BC&A reports that the “Top Ten Threats Cited in EMS ASRA [NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System] Reports: Mission Preparation/Operational Pressure                    93% Excessive Workload                                                      84% Communication Difficulties                                            75% . . . Distractions                                                                  28% Pilot                                                                              17% (more…)

I was re-reading an article in a prior edition of Business & Commercial Aviation, entitled Cockpit Cacophony.  It states that

“The noisy cockpit environment certainly doesn’t help the communication of important information.  A review of 250 NASA ASRS …. business jet flight crews found that fully 2/3 involved communication errors as a root cause and of those a quarter involved read-back errors and an equal number involved expectation errors … High noise levels can impair concentration and cause fatigue and insomnia. “

We know how important read-back is …. very much like summarizing a discussion.  Can the noisy cockpit environment be compared to the noisy work environment?  Do phone ringing, other (more…)

Yes there really is a sickness called “Hurry Up Syndrome”!  I knew this disease existed, I was surprised that it had a real scientific name!  According to University of Manchester’s Dr. James Reason, this time crunch that we operate under increases the chance that we will make a mistake by (more…)