Essay Sample on Crew Resource Management & Single-Pilot Resource Management

Introduction

Crew Resource Management uses all resources that are available optimally to enhance flight operations efficiency and encourage safety while Single-Pilot Resource Management is an art and science that manages all the available resources to a single pilot to enable a successful flight operation. Both CRM and Single-Pilot Resource Management are made up of several components that include constant communication, task management, problem-solving abilities, decision making, situational awareness, and team-work (Lowe & Hayward, 2000). Crew resource management is primarily concerned with equipping a whole crew to ensure a seamless flight operation while Single-Pilot Resource Management guides one pilot towards safety.

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History of Crew Resource Management and Single Resource Management

CRM and SRM came into being over five decades ago in response to a research carried out by NASA on accident investigation. It had been established that a lack of interpersonal skills, instant decision making and, the ability to lead in the cockpit had led to numerous accidents. The information suggested that the cause of aircraft accidents was not primarily technical malfunction or the crew's lack of technical knowledge but a failure of the aircraft crew to correctly respond to situations during the flight (McAllister, 1997). For example, the lack of communication between the members of the aircraft crew and other parties does not enhance team-work and may lead to a series of wrong decisions and result in a flight accident. Thus, a program was tailored that enhances team-work among the aircraft crew and efficient management of resources.

Crew resource management is majorly concerned with the interpersonal and cognitive skill that is important in managing the aviation system, while Single resource management emphasizes constant interaction between the pilot and the aircraft. Cognitive strength is the mental process that is used to gain and maintain situational awareness that is paramount in problem-solving and decision making, while interpersonal skills are a series of behavioral activities that related to team-work. SRM is a string of magnified pilot skills that underline communication between one plot and the aircraft. Skills in SRM training include automation management, task management, and risk management, as well as situational awareness.

CRM focuses on the team-work that is needed for a multi-pilot crew to efficiently perform their operations while SRM handles a Light Business Aircraft that is operated by one pilot. CRM coordinates several crew procedures and has a wide range of members to seek guidance from while in SRM is run by a single pilot where if there is no cockpit team-work. In both procedures, pilots are required to follow several procedures that help them in managing risks and automation as well as accompanying flight tasks (Lowe & Hayward, 2000).

SRM pilots are viewed to be more proficient as compared to their counterparts in CRM because of the duties they perform, which are almost similar but slightly different. Pilots in CRM depend on a team of members while making decisions while a pilot of an LBA is required to make personal analysis in risk management to prevent accidents.

Concepts of CRM And SRM

Three significant concepts in both crew resource management and Single resource management that include risk management, leadership, and decision making.

Decision Making

CRM equips pilots to seek help from all the avenues of flight operation when making a step and to avoid doing it alone, while SRM prepares pilots to make independent decisions to enable an efficient risk management process (McAllister, 1997). The decision made by the pilot, whether right or wrong, based on the amount of information they have at their disposal.

Risk Management

Pilot training focuses on informing pilots that the best way to prevent aviation flying risks is by properly managing them. Pilots are made aware of the existing environmental, performance, and personal risks that may affect smooth operations. Personal hazards include fatigue, stress, and illness, while environmental risks include weather and policies of aviation operation while performance risks include the load of the aircraft and the state of the runaway (Lowe & Hayward, 2000). Pilots are unable to regulate these risks but are to manage their outcomes if they know personal limits, aircraft limits, and organizational limits.

Leadership

Good leaders rarely come along. However, Crew Resource Management teaches pilots to identify good and bad traits of leadership that can respectively implement or escape to ensure the safety of the aircraft while SRM accounts for operations of a single pilot in ensuring the safety of the plane.

Conclusion

Crew Resource Management and Single Resource Management have dramatically improved aviation safety as it primarily focuses on human factors that enhance communication skills, situational awareness, and team-work as well as breaking barriers of communication. Crew resource management has reduced the number of deaths by employees in the line of duty. CRM and SRM skills are soft that are acquired and applied continuously based on the situational setting. Therefore, the perceptions are continuously refined, and the aircraft crew is required to understand that there is a likelihood that one could have an inaccurate understanding of a situation. Thus, any decision formulated requires several impressions.

References

Lowe, A. & Hayward, B. (2000). Aviation resource management: proceedings of the Fourth Australian Aviation Psychology Symposium. Vol. 1. Aldershot: Ashgate. https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/7020800?selectedversion=NBD24013100

McAllister, B. (1997). Crew resource management: awareness, cockpit efficiency & safety. Shrewsbury, England: Airlife. https://www.mdpi.com/2313-576X/3/4/26/htm