Discipline

1
Discipline
This presentation provides an overview of
discipline in aviation. It is intended to enhance
the reader's understanding, but it shall not
supersede the applicable regulations or airline's
operational documentation. Should there be any
discrepancy between this presentation and an
airlines AFM / (M)MEL / FCOM / QRH / FCTM, the
latter shall prevail at all times.
2
Introduction

• This visual guide defines discipline and
  illustrates its importance to safe flight
  operations. The objective is to reinforce the
  importance of discipline as the basis of
  airmanship. The material may be used for self
  study or as part of a formal training
  presentation. The speakers notes provide
  additional information.

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3
Contents

• What is discipline?
• Attitudes that can affect discipline
• Violations
• Summary

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4
What Is Discipline?

• Behavior in accord with rules of conduct
• Behavior and order maintained by training and
  control
• An individuals personal commitment to comply
  with rules and procedures
• The willpower and ability to operate safely

5
What Produces Discipline?

• Aviation discipline comes from training that
  develops
• Self-control
• Character
• Positive safety attitudes

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What Is Good Discipline?

• Good aviation discipline is planning and
  preparing for problems before they arise by
  thinking ahead and
• Not accepting that rules must be bent to maximize
  the effectiveness of the flying task
• Suppressing the belief that ability and
  experience enable a pilot to do the job without
  following standard procedures
• Avoiding the temptation to make a task more
  exciting or interesting by deviating from
  procedures or rules
• Rejecting opportunities for shortcuts or for
  doing things that appear to be better but are not
  permitted by procedures or rules
• Resisting the temptation to break rules to
  impress others

The effects of poor discipline Of 93 hull losses
investigated, 33 involved a pilot deviation from
basic operational procedures and 26 involved
inadequate cross-check by the second crewmember.
Lautman and Gallimore
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Attitudes and Discipline

• An attitude
• Is a set of beliefs or state of mind that can
  influence a pilots behavior
• Is often directed at a person, object or task
• May be positive, negative or neutral (neither
  positive nor negative)
• Attitudes can have a direct effect on an
  individuals level of discipline
• when operating an aircraft.
• An individuals attitude can influence others and
  thereby have a direct
• effect on a teams level of discipline.

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Positive Attitudes

• Positive attitudes
• Optimism disposition or tendency to look on the
  more favorable side of events or conditions
• Openness willingness to disclose or reveal
  one's knowledge, thoughts, feelings receptive to
  input from others
• Honesty truthfulness, sincerity or frankness
• Benefits of positive attitudes
• Foster self and team discipline
• Foster trust among team members
• Increase personal confidence
• Increase team confidence

A good rule is to trust but verify. Insist that
other team members do the same for your actions
and decisions.
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Negative/Hazardous Attitudes

• Negative/hazardous attitudes that must be
  avoided
• Anti-authority
• Impulsiveness
• Invulnerability
• Machismo
• Resignation
• Complacency
• Defense against these attitudes requires
  continual self-
• assessment.
• A pilot must be able to identify and correct his
  or her own
• negative/hazardous attitudes before considering
  the
• attitudes of team members.

10
Anti-Authority Dont tell me what to do!

• Some people have a problem with being told what
  to do
• It often stems from a lack of knowledge or
  preparation
• A person may feel that his or her authority is
  being challenged
• Defenses for the individual
• Understand that you do not know everything and
  that you cannot attend to everything by yourself
• Understand that the other crewmembers are there
  to help
• Do not take offense if someone questions your
  actions
• Explain your thoughts if time permits
• Defenses for the entire crew
• Before each mission
• Agree on the rules and procedures to be followed
• Clearly establish that anyone can voice a concern
• Plan for, and prepare for, possible problems
• Do not hesitate to question any team member who
  fails to adhere to a rule or procedure

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Impulsiveness I dont need to think about that!

• An impulsive person acts without thinking or
  analyzing a
• situation
• Impulsive people may believe they have enough
  information to make a decision when they do not
• People who are normally not impulsive may act
  impulsively when hurried or pressured for a
  response
• Defenses for the individual
• Do not rush unnecessarily take time to consider
  the situation
• Maximize information through detailed preparation
• Increase skills through practice
• Defenses for the entire crew
• Use SOPs whenever possible
• For unusual situations, create more time to
  plan and gather information (e.g., initiate a
  go-around)
• Not So Fast, Think First!

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Invulnerability It could never happen to me!

• Invulnerability is the belief that nothing can go
  wrong or that
• you are immune from harm
• Often due to overconfidence in ones abilities or
  technology
• Experts are as susceptible to feelings of
  invulnerability as novices
• Over-reliance on automation or new systems can
  lead to feeling invulnerable
• May stem from a failure to understand surrounding
  hazards
• Anyone in a new situation, not just novices, may
  fail to understand the hazards associated with a
  particular task
• Defenses for the individual
• Increase knowledge and risk-assessment training
• Identify opportunities for error, even in routine
  tasks
• Defenses for the entire crew
• Beware of careless and overconfident crewmembers
• Openly discuss problems you observe or anticipate
  and have a plan for dealing with them

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Machismo Im in charge!
A machismo attitude involves being overly
assertive and domineering, and feeling the need
to prove oneself or to impress others

• Although machismo is generally associated with
  men, both men and women can feel the need to
  prove themselves and, in turn, engage in risky
  behaviors
• Machismo can lead to characterizing important
  information from others as unimportant and
  ignoring it
• Defenses for the individual
• Request and consider information from fellow
• crewmembers
• Learn from others, instead of competing
• Realize that safe flight is proof enough of your
  skills
• Defenses for the entire crew
• Create a team environment in which everyones
  concerns are heard and everyone is expected to
  contribute to decisions

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Resignation Nothing else can be done!

• Resignation is an attitude that nothing more can
  be done to
• improve a situation
• Resignation is marked by a sense of helplessness,
  and
• A belief that fate/chance will determine the
  outcome
• Defenses for the individual
• Train for as many scenarios as possible
• Seek input from other team members
• Never give up
• Defenses for the entire crew
• Ask the question, Have you considered?
• Look outside the aircraft to ATC or others for
  help

15
Complacency We dont need to worry about
anything right now!

• Complacency is a feeling of satisfaction or
  contentment with
• what is happening without awareness of the real
  dangers of
• the situation
• Complacency is often marked by failure to
  understand the hazards
• Complacency can be associated with boredom and
  attitudes of machismo and invulnerability
• Novice pilots are at risk because they do not
  understand risks
• Expert pilots are at risk because of
  overconfidence
• Defenses for the individual
• Learn and understand the hazards associated with
  each phase of flight
• Constantly assess the status of the aircraft
• Defenses for the entire crew
• Monitor each others attitudes, activities and
  activity levels
• Do not hesitate to ask a crewmember to pay more
  attention

16
Errors and Discipline

• Errors result in the failure of planned actions
  to achieve their
• desired goal. The three main types of aviation
  errors involve
• Slips errors of observable actions that are
  usually related to attentional failures (e.g.,
  pressing the wrong button when trying to press
  the one next to it)
• Lapses internal errors of omission that usually
  involve memory (e.g., forgetting to use a call
  number when contacting ATC)
• Mistakes errors when a planned action is
  inadequate or inappropriate
• Errors can happen to anyone, but good discipline
  can help a
• crew recover before the error grows into a larger
  problem.
• Cross-checking is especially helpful in detecting
  errors.

17
Violations and Discipline

• Violations occur when an individual fails to
  follow rules or
• procedures. Violations can be
• Unintentional unknowing violations of rules or
  procedures. These can include slips, lapses and
  mistakes that violate a rule and are often
  related to lack of knowledge or high workload
• Intentional deliberate failure to comply with a
  rule or procedure
• The same violation (e.g., failure to use a
  checklist) could be intentional or unintentional
  depending on why it occurred.
• Time pressure and high workload increase the
  likelihood of all types of violations,
  particularly intentional ones.
• The perceived benefits of violating a procedure
  may appear to outweigh the risks, but a crews
  perception of risk may be flawed by external or
  internal pressures.

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Discipline as a Defense Against Errors and
Violations

• Following rules and procedures eliminates
  intentional violations
• Having the willpower to use checklists and
  cross-check even in common/familiar situations
  will help avoid errors and detect errors that do
  occur
• Having the discipline to take training seriously
  and to take the time to retrain old skills will
  eliminate many errors
• Exercising discipline in the control of
  negative/hazardous attitudes (self and crew) can
  reduce errors and violations dramatically
• Exercising discipline in preparation and planning
  for each phase of the flight will eliminate the
  many errors and violations caused by winging it

19
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