While general aviation has enjoyed an improving safety record for the past couple of decades, in broad terms, there’s always room for improvement. And one area where pilots can make a difference lies in a subset of accident causes attributed to pilot error. In order to make inroads on this causal factor set, there’s a lot of effort made in the interest of aviation safety around improving “human factors” as they apply to airplanes, ATC, and decision-making. Though the term looks self-explanatory, it has a specific definition when used by the FAA or National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB): It refers to a “multidisciplinary effort to generate and compile information about human capabilities and limitations and apply that information to equipment, systems, facilities, procedures, jobs, environments, training, staffing, and personnel management for safe, comfortable, and effective human performance.”
To assist aspiring pilots, certificated pilots, and instructors with improving skills and decision-making encompassed by human factors, the FAA recently debuted a courseware series, Human Factors for Pilots. With 10 modules in 9 online courses, the program delivers a wealth of solid info on this critical subject area with free access. No matter where you stand in your training, you can benefit from the content accessible through these presentations.
You can preview each one of the modules without signing into the FAA site, or you can log in and obtain FAASTeam credit for completing them under FAASafety.gov. The modules were produced by the Australian Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which is equivalent to the FAA in the U.S. Credit offered varies: For example, completing Modules 1 and 2 and passing the end-of-course exam grants you one FAA WINGS Pilot Proficiency Program Knowledge Credit at the Basic level. Other modules give an entire credit for their completion.
Additional modules cover the adoption of safety management systems, human performance, communication, teamwork, situational awareness, decision-making, threat and error management, human information processing, and design and automation.
For more information on the WINGS program, which certificated pilots can use to maintain proficiency and credit toward a flight review, visit the program site.
I am glad there was an FAA “compendium” of human factors resources. We need more compendiums regarding the “multidisciplinary effort to generate and compile information about human capabilities and limitations and apply that information to equipment, systems, facilities, procedures, jobs, environments, training, staffing, and personnel management for safe, comfortable, and effective human performance.” Extremely well said. Absolutely, love the title word choices including the need for me to look up compendium. Very, very catchy.