse weather on commercial helicopter pilot decision-making and standard operating procedures.
  34. The virtual landing pad: Facilitating rotary-wing landing operations in degraded visual environments.
  35. The potential of technologies to mitigate helicopter accident factors: Status update and way forward.
  36. Investigating Offshore Helicopter Pilots’ Cognitive Load and Physiological Responses during Simulated In-Flight Emergencies.
  37. Learning beyond ‘hands and feet’ in offshore helicopter operations: integrating the individual with the social in CRM and SA.
  38. Differences in physical workload between military helicopter pilots and cabin crew.
  39. Wellbeing of helicopter emergency medical services personnel in a challenging work context: A qualitative study.
  40. The potential of flight simulation to support pilot training for mountain helicopter emergency medical services.
  41. Enhancing aviation safety with artificial intelligence: A systematic literature review on recent advances, challenges and future perspectives.
  42. Effects of unexpected event urgency and flight scenario familiarity on pilot trainees’ performance and stress responses.
  43. Organizational pressure and pilot decision-making in adverse weather: A naturalistic decision-making analysis of helicopter accidents.
  44. On error classification from physiological signals within airborne environment.
  45. Safety at high altitude: The importance of emotional dysregulation on pilots’ risk attitudes during flight.
  46. Understanding pilots’ perceptions of AI-mediated mental health support in aviation: A socio-technical framework.
  47. Principles for intelligent assistant systems in future flight deck design: Autonomous action integration to reduce pilot workload.
  48. Crew resource management for automated teammates (CRM-A).
  49. The effects of crew resource management on flight safety culture: Corporate crew resource management (CRM 7.0).
  50. Essential attributes for successful military student pilots: A focus group study.
  51. Supporting the investigation of language and other communication factors.
  52. Startle and surprise in helicopter operations: Reported prevalence and application of mitigation strategies.

REFERENCES:

  1. Aircrew Training Policy Group – Skytalk Group. (2024). The role of native English speakers in safe, efficient radiotelephony. Retrieved from https://www.aviation-english.com/atpg-skytalk/(17)
  2. Bagley, L., Boag-Hodgson, C., Stainer, M., 2023. Hero or hazard: a systematic review of individual differences linked with reduced accident involvement and influencing success during emergencies. Heliyon 9 (4). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023. e15006. (24)
  3. Bagley, L., Boag-Hodgson, C., Stainer, M., Wishart, D., & Cross, J. (2026). Exploring the role of pilot attributes and skills in response to in-flight emergencies. Safety Science, 193, 107010. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2025.107010 (23)
  4. Baumgartner, H.M., Durham, J., Hu, P.T., (2025) Human Factors in Helicopter Air Ambulance Accidents, Incidents, and Safety Reports, Air Medical Journal, 2025, ISSN 1067-991X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amj.2025.03.008. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1067991X25001014) (6)
  5. Beltran, F. (2024). Emotions-Based Training: Enhancing Aviation Performance Through Self-Awareness and Mental Preparation, Coping with Stress and Emotions. In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Cognitive Aircraft Systems (ICCAS 2024) (pp. 21–28). SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. https://doi.org/10.5220/0012924000004562 (25) 
  6. Brannick, M. T., Prince, C., & Salas, E. (2002). The Reliability of Instructor Evaluations of Crew Performance: Good News and Not So Good News. The International Journal of Aviation Psychology, 12(3), 241–261. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327108IJAP1203_4 (5)
  7. Brickner, M. S. (1989). Helicopter flights with night-vision goggles: Human factors aspects (No. NASA-TM-101039). (3)
  8. Bye, R.J., Johnsen, S.O., Lillehammer, G. (2018). Addressing differences in safety influencing factors – a comparison of offshore and onshore helicopter operations. Safety, 4,4: dog:10.3390/safety4010004 (7)
  9. de Voogt, A. J., Uitdewilligen, S., & Eremenko, N. (2009). Safety in high-risk helicopter operations: The role of additional crew in accident prevention. Safety Science, 47(5), 717–721. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2008.09.009 (21)
  10. de Voogt, A., Kalagher, H., & Diamond, A. (2020). Helicopter pilots encountering fog: An analysis of 109 accidents from 1992 to 2016. Atmosphere, 11(9), 994. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos11090994 (31)
  11. Dismukes, R. K., Goldsmith, T. E., & Kochan, J. A. (2015). Effects of acute stress on aircrew performance: Literature review and analysis of operational aspects (NASA/TM—2015–218930). NASA Ames Research Center. (29) 
  12. Drinkwater, J. L., & Molesworth, B. R. C. (2010). Pilot see, pilot do: Examining the predictors of pilots’ risk management behaviour. Safety Science, 48(10), 1445–1451. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2010.07.001 (26)
  13. Evertsen, F. W., Landman, A., Groen, E. L., Houben, M. M. J., van Paassen, M. M., Stroosma, O., & Mulder, M. (2025). Quantifying the impact of spatial disorientation on pilot mental workload and attentional focus. Human Factors, 67(10), 997–1010. https://doi.org/10.1177/00187208251323116 (32)
  14. Golcuk, Y., & Guler, L. M. (2025). The first fatal helicopter emergency medical services crash in Turkey: Weather, human factors, and lessons learned. Air Medical Journal, 44, 223–224. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amj.2025.02.002 (38)
  15. Gomes, J. O., Woods, D. D., Carvalho, P. V. R., Huber, G. J., & Borges, M. R. S. (2009). Resilience and brittleness in the offshore helicopter transportation system: The identification of constraints and sacrifice decisions in pilots’ work. Reliability Engineering & System Safety, 94(2), 311–319. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ress.2008.03.026 (20) 
  16. Hamlet, O. E. D., Irwin, A., & McGregor, M. (2020). Is It All about the Mission? Comparing Non-technical Skills across Offshore Transport and Search and Rescue Helicopter Pilots. The International Journal of Aerospace Psychology, 30(3–4), 215–235. https://doi.org/10.1080/24721840.2020.1803746 (9)
  17. HeliOffshore. (2022). Pilot monitoring: Summary of research and applied training tools. Jarvis Bagshaw Ltd for HeliOffshore. https://www.helioffshore.org (15)
  18. Hung, C.-L., & Dai, M. D.-M. (2024). Using SHERPA to predict human error on the maritime SAR helicopter hoist task. Heliyon, 10, e32043. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e32043 (35) 
  19. Jimenez, C., Kasper, K., Rivera, J., Talone, A. B., & Jentsch, F. (2016). Crew resource management: What aviation can learn from the application of CRM in other domains. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 59th Annual Meeting, 946–950. https://doi.org/10.1177/1541931215591274 (27) 
  20. Landman, A., Stuldreher, I. V., Van der Burg, E., Evertsen, F. W., Reuten, A. J., Ledegang, W. D., … & Groen, E. L. (2025). Pilots gaze more outside while performing an auditory cognitive task. Ergonomics, 1-11. (2)
  21. Ledegang, W.D. van de Burg, E., Valk, P.J.L., Houben, M.M.J., Groen, E.L. (2024). Helicopter pilot performance and workload in a following task in a degraded visual environment. Aerospace Medicine and Human Performance, Vol.95, No.1, DOI: https://doi.org/10.3357/AMHP.6266.2924 (8)
  22. Lindseth, P. D., Lindseth, G. N., Petros, T. V., Jensen, W. C., & Caspers, J. (2013). Effects of hydration on cognitive function of pilots. Military Medicine, 178(7), 792–798. https://doi.org/10.7205/MILMED-D-13-00013 (13)
  23. 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 (1)
  24. Martinez, A. R. (2015). The role of shared mental models in team coordination crew resource management skills of mutual performance monitoring and backup behaviors (Publication No. 72) [Doctoral dissertation, University of Southern Mississippi]. The Aquila Digital Community. http://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations/72 (14)
  25. Mattingsdal, H., Dahle, T. N., Abrahamsen, E. B., Søvik, S., & Ottestad, W. (2025). Workload in helicopter rescue operations – A comparison of two different rescue methods in a randomized cross-over design. Safety Science, 192, 106996. (28)
  26. Molloy, O., Eves, G., Vahidnia, S., & Shahin, M. (2026). Machine learning methods for cognitive load analysis and classification in aviation: A systematic review. International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction. https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2026.2632151
  27. Nascimento FAC, Majumdar A, Jarvis S. Factors affecting safety during night visual approach segments for offshore helicopters. The Aeronautical Journal. 2012;116(1177):303-322. doi:10.1017/S0001924000006850 (10)
  28. Omori, K., Takahashi, J., Watanabe, N., Iwasaki, H., Mineyama, S., Sakata, K., Yamada, K., Ichikawa, S., Takamatsu, M., Ogino, R., & Hayakawa, T. (2025). Effectiveness of a new basic course incorporating medical trainer simulator for HEMS education in Japan: A pre–post intervention study. BMC Medical Education, 25, 477. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-025-07047-4 (36)
  29. Pietsch, U., Knapp, J., Mann, M., Meuli, L., Lischke, V., Tissi, M., Sollid, S., Rauch, S., Wenzel, V., Becker, S., & Albrecht, R. (2021). Incidence and challenges of helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) rescue missions with helicopter hoist operations: Analysis of 11,228 daytime and nighttime missions in Switzerland. Scandinavian Journal of Trauma, Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine, 29(92). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13049-021-00898-y (30)
  30. Plant, K. L., & Stanton, N. A. (2016). Distributed cognition in search and rescue: Loosely coupled tasks and tightly coupled roles. Ergonomics, 59(10), 1353–1376. https://doi.org/10.1080/00140139.2016.1143531 (16)
  31. Ramanjaneyulu, S., Jalandharachari, A. S., Bindhani, S., Kasodhan, P., Harish, D., & Murthy, B. R. (2026). Integrating digital competency into aviation training: An auditable inputs–processes–outcomes framework. Journal of the Air Transport Research Society, 6, 100104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jatrs.2026.100104
  32. Rouco, J. C. D., & Sousa, D. F. R. de. (2024). Non-technical skills in the civil aviation sector. International Journal of Professional Business Review, 9(4), e04576. https://doi.org/10.26668/businessreview/2024.v9i4.4576
  33. Speirs, A. H., Ramée, C., Payan, A. P., Mavris, D. N., & Feigh, K. M. (2021, August). Impact of adverse weather on commercial helicopter pilot decision-making and standard operating procedures. AIAA Aviation 2021 Forum. https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2021-2771 (18)
  34. Stanton, N. A., Plant, K. L., Roberts, A. P., Allison, C. K., & Harvey, C. (2018). The virtual landing pad: Facilitating rotary-wing landing operations in degraded visual environments. Cognition, Technology & Work, 20(2), 219–232. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10111-018-0467-1 (22)
  35. Stevens, J. M. G. F., & Vreeken, J. (2018). The potential of technologies to mitigate helicopter accident factors: Status update and way forward (NLR-TP-2018-470). Netherlands Aerospace Centre. (19)
  36. Taber, M. J. (2020). Investigating Offshore Helicopter Pilots’ Cognitive Load and Physiological Responses during Simulated In-Flight Emergencies. The International Journal of Aerospace Psychology, 31(1), 56–69. https://doi.org/10.1080/24721840.2020.1842208 (11)
  37. Taber, M. J., & Taber, N. (2020). Learning beyond ‘hands and feet’ in offshore helicopter operations: integrating the individual with the social in CRM and SA. Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science, 21(5), 614–631. https://doi.org/10.1080/1463922X.2020.1729444 (4)
  38. Van den Oord, M. H. A., Sluiter, J. K., & Frings-Dresen, M. H. W. (2014). Differences in physical workload between military helicopter pilots and cabin crew. International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health, 87(4), 381–386. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-013-0876-7 (12)
  39. van Herpen, M. M., Nieuwe Weme, D., de Leeuw, M. A., Colenbrander, R. J., Olff, M., & te Brake, H. (2023). Wellbeing of helicopter emergency medical services personnel in a challenging work context: A qualitative study. Prehospital Emergency Care. https://doi.org/10.1080/10903127.2023.2184885 (37)
  40. Watson, N. A., Fernandez, N., Owen, I., & White, M. D. (2025). The potential of flight simulation to support pilot training for mountain helicopter emergency medical services. Air Medical Journal, 44, 386–389. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amj.2025.05.006  (33)
  41. Yiu, C. Y., Li, W.-C., Ng, K. K. H., Chi, C.-F., & Schiefele, J. (2026). Enhancing aviation safety with artificial intelligence: A systematic literature review on recent advances, challenges and future perspectives. Advanced Engineering Informatics, 71, 104378. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aei.2026.104378 (34)
  42. Peng, X., Niu, Q., Liang, Y., Luo, Y., Lu, N., & Li, X. (2025). Effects of unexpected event urgency and flight scenario familiarity on pilot trainees’ performance and stress responses. Frontiers in Physiology, 16, 1599122. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2025.1599122
  43. Casale, D. E., da Silva, R. C., Ambrosio, D. R., Drago, M. K. M., Cardoso Júnior, M. M., & da Costa, L. E. V. L. (2026). Organizational pressure and pilot decision-making in adverse weather: A naturalistic decision-making analysis of helicopter accidents. Journal of Aerospace Technology and Management, 18, e1926. https://doi.org/10.1590/jatm.v18.1428  
  44. McGuire, N. G., & Moshfeghi, Y. (2025). On error classification from physiological signals within airborne environment. In extended abstracts of the CHI conference on human factors in computing systems (CHI EA ’25). ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3706599.3719995
  45. Luciani, F., Veneziani, G., Ciacchella, C., Rocchi, G., Reho, M., Gennaro, A., & Lai, C. (2022). Safety at high altitude: The importance of emotional dysregulation on pilots’ risk attitudes during flight. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 1042283. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1042283
  46. Chawla, D. K., Zheng, Y., Larson, S., Lat, H., Key, S., & Perkins, K. (2026). Understanding pilots’ perceptions of AI-mediated mental health support in aviation: A socio-technical framework. In Extended Abstracts of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA ’26) (pp. 1–5). ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3772363.3798996
  47. Saunders, D., Blundell, J., Li, W.-C., Beecroft, P., Lu, L., Korek, W. T., & Shi, W. (2026). Principles for intelligent assistant systems in future flight deck design: Autonomous action integration to reduce pilot workload. The Aeronautical Journal. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1017/aer.2026.10161  47. Shively, R. J., Lachter, J., Koteskey, R., & Brandt, S. L. (2018). Crew resource management for automated teammates (CRM-A). In International Conference on Engineering Psychology and Cognitive Ergonomics (pp. 215–229). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91122-9_17
  48. Terzioğlu, M. (2024). The effects of crew resource management on flight safety culture: Corporate crew resource management (CRM 7.0). The Aeronautical Journal, 128(1328), 1743–1766. https://doi.org/10.1017/aer.2023.113
  49. van der Horst, D., Beenhakker, L. L., Bogaers, R. I., Rademaker, A. R., Geuze, E., & de Weijer, A. D. (2026). Essential attributes for successful military student pilots: A focus group study. Aviation Psychology and Applied Human Factors. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1027/2192-0923/a000312  
  50. Bieswanger, M., Mathews, E., & Valdes, E. “Rick”. (2026). Supporting the investigation of language and other communication factors. ISASI Forum, 59(2), 18–21.
  51. Vlaskamp, D., Pollitt, A., Blundell, J., Landman, A., Groen, E. L., van Paassen, M. M. R., Stroosma, O., & Mulder, M. (2025). Startle and surprise in helicopter operations: Reported prevalence and application of mitigation strategies. Cognition, Technology & Work, 27, 579–590. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10111-025-00811-y

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