"Human Factors for Pilots" is an insightful book in human factors for aviators that is well written in simple English making it easy to follow and understand. Human factors encompasses a wide range of knowledge, skills and attitudes including communications, situational awareness, problem solving, decision making, and teamwork.
Human factors is concerned with the cognitive and interpersonal skills required to manage the flight within an organised aviation system. In this case, cognitive skills are the mental processes required for gaining and maintaining situational awareness, for solving problems and for taking decisions. Interpersonal skills include effective communications and good teamwork. Good interpersonal skills encourage the creation of synergy and the development of successful teamwork. Both cognitive and interpersonal skills are enhanced by a good emotional climate amongst the crew, but they are also easily degraded by stress, so management of the emotional climate and stress becomes and integral and important element of good human factors.
The book explains that safe and efficient flight operations depend for their success not only on the attainment of sound technical knowledge and skills but also on the mastery by aircrew of the cognitive and interpersonal skills which form the basis of good human factors.
The book shows that human factors is not merely an abstract management concept but rather is a discipline that embraces principles and skills which, when coupled with good technical knowledge and expertise, will allow the crew to make the best use of all available resources to realize optimum effectiveness in the conduct of operations whilst simultaneously maximising the safety of the flight.
This excellent book is recommended for all pilots and cabin attendants, regulators, safety managers and aeronautical engineering students
