1. Airmanship
Additional coverage of the topic of airmanship can be found in the paper:
“Airmanship Training for Modern Aircrew.” Corporate Source, BAE Systems, UK. Ebbage, Louise; Spencer, Phil D. Document ID No ;
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This presentation provides an overview of Airmanship 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 airline’s AFM /(M)MEL/FCOM/QRH/FCTM, the latter shall prevail at all times.
Airmanship

2. Introduction
This visual guide defines airmanship and illustrates its importance to safe flight operations. Its objective is to reinforce the importance of airmanship as the basis of safe flight operations. The material may be used for self-study or as part of a formal training presentation. The speaker’s notes provide additional information.
Airmanship

3. Contents Airmanship Defined The “Building” of Airmanship Violations
Summary
Airmanship

4. Airmanship Defined
Airmanship is the consistent use of good judgment and
well-developed skills to accomplish flight objectives.
The consistency required of good airmanship is:
Founded on a cornerstone of uncompromising flight discipline
Developed through systematic skill acquisition and proficiency
A high state of situational awareness completes the airmanship picture and is obtained through knowledge of one’s self, aircraft, environment, team and risk.
(Kern, 1996)
From the literature, it is difficult to establish whether airmanship is a process, a state, a skill or an outcome — whether it means having expert flying skills, sound judgment or good situational awareness, or whether it simply means having the “right attitude.”
The confusion stems from the fact that airmanship is all of these things. Airmanship is a multi-dimensional concept that involves acquiring and exercising both cognitive and physical skills in consonance. Moreover, it is about having the self-awareness and motivation to improve skills that may be lacking, and is a personal state or mindset that compels aircrew to approach each flight with discipline and an appropriate attitude balancing safety against mission objectives.
Airmanship is also about achieving a balance. An airman who exercises good judgment but lacks the dexterity of control needed to operate an aircraft safely will not excel in airmanship. Similarly, an expert flier (or operator) will fall short if he or she adopts a risk-taking attitude.
In essence, airmanship is about exercising judgment, discipline and having expert control of an aircraft and a situation.
Hence, airmanship can be defined as follows:
A personal state that enables aircrew to exercise sound judgment, display uncompromising flight discipline and demonstrate skilful control of an aircraft and a situation. It is maintained by continuous self-improvement and a desire to perform optimally at all times.
From: Airmanship Training for Modern Aircrew. Corporate Source, BAE Systems, U.K. Ebbage, Louise; Spencer, Phil D. Document ID No
Airmanship

5. Consequences of Poor Airmanship
Accidents and incidents
Poor airmanship is a causal factor in almost all of the 70 percent of accidents that are attributed to human factors
Operational weaknesses and inefficiencies
Poor airmanship is responsible for operational weaknesses and inefficiencies that lead to increased safety risk, poor performance and wasted money
Airmanship

6. The “Building” of Airmanship
Judgment — All of the elements of airmanship support good judgment and decision making, just as all of the structural elements of a building support its roof.
Knowledge enables situational awareness, but, like judgment, it is also a trait that must be developed.
In-depth knowledge of many subjects will support the thinking processes of Airmanship.
Airmanship is founded on skills and proficiency; it includes both technical and non-technical subjects.
Discipline is the bedrock of airmanship; it is the ability and willpower to fly safely.
Self
Aircraft
Risk
Team
Environment
Mission
Proficiency
Discipline
Skills
Knowledge
Situational Awareness
Judgment
Airmanship is founded on discipline: self discipline, team discipline and corporate discipline. It requires appropriate knowledge, skill and attitude. Good situational awareness is necessary to enable judgment and decision making.
In any profession, it is the attitudes held by the individuals within that profession that are the key to success. Personal attitudes, respect for the profession, the desire for self improvement, and self disciple are essential components of the attitude required for good airmanship.
Knowledge of yourself, the aircraft, your flight crew, the environment and the risks involved in aviation are the vital components.
The skills required in aviation are far more than those of flying aircraft; skill is required to manage resources, to communicate, to work as a team, and in thinking and planning.
It is from these components of airmanship, which appear in every aspect of aviation, that differentiate the superior airman /airwoman from the average.
Airmanship

7. Discipline Discipline is: The exercise of discipline requires:
Behavior in accord with rules of conduct
Behavior and order maintained by training and control
An individual’s personal commitment to comply with rules and procedures
The willpower and ability to operate safely
The exercise of discipline requires:
Not accepting that rules must be broken to accomplish a job effectively
Rejecting opportunities for shortcuts or doing things better
Resisting temptation to break rules to impress others
Control of personal attitudes and biases
Discipline involves the willpower and ability to conduct flight operations safely. This requires adherence to rules and procedures; but to comply with these, it is necessary to have knowledge and understanding of the rules and procedures.
Rules are structured on several levels: regulatory, organizational, operational, or just common sense; but all require obedience.
Similarly, procedures are a necessary component of a safe operation. Procedures may be shaped by many things; national or corporate culture, hard-learned experience, manufacturers’ drills, or economics; but for procedures to be effective they must be integrated into a safety system. Such a system should be based on Philosophy, Policy, Procedures and Practice (PPPP). The CEO and senior management must support a positive safety philosophy; this is the basis of the company’s culture. The management teams must implement a ‘fair and just’ safety policy. Procedures must be clear and concise; individuals should be given ownership to improve and perpetuate accuracy, and to encourage adherence. Finally, all of the above aspects must be put into use — practiced both in training and operation.
Airmanship

8. Skills
Skills are abilities that are learned, usually through training, to
achieve a desired outcome. Two basic classifications of skills are:
Perceptual-motor skills, which involve an interaction between a perception and a voluntary movement. Perceptual-motor skills are:
Taught during initial and recurrent training
Required to fly aircraft in normal and emergency situations
Cognitive skills, which involve mental processes such as comprehension, judgment, memory and reasoning. Cognitive skills are:
More complex than perceptual-motor skills
Related to learning and recall
Involved in gaining and maintaining situational awareness and in decision making
Used when speaking, listening and understanding
Skills can also be grouped in three broad categories:
Routine skills are those, which once learned are easily to repeat. These include landing, go-around, emergency pull-up, cabin evacuation and briefings. The basic communication, thinking, team and self-assessment skills should be routine skills.
Procedural skills are those that involve unusual, but not exceptional, circumstances. These skills depend on having a well-prepared procedure beforehand. It is necessary to identify the situation (understand the question) so that the appropriate procedure can be used (i.e., refer to the checklist). These skills require practice for familiarity (e.g., hydraulic failure, cabin door jammed). Good airmanship requires the use of procedures. Most unusual circumstances in flight are controlled by procedural physical skills, thus it is vital that procedures are followed.
Exceptional skills are required to deal with situations beyond normal expectations and that are not normally encountered in flight. It is necessary to understand the extent and nature of the problem. Individuals and crew have to form a common mental model of the problem, often only by verbal communication. In these situations, a procedural solution is unlikely to be available; therefore, a range of thinking skills are required — problem definition, decision making and visualization (e.g., flight without hydraulic power, maneuvering with thrust only).
One special skill is self-assessment. Self-assessment is a difficult skill to define; it is like a continuous personal debrief of all activities. It is an activity where there is no blame or retribution, but it is a very necessary skill in order to achieve an understanding that enables continuous improvement. Self-assessment is a valuable skill and therefore should be developed during initial training. Self-assessment may start with the question, ‘Why did I do that?’ If an understanding is not immediately apparent, seek clarification from others. Continue to ask questions.
It is necessary to have both skill and proficiency in all aspects of airmanship; this includes discipline, situational awareness and judgment.
Airmanship

9. “The most skillful pilot had the most experience."
Hierarchy of Skills
Precision
Precise technical and non-technical skills result from personal endeavor
Efficient
An aircraft commander controls the aircraft and leads a team
Effective
Broader, non-technical skills and experience give efficient operation
Safe
Continuing training, experience and improving airmanship will enable you to operate effectively as a crewmember
Unskilled
Basic training provides only those skills necessary to be safe
The levels of skill; through training to a professional.
“The most skillful pilot had the most experience."
Airmanship

10. Proficiency
Proficiency refers to competence in a specific area. Generally speaking,
research has shown that it takes practice four hours a day for 10 years for a person to become an “expert” in a particular domain. With this in mind, it is essential that pilots do the following to become proficient at flying:
Practice flying at every opportunity
Practice a variety of flying scenarios (e.g., nonprecision approaches, hand flying, etc.)
Create meaningful situations that will expand your experience base (e.g., fly new routes, learn a new aircraft, obtain an additional rating)
Practice often and practice consistently, so that skills become automatic
It is important to note that if a pilot transitions to a new aircraft, he/she may
have to learn new skills or relearn old skills in the context of the new
aircraft.
Airmanship

11. Knowledge
Pilots must possess comprehensive knowledge about the aircraft, nature
of the flight, possible abnormal and emergency conditions, their own
qualities and the qualities of their team members. Pilots must have a
confident understanding of:
Aircraft
Procedures, techniques, limitations
Self
Physical fitness and flying proficiency
Sources of human error, methods of error detection, techniques for reducing the effects of errors
Team
Capabilities and limitations of crew, ground staff, engineering and ATC
Common understanding of aircraft characteristics and operating procedures
Environment
Weather and terrain
Organizational, political, regulatory and commercial environments
Risks
Identification and assessment
Organizational standards designed to reduce risks
Mission Statement
Corporate culture, philosophy and safety policies
Organization’s safety management system
Airmanship requires us to have knowledge so that when the unexpected happens, we have the ability to manage the situation safety.
Airmanship

12. Situational Awareness
Situational awareness is knowing where you are, what is going on, where
you are going and what is likely to come next. It develops when you have a
mental picture based on accurate data. Situational awareness is a closed-loop process in which a pilot continuously seeks more or better information to gain and maintain it.
Three processes in gaining and maintaining situational awareness:
Gather information through basic senses (vision, hearing, balance, smell, touch)
Integrate and interpret (i.e., comprehend) sensory information
Use information to project plans and actions into future
Pitfalls in the development of situational awareness:
The senses can be fooled in some situations (e.g., illusions)
Complete and reliable information may not be accessible, especially in situations you have not encountered before
Information systems are not always reliable
Incorrect expectations
Distractions
Extremely high (emergency) or extremely low workload (boredom)
Overconfidence and familiarity with a situation that lead to failure to accomplish and repeat the three processes
Situational awareness involves three major processes: gathering information, understanding the information and using the information by planning ahead and taking action.
Information is received by the senses; some senses are more receptive than others, and some individuals have greater or lesser sensitivity. The senses can be fooled or put under pressure by the operating environment.
Similarly, the process of understanding incoming information requires great mental attention; the process is a loop, continually seeking more or higher quality information until the situation is understood. Often, a comparison process is used with questions continuously asked: Has this situation been seen before (training or experience)? Is there a pattern of events or circumstances that can be related to normal operation?
The planning ahead and acting process should include a decision-making process. Do all of the courses of action fit the situation? Have all options for action been considered? The quality of a decision depends on the quality of the information sensed and the understanding acquired from that information. When a decision has been taken and acted upon, then revisit the information, assess changes. Has the situation changed as expected? If not, re-evaluate. Situational awareness is a continuous-loop process involving every person and every activity in aviation.
Airmanship

13. Judgment
Judgment is the process that leads to a decision. Judgment is supported
by all the other elements of airmanship. Similar to judgment,
aeronautical decision making (ADM) is a systematic approach to the mental
processes used by pilots to consistently determine the best course of action in response to a given set of circumstances.
Good pilot judgment and ADM require the ability and motivation to:
• Discover and establish the relevance of all available information relating to problems of flight
• Diagnose problems
• Specify alternative courses of action
• Assess the risk associated with each alternative
• Choose and execute a suitable course of action within the available time frame. (Jensen, 1995)
Judgment always involves a problem or choice, an unknown element and usually a time constraint and stress.
Jensen, R.S. (1995) Pilot Judgement and Crew Resource Management. Avebury Aviation
Judgment in aviation both brings together and uses all components of airmanship. The process of analysis requires the use of most skills, with proficiency in all, and endless knowledge, particularly of the situation. Making a judgment is often a balance of risks, thus an individual’s attitude to risk is a key element.
Carelessness and overconfidence are usually much more dangerous than the calculated acceptance of risk.
Airmanship

14. Airmanship Priorities
Good airmanship based on sound judgment involves the
following order of priorities:
Fly the aircraft — Check attitude, speed, altitude, instruments and automation
Navigate — Know where the aircraft is and where it is going
Communicate — Discuss and review the issues, share tasks, back up each other
Manage — Take follow-up action and use appropriate levels of automation
Monitor — Check to see what has changed and take control when unexpected events occur These are the “Golden Rules” of flying.
The priorities associated with judgment and situational awareness are: Fly the aircraft (Aviate), know where you are (Navigate), share knowledge of the situation (Communicate), and then Manage the situation.
Discipline must be maintained at all times; there must be discipline in preparation, in operation and in debrief. Often, the most important aspects of self-discipline are those of managing stress, workload and hazardous attitudes. Airmanship requires self-discipline and the wisdom to rise above the human weaknesses with all the pressures of hazardous attitudes.
Airmanship

15. Airmanship Tips 1 Be alert and ready for the unexpected
Gather information before deciding
Challenge and validate information
Consult
Evaluate consequences
Ensure mutual backup and cross-check
Check results of actions
Be prepared to reject any constraint that would decrease situation control

16. Airmanship Tips 2
Be alert and prepared for typical flight-phase-related emergencies
Consider trajectory as priority no.1 at all times
Adhere to published procedures, when available
Never leave a situation unresolved (ambiguity, doubt, disagreement, alert or cockpit effect)
Prioritize tasks as a function of prevailing condition
Keep all options open and be ready to change initial plans

17. Airmanship Tips 3 Be aware, to be mentally prepared.
Stay ahead of the aircraft at all times
Share experience and lessons learned
and -— last but not least —
Be aware, to be mentally prepared.

18. Summary Airmanship is: Airmanship requires:
Founded on discipline (self, team, corporate)
Continuously striving for self-improvement and optimal personal performance
Airmanship requires:
A wide range of perceptual-motor skills
A wide range of cognitive skills
A wide range of knowledge (self, aircraft, environment, risk)
Appropriate attitudes
Airmanship can be developed through training
and refined through practice and experience.
Airmanship is a personal attitude to flying, why we do it, how we do it. Airmanship must grow with training, experience and personal exposure. It is not just about staying alive or not bending the airplane or yourself, it is about walking off the airfield knowing that you have both performed and crafted an activity. You have been totally aware of what you have done and why you enjoyed it, and at that point you owe nothing to anyone.
Airmanship

19. References — Links
“Redefining Airmanship,” Tony Kern, 1996, ISBN
‘Flight Safety’ magazine, Australia CASA
‘Airmanship, Measuring up’, ‘Vector’ magazine, CAA New Zealand, Information, Publications, ‘Vector’
‘Airmanship and Flight Discipline,’ Tony Hayes, Brisbane Valley Leisure Aviation Centre
Jensen, R.S. (1995) “Pilot Judgement and Crew Resource Management.” Avebury Aviation
Airmanship

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Airmanship