Crew Coordination

[Ian J]

Was having a conversation about crew coordination earlier with jtrain, and it reminded me of my own training in the Army. I was wondering how the airlines or other two pilot operators train pilots for this.

This list of Crew Coordination Elements is something I remember nearly verbatim to this day, and though not nearly all inclusive for complete Crew Coordination Training, it is a handy little list even if just for the CFI/student crew.

6-2. CREW COORDINATION ELEMENTS

Broadly defined, aircrew coordination is the interaction between crew members necessary for the safe, efficient, and effective performance of tasks. The essential elements of crew coordination are described below.
a. Communicate positively. Good cockpit teamwork requires positive communication among crew members. Communication is positive when the sender directs, announces, requests, or offers information; the receiver acknowledges the information; the sender confirms the information, based on the receiver's acknowledgment or action. The receiver must anticipate what the sender says or wants and listen carefully. Either crew member must have no doubt what is said or meant prior to taking action.

b. Direct assistance. A crew member will direct assistance when he cannot maintain aircraft control, position, or clearance. He will also direct assistance when he cannot properly operate or troubleshoot aircraft systems without help from the other crew members.

c. Announce actions. To ensure effective and well-coordinated actions in the aircraft, all crew members must be aware of the expected movements and unexpected individual actions. Each crew member will announce any actions that affect the actions of the other crew members.

d. Offer assistance. A crew member will provide assistance or information that has been requested. He also will offer assistance when he sees that another crew member needs help.

e. Acknowledge actions. Communications in the aircraft must include supportive feedback to ensure that crew members correctly understand announcements or directives.

f. Be explicit. Crew members should use clear terms and phrases and positively acknowledge critical information. They must avoid using terms that have multiple meanings, such as "Right," "Back up," or "I have it." Crew members must also avoid using indefinite modifiers such as, "Do you see that tree?" or "You are coming in a little fast."

g. Provide aircraft control and obstacle advisories. Although the P* [Pilot Flying] is responsible for aircraft control, the other crew members may need to provide aircraft control information regarding airspeed, altitude, or obstacle avoidance.

h. Coordinate action sequence and timing. Proper sequencing and timing ensure that the actions of one crew member mesh with the actions of the other crew members.

[Falcon10]

I do believe you briefed me on one of those before we left Bradley. Even though I was not a crew member you were willing to take input if I saw something out of the ordinary. Thanks for posting those.

[SteveC]

Excellent!

[lieutfunaki]

Originally Posted by Ian J

Was having a conversation about crew coordination earlier with jtrain, and it reminded me of my own training in the Army. I was wondering how the airlines or other two pilot operators train pilots for this.

This list of Crew Coordination Elements is something I remember nearly verbatim to this day, and though not nearly all inclusive for complete Crew Coordination Training, it is a handy little list even if just for the CFI/student crew.

[b]

Non-operation (ground training) equivalent in the corporate/airline world would I think be Crew Resource Management Training. In the cockpit, pre-takeoff briefings, as well as approach briefings, would serve this purpose.

Pre-takeoff may be something like "taking off ____ runway (insert information regarding the airport environment), if we encounter any problem prior to VR, the left seat will take PF responsibilities and an aborted takeoff will be initiated. If the problem is encountered after VR, the takeoff will be continued with the left seat assuming PF duties, and dealt with as a in-flight emergency"

Is this what you are asking?

[BobDDuck]

I think he's wondering where people learned the concept if they were in the civilian world. The military does a very good job of teaching some things that many people think are so obvious that they just get skipped, even when they aren't obvious at all.

I was never really taught CRM in any professional sense. ATP used to do a one day "CRM Training" as part of the 302 (or was it 305) pairing before sending students off on cross country. That was pretty much an intro to the different ways of reading and doing a checklist with two pilots on board. Other then that there wasn't much covered. When I taught that I normally included stuff from the United Airlines "CUS" words curriculum and had my two (or four a few times as some how I became the location CRM specialist) students roll play through some conflicts in the FTD. Other then that, at the student level I never had any training.

During 121 ground we read over the section of the FOM that discusses CRM, but, like most things in the FOM, it assumes you already know the concept and how it works. I remember the first time I jumpseated, being blown away about the level of coordination between the two pilots. The irony is, I later found out (first hand for one) that the FO was a self centered idiot (who washed out of upgrade here) and the CA was one of the most incompetent, had no business EVER upgrading people I've ever flown with. But still, I was impressed with what I saw the first time.

In reality, some places do much better at teaching CRM then others. I know Matt used to teach a multi day course on it over at Xjet. Other places may do that as well. I got 5 minutes worth of reading from an FOM and one "good captain/bad captain" video.

[Ian J]

Originally Posted by BobDDuck

I think he's wondering where people learned the concept if they were in the civilian world. The military does a very good job of teaching some things that many people think are so obvious that they just get skipped, even when they aren't obvious at all.

Yeah, that's what I was getting at.

The Army spends a lot of time on this very important topic, and I wondered how the airlines did it.

Review a couple crew coordination breakdown accidents and it's remarkable how simple words - or sometimes the lack of words - can cause an accident.

[Nick]

Originally Posted by Ian J

The Army spends a lot of time on this very important topic, and I wondered how the airlines did it.

Review a couple crew coordination breakdown accidents and it's remarkable how simple words - or sometimes the lack of words - can cause an accident.

In my CRM class they said two hours was required for part 121. That is what some companies use; where I had it, it was two days and covered some accidents related to cockpit communication, assertiveness, and other things that are important when in a multi-pilot airplane.

As BobDDuck said, FlyChicaga teaches a CRM class so he could answer this best.