Crew Resource Management

Learn how pilots use crew resource management to improve communication, manage workload, maintain situational awareness, and apply these skills in single-pilot flight.

Crew Resource Management

Introduction to Crew Resource Management

  • Crew Resource Management (CRM) is the process of coordinated action among flight and ground crew members, enabling effective interaction while performing flight and ground tasks.
  • According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), 50-80% of all mishaps involve pilot error as a result of poor Aeronautical Decision-Making. []
  • While professional pilots often fly with a crew concept, most General Aviation pilots do not, leading to the development of Single-Pilot Resource Management (SRM).
    • As defined by the FAA, it is still CRM because you have resources available to help you, such as Air Traffic Controllers, Flight Service Stations, base frequencies, and other pilots.
      • These tools are always available and used as needed, regardless of the number of people on board.
      • Good crew coordination can increase effectiveness, maximize resources, and optimize risk management.
  • Test your understanding of Crew Resource Management by completing the knowledge quiz, applying your knowledge in the interactive scenario, comparing your performance against the applicable Airman Certification Standards, and concluding with the topic summary to reinforce the key concepts before moving on to the next lesson.

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    Crew Resource Management

    Crew Resource Management Key Highlights

    • Crew resource management (CRM) is the effective use of all available resources to improve flight safety and operational efficiency.
    • CRM emphasizes communication, teamwork, workload management, and situational awareness among flight crewmembers.
    • Effective communication reduces misunderstandings and improves coordination during routine and abnormal flight operations.
    • Leadership and followership skills help crewmembers work together efficiently while maintaining safe operational decision-making.
    • Situational awareness involves maintaining an accurate understanding of the aircraft, environment, and operational status.
    • Workload management helps prevent task saturation and reduces the likelihood of operational errors.
    • CRM encourages crewmembers to identify hazards, speak up about concerns, and challenge unsafe decisions when necessary.
    • Automation management is an important CRM component that helps pilots properly monitor and control automated systems.
    • Poor communication, complacency, and ineffective teamwork have contributed to numerous aviation accidents and incidents.
    • Strong CRM practices improve aeronautical decision-making, operational coordination, and overall flight safety.
    Crew Resource Management

    Crew Resource Management Tools

    • Human Resources:

      • Human resources encompasses everyone who routinely works with the pilot to ensure flight safety.
        • Weather briefers, flight line personnel, maintenance personnel, crew members, pilots, and air traffic personnel.
      • Drawing on human resources requires the use of the key components of the communication process: inquiry, advocacy, and assertion.
      • Pilots must recognize the need to seek enough information from these resources to make a valid decision.
      • After gathering the necessary information, the pilot must communicate the decision to air traffic controllers, crew members, and passengers.
      • The pilot may have to request assistance from others and be assertive to resolve some situations safely.

    • Equipment Resources:

      • Many of today's aircraft utilize automated flight and navigation systems.
      • These automatic systems, while providing relief from many routine flight deck tasks, present a different set of problems for pilots.
      • The automation intended to reduce pilot workload removes the pilot from the process of managing the aircraft, thereby reducing situational awareness and potentially leading to complacency.
      • Continually monitor information from these systems to maintain proper situational awareness.
      • Pilots should be thoroughly familiar with the operation of and information provided by all systems used.
      • Pilots must be aware not only of equipment capabilities but also of equipment limitations to manage those systems effectively and safely.
    Crew Resource Management

    Task Management

    • Instrument Flying Handbook, The Margin of Safety
      Instrument Flying Handbook, The Margin of Safety
    • Pilots have a limited capacity for information.
    • Once information flow exceeds the pilot's ability to process it, also known as channel capacity, any additional information will become mentally unattended or displace other tasks and information already being processed.
    • Once reached, only two alternatives exist:
      • Shed the unimportant tasks, or.
      • Perform all tasks at a less-than-optimal level.
    • Like an overloaded electrical circuit, you must reduce consumption or the circuit will fail.
    • The pilot who effectively manages tasks and prioritizes them appropriately will have a successful flight.
      • This unnecessary focus displaces capability and prevents the pilot from appreciating tasks of greater importance.
      • Example: do not become distracted and fixate on an instrument light failure (Eastern Airlines Flight 401).
    • In single-pilot or crew operations, complete routine checklists using the "Do/Verify" or "Challenge/Response" method.
      • Work toward flows, but always go back to the checklist.
      • Read/Do methodologies should be reserved for abnormal checklists, such as emergency procedures.
    • Instrument Flying Handbook, The Margin of Safety
      Instrument Flying Handbook, The Margin of Safety
    Crew Resource Management

    Information Workload

    • Information workloads and automated systems, such as autopilots, must be managed effectively to ensure a safe flight.
    • The pilot flying in Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC) faces numerous tasks, each with a varying level of importance to the flight's outcome.
      • Example: a pilot preparing to execute an instrument approach to an airport needs to review the approach chart, prepare the aircraft for the approach and landing, complete checklists, obtain information from Automatic Terminal Information Service (ATIS) or Air Traffic Control (ATC), and set the navigation radios and equipment.
    • The pilot who effectively manages their workload will complete as many of these tasks as early as possible to preclude the possibility of becoming overloaded by last-minute changes and communication priorities in the later, more critical stages of the approach.
    • Routine tasks delayed until the last minute can contribute to the pilot becoming overloaded and stressed, ultimately leading to a decline in performance.
    • Effective resource management involves recognizing hazardous situations and attitudes, making informed decisions to promote good judgment and critical thinking, and managing the situation to ensure a safe flight outcome.
    Crew Resource Management

    Skills and Behaviors

    • Mnemonics:
      • DAMCLAS ("Damn Class").
      • SADCLAM ("Sad Clam").
      • MCSALAD ("McSalad").

    • Decision-Making:

      • Ability to use logical and sound judgment based on information available.
      • Effective decisions can be made by:
        • Assessing the problem.
        • Verifying information.
        • Identifying solutions.
        • Anticipating consequences of decisions.
        • Telling others of the decision and rationale.
        • Evaluating the decision.
      • Improved through teamwork, extra time, an alert crew, decision strategies, and experience.

    • Assertiveness:

      • Willingness to actively participate.
      • Ability to state and maintain a position.
        • Provide info without being asked.
        • Make suggestions.
        • Ask questions.
        • Confront ambiguities.
        • Maintain position when challenged.
        • State opinions.
        • Refuse an unreasonable request.
        • Accept the most conservative response to the situation until more information is available.
      • Two challenge rule:
        • If the pilot does not respond to two demands (i.e., "wave-off, wave-off!")-take the controls.
        • Avoid the sandbag syndrome and speak up when necessary.
      • Sandbag Syndrome:
        • A sense of comfort that the other crew member has the situation under control.
        • No pilot is above the momentary lapse of judgment or situational awareness.
        • Stay alert and speak up when necessary.

    • Mission Analysis:

      • Ability to coordinate, allocate, and monitor crew and aircraft resources.
      • Organize and plan for what will occur.
      • Monitor the situation.
      • Review and provide feedback on what has occurred.

    • Communication:

      • Ability to clearly and accurately send and acknowledge information, instructions, commands, and feedback.
      • Necessary to: conduct effective missions, avoid mishaps, pass info, and maintain situational awareness.
      • Sender: Communicate clearly, convey info accurately, concisely, and timely, request verification or feedback, verbalize plans.
      • Receiver: Acknowledge communication, repeat, paraphrase, clarify info, provide helpful feedback.

    • Leadership:

      • Ability to direct and coordinate the activities of the crew and stimulate them to work as a team.
        • Direct and coordinate crew.
        • Delegate tasks.
        • Ensure crew understands expectations.
        • Focus attention on crucial aspects.
        • Keep crew informed of mission information.
        • Provide feedback on performance.
        • Create and maintain a professional atmosphere.

    • Adaptability/Flexibility:

      • Ability to alter a course of action to meet situation demands.
        • Alter Behavior.
        • Be open and receptive.
        • Help others.
        • Maintain constructive behavior under pressure.
        • Adapt to internal and external changes.
      • You must adapt when transitions occur, a crew member becomes incapacitated, or interactions become strained.

    • Situational Awareness:

      • What is happening in the cockpit and mission?
        • Detect and comment on deviations.
        • Provide advance info, identify potential problems.
        • Demonstrate awareness of task performance and mission status.
      • Prepare through a comprehensive brief.
      • Acknowledge potential problems.
      • Use all information sources and update and revise your flight image.
      • Situational awareness is critical in our ability to respond effectively.
      • Combat loss of Situational Awareness by:
        • Actively questioning and evaluating your mission progress.
        • Use assertive behaviors when necessary.
      • Analyze your situation and communicate!
    Crew Resource Management

    Single-Pilot Resource Management

    • While CRM focuses on pilots operating in crew environments, many of the concepts apply to single-pilot operations.
    • SRM is defined as the art and science of managing all the resources (both onboard the aircraft and from outside sources) available to a single pilot (before and during flight) to ensure the successful outcome of the flight. SRM includes the concepts of Aeronautical Decision-Making (ADM), risk management (RM), task management (TM), automation management (AM), controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) awareness, and situational awareness (SA).
      • SRM training enables the pilot to maintain situational awareness by effectively managing automation and associated aircraft control and navigation tasks, accurately assessing and mitigating risk, and making informed and timely decisions.
      • SRM is all about helping pilots learn how to gather information, analyze it, and make decisions.
      • Although the flight is coordinated by a single person and not an onboard flight crew, the use of available resources such as autopilot and air traffic control (ATC) replicates the principles of CRM.
    • Single-Pilot Resource Management, or SRM, involves gathering information, analyzing it, and making informed decisions based on that analysis.
      • Learning how to identify problems, analyze the information, and make informed and timely decisions is not as straightforward as the training involved in learning specific maneuvers.
    • Learning how to judge a situation and "how to think" in the endless variety of conditions encountered while flying out in the "real world" is more difficult.
    • There is no single answer in ADM; instead, each pilot must analyze the situation based on their experience, personal minimums, and physical and mental readiness, and make their own decision.
    Crew Resource Management

    Crew Resource Management Interactive Scenario

    Interactive Scenario

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    Crew Resource Management

    Crew Resource Management Knowledge Check

    Choose the knowledge check that matches your current training for Crew Resource Management.

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    Core Knowledge Review

    Review foundational knowledge, key concepts, and practical considerations. Topic: Crew Resource Management.

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    Why Take a Quiz?

    Quizzes reinforce key concepts, identify knowledge gaps, and build confidence for real-world decisions. Quiz material is representative of the information provided here and is not based on or sourced from the Federal Aviation Administration test bank.

    Crew Resource Management

    Crew Resource Management Conclusion

    • CRM enables the effective utilization of all available resources and communications to ensure safe operations through systematic collaboration.
    • The success or failure of CRM ultimately rests with each individual performing their duties as an aircrew member.
      • Maintain sterile cockpit as appropriate, practice cockpit management, question the unusual, and listen-don't anticipate.
    • Optimal CRM training is integrated, research-based, and skill-oriented, incorporating the Information, Demonstration, Practice, and Feedback Methodology.
    • Aircrew shall exhibit thorough knowledge of self, aircraft, team, environment, the seven critical skills, and risk to employ sound and logical judgment in the prevention of human errors.
    • When manipulating aircraft systems during critical phases of flight, consider using a challenge and response method whereby the pilot flying says "flaps identified" and the pilot not flying says "flaps verified" to verify the pilot flying is touching the flap lever and about to move the flaps, or in the case of gear, the gear.
    • Human error is the leading cause of aviation mishaps.
    • Additional human error-based training should complement CRM training to enhance overall effectiveness.
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    Crew Resource Management

    Crew Resource Management References