Human Factors in Aviation: Impact on Pilot Tasks During Take-off

This report explores the critical role of human factors in aviation, specifically focusing on pilot tasks during the take-off phase. It examines the relationship between situational awareness (SA), human information processing (HIP), and workload (WL) and their impact on the effective completion of pilot duties during take-off. The report delves into the importance of these human factors in aviation safety and efficiency, defining each factor and explaining relevant models. It also discusses how crew training, experience, and flight deck design can influence the relationship between HIP, SA, and pilot workload. The analysis highlights the significance of effective task management, decision-making, and situational awareness in preventing errors and ensuring safe take-off operations, emphasizing the need for coordinated crew teamwork and comprehensive training programs.

Managing human factors in
aviation

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
Importance of Human factors in aviation....................................................................................3
Tasks by pilot during take-off from an airport............................................................................4
Impact of human factors on Pilot’s tasks.....................................................................................5
Crew training and flight deck influencing the relations of human factors..................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8
Books and Journals......................................................................................................................8
Online..........................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Human factors are the issues which will affect the jobs of people. It includes both social
and personnel skills. These skills are communication and technical skills which are important for
safe and efficient aviation (Salas, 2017). Having a proper learning of human factors is helpful in
reducing the potential errors and helping in forming more tolerant towards these errors. The
academic definition of human factors is the set up of science which is used in many disciplines to
help people perform the under difficult situations. It is the study of all factors which make the
working performance of an individual easy (Bendak and Rashid, 2020). In this report the relation
of human factors with pilot’s tasks is discussed along with the importance of crew training and
flight deck in the aviation industry.
MAIN BODY
Importance of Human factors in aviation
Human factor can be broken into situational awareness, human information processing
and work load. Situational awareness is defined as the division between an individual and the
environment around him (Major, and Hubbard, 2017). Focusing on the different and important
factors of the environment says that situational awareness is about getting things done. In
aviation situational awareness is all about having the knowledge of what all going in the task
such as flying, controlling or maintaining the aircraft. For the a pilot situational awareness is like
clicking a mental picture of the location, flight conditions or even he energy state of the aircraft
and any other factor which is related to safety. Situational awareness is important to prevent
errors and deviations. It helps in identifying the needs and requirements of the tasks in that
particular dynamic environment. The three level model of SA starts with perceiving, which
depends on relevant information and communication. Next is the comprehending which deals
with mental models helping in understanding and validating the information. Lastly is prediction
which helps in predicting future outcomes.
Human information processing is the method of studying the human thoughts and
behaviour. Working is the aviation industry come with handling different operations which
require information to make decisions and take the appropriate actions (Nguyen, and et.al.,
2019). The process of sensing this information is human information processing in aviation. It is
the ability of the operator to process data in the given time period thus forming suitable

responses. The human information processing model showcase the actions which were selected
while considering the outside world in order to achieve progress in the desired direction and
correcting the errors. The basic model contains sensing which is attention directing the
perceiving and deciding based on the given information and then finally taking the appropriate
action. These are all based on the working of a memory, short term memory and the external
changes.
Workload is the amount of work to be done by an individual. Workload in aviation is the
demand put up on the mental resources on the individual who is handling the operations. It is
used for attention, perception and reasonable decision making resulting to final actions. Task
load comprises of tasks demand and task allocation (Rodriguez, and Makic, 2017). Workload
and task load are similar in terms of disciplines of human factors in the model of human
behaviour. But they still hold some, workload is the amount of work done by an individual and
their perspective towards this loads of work. It is classified as both, a quantitative and qualitative.
Budgets are made to estimate the workload for a particular activity. Task load is operational and
depends on the time taken to finish a task. An amount of time is set for completion of the task.
Workload is important in the aviation industry because the errors occurring in a task might
include mental tasks demands which require a beyond approach from the capabilities of human
operators. The results coming from these errors are critical and can harm the safety. Conducting
a task effectively is very important as it can help in providing proper safety (Bode-Oke,
Zeyghami, and Dong, 2017). Proper task management is critical part of completing a successful
flight. Effective tasks can lead to good aircraft inspection and make it ready to be service.
Tasks by pilot during take-off from an airport
Take off is the phase of the aircraft which helps the aircraft move through a transition
phase from ground to flying in air. The flight starts from runway, engine is in full power to help
in the take off the aircraft. When the aircraft is in the taxi motion it stops at the start of the
runway. The engines are set to run to at high power for checking any engine related problem
before the take off. This makes a lot of noises. The pilot then releases the brakes and aircraft
starts to accelerate slowly up to the necessary speed required for take off (Wiegmann, and
Shappell, 2017). This takes off speeds depends on the density of the air, weight of the aircraft
and the configuration depending on the flat and slat positions. Take off speed is also dependent

on the length and slope of the runway. If there any failure in the operations of aircraft the take off
must be avoided. This speed is maintained by the engines to meet the proper criteria for rate of
climb and the angle of ascend.
High lift devices are used during the time of take off which help in moving with slow
speeds or manoeuvring purposes (Bernard and et.al., 2020). The climb phase is the ending of
take off phase. During this time the wheels are retracted back into the undercarriage of the
aircraft. The passengers on board can hear the noise coming from below compartment during this
climb phase (Wiegmann, and Shappell, 2017). Take off stage marks the crucial and the starting
step from the flying of aircraft. It is different from other stages because it requires specific limit
of speed and much different operation which are not required otherwise. Flying an airplane first
starts with planning of the flight and then preparing the aircraft according to it. The aircraft is
pushed back and then taxing is done after which the most important phase of take off is
performed (Muir and Harris, 2017). Once a successful take off is done then the flight is subjects
to the cruising level which s easy going and can be done with the help of auto pilot until there is
some kind of turbulence. After the cruising aircraft loiters and then prepares for descend
reaching to the final approach of landing.
Impact of human factors on Pilot’s tasks
To make a decision and take the appropriate action the assessment of information is very
important. Decision making is the main aspect in human factors (Muñoz-Marrón, 2018). A good
decision can help in saving the day and a bad one on the other hand can lead to catastrophe. To
achieve a better decision making information processing system of human factor is required.
Information processing has three steps where first stage is input where the use of sense of vision
smell and all the six ones are used (Patankar, and Taylor, 2017). They comprise of iconic and
echoic memory. This is about hearing and sound coming from engine or watching the slope of
the runways and understanding the direction of the wind something related to this during the
time of takeoff. Then come the step of processing which is helped in analysing what the senses
felt and learning the associated outcomes. Last step is output which is results in working or
taking actions of the information which is processed like fixing the speed during the take off
depending on the human information processed (Moura, and et.al., 2017). This can impact

negatively when the pilot takes impulsive decisions due to some missed information during the
time of processing.
Situational awareness is the accurate and precise from of understanding of all the aspects
and situations having some risk elements. These elements include the pilot, aircraft and the type
of operations, take off in this case. Situational awareness affects the safety during the time of
time off. Situational awareness is the process indentifying, processing and comprehending the
main factors of the information, they help in forming an accurate understanding of all the factors
to pilot during the take off phase (Proctor, and Van Zandt, 2018). It helps the pilot know what all
is happening around them. Losing the situational awareness will lead to controlled flight into
being a terrain accident. If during the time of take off the pilot is not having situational
leadership if might fail to fly at the correct attitude and applying the right amount of thrust.
Workload of the pilot varies during the different stages of flying (Bridger, 2017). When
this workload is high, it can result in forming some errors and the multi tasking strategy can
break down. Pilot is in low workload during the cruising time. At high periods of workloads
engine is started, pushed back and take out the taxing. Takeoff is done where uncommon
situations such as equipment malfunction or weather conditions being critical can take place.
Because of these high work load conditions the pilot might hear something else or perform the
work in a wrong way due to misunderstandings. It can lead to level bust, controlled flight into
terrain during the end time of take off. The pilot can use some approach which is not stabilised
(Stanton, and et.al., 2017). It can also lead to pilot being distracted from his work which leads to
errors and managing the aircraft in a not so secure way.
Crew training and flight deck influencing the relations of human factors
In the modern form of aviation industry, the crew of the flight is dealing with many
problems which impose some demands on the pilot. Technological advancements have
influenced the job of flight crew members (Xie, and Guo, 2018). Training of non technical skills
impacts on the pilot’s performance. Human factors such as situational awareness can help in
avoiding any type of risks. They are defined as perception of elements. Safe operations in an
aircraft can be done assessing the correct number of situational factors which includes the
aircraft’s operational factors, its external conditions and the information related to the navigation.
Thus a crew member having a good situational awareness can be helpful in handling this entire

situation. Therefore the training if flight crew and design are very important as all the safety
related concerns are dependent on situational leadership (Hawkins, 2017). There are many
accidents which happen during a flight. It takes place because of some standard mistakes which
includes loss of situational awareness, violating the rules and regulations during the flight, poor
decision making team or improper leadership.
This shows the importance of crew during a flight. Deficiency in the training and learning
can lead to many destructive accidents (Kelly, and Efthymiou, 2019). Human factors such as
situational awareness and human information processing can be increased and workload can be
decreased when the crew team works together in a coordinated manner. It is known that to excel
in something, the ideas and thought process of the whole team is important. As in case of a
flight, if the flight crew is well trained and experienced then they will form a better level of
human information processing. There will be increased situational awareness which will help in
avoiding any safety violations. If the crew is experience they know well the working of
operations during flight, if does their art of job properly then there is no chances of having high
work load. Low work load helps in smooth working and avoiding any emergency situations
(Kadir, Broberg and da Conceicao, 2019). Aviation industry works like a team playing in some
particular sport. If the flight has some trained and experienced crew members then the chances of
having a safe and smooth flight is increased.
CONCLUSION
Human factor are the way of understanding the working of human beings, their behaviour
and their performance. Human factors when based on the operations will help in optimising the
relations between different individuals and improve the chances of safety and performance
conditions in the aviation industry. This report has looked into the main three types of human
factors which are situational awareness, human information processing and the workload. It
focuses on the impact of these human factors during the time of take off of an aircraft as take off
is the most crucial stage in the flying. Lastly, the report ends with the influence of crew training
and experience on their human factors.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Bendak, S. and Rashid, H.S., 2020. Fatigue in aviation: A systematic review of the
literature. International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, 76, p.102928.
Bernard and et.al., 2020. Using digital and physical simulation to focus on human factors and
ergonomics in aviation maintainability. Human factors, 62(1), pp.37-54.
Bode-Oke, A.T., Zeyghami, S. and Dong, H., 2017. Aerodynamics and flow features of a
damselfly in takeoff flight. Bioinspiration & biomimetics, 12(5), p.056006.
Bridger, R., 2017. Introduction to human factors and ergonomics. CRC press.
Hawkins, F.H., 2017. Human factors in flight. Routledge.
Kadir, B.A., Broberg, O. and da Conceicao, C.S., 2019. Current research and future perspectives
on human factors and ergonomics in Industry 4.0. Computers & Industrial
Engineering, 137, p.106004.
Kelly, D. and Efthymiou, M., 2019. An analysis of human factors in fifty controlled flight into
terrain aviation accidents from 2007 to 2017. Journal of safety research, 69, pp.155-
165.
Major, W. and Hubbard, S., 2017. Innovative Airport Visual Aids to Enhance Situational
Awareness and Flight Training for General Aviation. In 19th International
Symposium on Aviation Psychology (p. 184).
Maurino, D.E., Reason, J., Johnston, N. and Lee, R.B., 2017. Beyond aviation human factors:
Safety in high technology systems. Routledge.
Moura, and et.al., 2017. Learning from accidents: Interactions between human factors,
technology and organisations as a central element to validate risk studies. Safety
Science, 99, pp.196-214.
Muir, H.C. and Harris, D. eds., 2017. Contemporary issues in human factors and aviation safety.
Routledge.
Muñoz-Marrón, D., 2018. Human factors in aviation: CRM (crew resource
management). Papeles del Psicólogo/Psychologist Papers, 39(3), pp.191-199.
Nguyen, and et.al., 2019. A review of situation awareness assessment approaches in aviation
environments. IEEE Systems Journal, 13(3), pp.3590-3603.
Patankar, M.S. and Taylor, J.C., 2017. Applied human factors in aviation maintenance. Taylor &
Francis.
Proctor, R.W. and Van Zandt, T., 2018. Human factors in simple and complex systems. CRC
press.
Rodriguez, A.C., Lee, D.A. and Makic, M.B.F., 2017. Situational awareness in critical care: An
aviation approach to reduce error. Journal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing, 32(6), pp.650-
652.
Salas, E. ed., 2017. Situational awareness. Routledge.
Stanton, and et.al., 2017. Human factors methods: a practical guide for engineering and design.
CRC Press.
Wiegmann, D.A. and Shappell, S.A., 2017. A human error approach to aviation accident
analysis: The human factors analysis and classification system. Routledge.
Xie, X. and Guo, D., 2018. Human factors risk assessment and management: Process safety in
engineering. Process Safety and Environmental Protection, 113, pp.467-482.

Online
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