The Importance of the Aviation Sector - Research Proposal Example

Introduction A pilot's leisurely cross-country flight gradually turns from VFR to marginal VFR, and before he realizes it, he is in dense clouds and flight visibility is reduced almost to zero. Yet miraculously, the pilot treats it as a routine weather condition and continues with his flight as planned, even though he cannot see anything beyond his cockpit instruments. Air traffic controllers, especially in areas boasting high volumes of commercial as well as private flights like Orlando, San Francisco etc, have to plan out spacing as well as approach paths of planes well in advance of them even appearing on their radar. Top footballers, know exactly where their teammates as well as opponents are, and know precisely when to pass, and to whom to pass. Even figure skaters, who balance themselves on narrow wedges on ice, perform jumps while spinning in mid-air, and somehow land perfectly without so much as a wobble. To a layman, these may seem as impossible tasks, but all these professionals share a common trait, excellent situational awareness. Situational Awareness Situational awareness was defined by Endsley as "the perception of elements in the environment within a volume of time and space, the comprehension of their meaning, and the projection of their status in the near future"1. Simply put, it is the skill to understand one's position with respect to the environment, and using it for the most favorable results. It can be congenital or attained over the years with valuable experience. It is important in every profession, but especially so for pilots, as a majority of their flights are performed under IMC. For long stretches of most of their flights, pilots have top navigate and maneuver their planes solely with the help of their instruments. For a good understanding and comprehension of the instruments, an excellent sense of situational awareness is a must. It is particularly helpful when shooting an approach in IMC and responding to traffic calls, even in VMC. Due to this, situational awareness is given much deserved importance in the aviation field, and a pilot with great situational awareness is always a standout. Mental Models A mental model is a well-defined mental picture of the immediate environment and the functions of all of its elements. A precise mental model goes a long way in developing a good sense of situational awareness. To someone with a good amount of experience under his belt, this model is more accurate, and is easier to form, when compared to an amateur. In aviation, a sound mental mode is a prerequisite to good aeronautical decision-making (ADM). 3 Stages of Situational Awareness In his extensive research on situational awareness, its factors and results, Endsley noted the absolute necessity of good situational awareness of a pilot as one of the main factors for the safety of a flight. To help explain situational awareness, he described its three stages as follows: 1. Perception Considered unanimously as the most important stage of situational awareness, it demands every bit of a pilot's attention. It involves monitoring various elements and recognizing and perceiving cues rightly. The various attributes and behavioral traits of all elements in the environment should be closely tracked to immediately identify any inaccuracy that may occur. Endsley, in 1996, found that 76% of situational errors in pilots could be traced to problems in perception of needed information (due to either failures or shortcomings in the system or problems with cognitive processes). 2. Comprehension The next stage in situational awareness is comprehension, where one is required to systematically gather all relevant information from the first stage (perception), and use it to identify patterns, interpret and evaluate the dynamics of the elements in the environment. Here, experience greatly helps individuals, especially pilots to judge the conditions rightly, as misinterpretation of the surroundings can lead to rash decisions, which could greatly hamper the safety of a flight. Endsley found that twenty percent of situational awareness errors involved problems in the second stage. 3. Projection The third stage, projection, involves studying the data obtained from the previous two stages and projecting the effects they would have on the environment in the near future. A successful projection requires a high level of situational awareness to revise current events and dynamics to predict future situations. This helps a pilot significantly in aeronautic decision making, well ahead of time. This plays a big part in cockpit crew resource management and is an extremely valuable skill. Factors Affecting Situational Awareness Situational awareness, due to its dynamic nature, changes with many factors. Although due to their inter-related nature, it is hard to create separate categories of factors affecting situational awareness, a few important ones could be human, environmental, temporal or a combination of all of them. To truly grasp situational awareness, not only must a change in these factors be considered, but also the rate at which these factors change. This is further realized once temporal factors are looked into. Temporal Factors Temporal factors, as the name aptly suggests, involves all the various factors that are affected or distorted over a period of time. Its importance is shown from the fact that the definition of situational awareness stresses on the phrase "within a volume of time and space". "Time, both the perception of time and the temporal dynamics associated with events, plays an important role in the formulation of situational awareness."2 Understanding how much time is available, becomes vital in one's realization of situational awareness. This greatly involves the second and the third stages of situational awareness, comprehension and projection. A given situation can truly be comprehended once it's projected in time and its attributes in the future are understood. Also while considering time and its effects to get an accurate projection, one must keep in mind that change can also have a dynamic nature, and the rate of change of a situation can continuously change. Environmental Factors Although, environmental factors play a highly influential role in forming situational awareness, they are always considered with respect to a few human factors. A good sense of situational awareness comes with a sound mind and body interacting with its environment in tandem. A simple way to understand environmental factors is by the 'SHELL' model. This model comprises of an 'L' in the middle, surrounded on four of its sides by the letters 'S', 'H', 'E' and 'L'. The letters are short for 'Software', 'Hardware', 'Environment' and 'Liveware'. This model gives a good description about how the different elements in the situation combine together to mould situational awareness. The various components of this model are described below: 1. Liveware Liveware, or man himself, is fittingly in the centre of this model as he is the most important factor for the sculpting of his own situational awareness. Human factors are the most flexible of all the others, but at the same time, these factors are also the ones with the maximum limitations, and the ones that vary the highest from one to another. The most common grounds on which the differences surface, especially in the aviation sector are, physical shape and size, food, water and oxygen requirements, mental capabilities, environmental tolerance etc. All these varying factors when combined together play an immense role in the extent to which an individual's situational awareness will form, and a perfect combination of these is what some would call an ideal pilot, or for that matter, an ideal professional. 2. Software This refers to the various immovable elements in any situation, like rules and procedures that an individual must work within. These normally refer to the norms of the employers and sometimes go on to include highly technical details regarding the user interface of various pieces of machinery, especially in planes where modern GPSs are taking over old fashioned technology. 3. Hardware Hardware implies the physically changeable elements in a given surrounding. These include different types of machinery, controls and other manually functional systems. When compared to software, hardware problems are a lot easier to resolve as an in-depth technical knowledge is not required. 4. Environment Environmental factors refer to many different conditions like climatic, economic, social, personal etc. Just like how a pilot would be helpless against entering dense clouds in a storm, or with the sun directly in his eyes, these are generally well beyond any individual's control, and these problems are best resolved by a keen sense of adaptation. All these factors play a significant role in the shaping of one's situational awareness. But in day to day situations, these conditions do not exist independently. An effective way to observe how these effect situational awareness is to study the relations between each of these factors and the centrally important 'liveware'. The interactions between these are given below: 1. Liveware-Software This refers to the interface between a user and most machinery, like symbols, displays, computer programs and overall layout. As mentioned before, these are harder to resolve as they require a good procedural knowledge. Ironically enough, most of these devices that may cause problems, were previously installed to reduce workload and to help with situational awareness. 2. Liveware-Hardware All boundaries between humans and physical objects fall under this category. A good general plan, with special focus on keeping one's immediate surroundings ergonomically designed go a long way in helping one's situational awareness as it would make him or her more comfortable with their environment. 3. Liveware-Environment Anything that helps humans adapt better to their working conditions would fall under this category. These vary from simple equipments like a pair of sun-shades to highly sophisticated pressurization and noise reduction systems. 4. Liveware-Liveware The last interface is that which concerns the interactions between humans and other humans. Although previously, importance has been mainly given to single pilots, a recent trend has shown better performances and efficiency when a team of 2 to 3 pilots with good understanding are placed in the same situations. A review of all these factors shows that "for optimum effectiveness, the machine has to be matched to the characteristics of man rather than the reverse".3 With this discovery in the mid nineteen hundreds, the aviation industry progressed in leaps and bounds. Human Factors Human factors range from congenital factors like mental and physical capability to ones that can be willingly controlled by an individual like stress and fatigue. Of these, the most important one to be discussed is fatigue, as it severely hampers both the mental and physical state of a person, leading to a diminished state of situational awareness. Fatigue Fatigue is defined as "weariness from bodily or mental exertion"4. The causes and effects of fatigue are varied and severe. The main causes for fatigue can be listed as inadequate rest, displaced biological rhythm, excessive physical activity etc. Harmful on their own, they are further worsened by drugs, alcohol or smoking. Lack of exercise and a proper diet also contribute to fatigue. Another cause of fatigue especially in non-commercial flying is due to hypoxia, or the lack of oxygen in the tissues of the body. As fatigue seriously hampers physical and mental intelligence as well as capabilities, the FAA prescribes a checklist for pilots to follow before considering any flight, 'IM SAFE5': I - Illness M - Medication S - Stress A - Alcohol F - Fatigue E - Eaten If this checklist is properly followed the chances of bad judgments due to hampered situational awareness are greatly reduced. Conclusion To conclude, it is more than safe to say that while good situational awareness is a valuable asset in most industries, it is a prerequisite for a pilot in particular, and the aviation sector as a whole. It's the difference between great pilots and excellent pilots. Today, immense importance is given by engineers in the field of aviation to create better hardware, with easier user interface, and software that's not only easy to operate, but also one where problems are easily resolved. But an argument that has surfaced recently questions the extreme use of technology in cockpits, suggesting over-reliance on them, might actually hamper a pilot's situational awareness. This might be true in some cases, but as long as a pilot stays alert using his instrument panel, his situational awareness will remain unaffected. Read More