Human Factors Flashcards
What causes 91% of fatal aviation accident?
Pilot error
What is situational awareness in aviation?
Pilots must have a good understanding of what is going on around them
At what stage of flight do most accidents occur?
Landing
What are the four stages of pilot performance?
Information gathering, information processing, decision making, implementing decisions
What are four factors that affect situational awareness?
Fatigue, sickness, distraction, stress
What are the four divisions of situational awareness?
The pilot, aircraft, environment, operation
What is the pilot decision making model?
What are the factors that influence decision making?
Knowledge, situational awareness, skill, experience and training, reasoning, risk assessment, stress, attitude
How does skill influence decision making?
The higher the skill level, the less effort required to fly the aircraft
How does experience and training influence decision making?
Greatly improved skills of experienced pilots allow them to pay more attention to what is going on around them. If something goes wrong, experience can street you in the right direction
What is the false assumption?
Assuming everything is normal when it is not
When can false assumptions occur?
You see or hear what you expect
Fixation (you focus your attention on one item while something more important goes unnoticed)
Tendency to relax and make false assumptions after periods of high concentration
Flying in a new unfamiliar aircraft
Ignoring bad news
Describe the relationship between behavioural efficiency and level of arousal
What are some causes of stress?
Physical (extreme temperature, noise & vibration, lack of oxygen)
Physiological (fatigue, hunger, injury, illness)
Psychological (homesickness, business/academic worries, illness of loved one)
Describe the relationship between pilot capacity, time, and margin of safety
How can life stress be managed?
Physical fitness, social support, recreation, special techniques, self assessment, good habits and itme management
What is the “IMSAFE” checklist?
Illness - do I have any symptoms?
Medication - have I been taking them?
Stress - am I under psychological pressure?
Alcohol - Have I been drinking within 12 hours?
Fatigue - Am I adequately rested?
Eating - when was my last meal?
What are 5 types of hazardous attitudes and their antidotes?
Anti-Authority: “Follow the rules, they are usually right”
Impulsivity: “Think before you act”
Invulnerability: “It can happen to anyone anytime”
Macho: “It’s not worth the risk”
Resignation: “I’m not helpless. I can make a difference”
What is hypoxia? What does it interfere with?
A lack of sufficient oxygen for the body to operate normally. Its onset may be accompanied by a feeling of euphoria.
It interferes with reasoning, alertness, and consciousness
Explain the different types of hypoxia
Hypoxic hypoxia: occurs with exposure to altitude
Anemic hypoxia: decreased red blood cell count
Stagnant hypoxia: inadequate blood flow to body tissues. Can occur when exposed to higher G forces
Histotoxic hypoxia: inability of cells to use oxygen available. Can be caused by high blood alcohol levels
Describe the three types of vision
Photopic - during daytime or high artificial illumination conditions the eyes rely on central vision to perceive and interpret image and colour object
Mesopic vision - occurs at dawn, dusk, or full moonlight levels and is characterized by decreasing visual acuity and colour vision
Scotopic vision - occur during nighttime, low visibility, and low intensity artificial illumination conditions. Central vision becomes ineffective to maintain visual aacuity and colour perception
What affects the visibility of an object?
Size, ambient illumination, contrast, viewing time, atmospheric clarity
What are the dangers of excessive ambient illumination, especially from light reflected off the canopy, surfaces, cloud, water, snow, and desert terrain?
It can produce glare that may cause uncomfortable squinting, eye tearing, and temporary eye blindness
What factors can affect pilot vision?
Uncorrected refractive eye disorder (like myopia)
Self imposed stress (self medication, alcohol consumption, tobacco, hypoglycemia, sleep depreivation)
How much time do the eyes require to fully adapt to the dark?
30 to 45 minutes
How can you minimize the time neccessary to achieve complete dark adaptation?
Avoid inhaling carbon monoxide, get enough vitamin A, adjust instrument and cockpit lighting to lowest level, avoid prolonged exposure to bright light, use supplementary oxygen when flying at night above 5000’