Aviation Research and Development: A Framework for the Effective Practice of Human Factors, or "What Your Mentor Never Told You about a Career in Human Factors..."

Since its humble beginning in the chaos of World War II, human factors have played a substantial role in aviation. In fact, it is arguably in this domain that human factors have received their greatest acceptance as an essential part of the research, development, test, and evaluation cycle. Th is acceptance has come from the critical role that humans, notably pilots, play in these human-machine systems, the unique problems and challenges that these systems pose on human perception, physiology, and cognition, and the dire consequences of human error in these systems. As a result, there have been numerous opportunities for the development of the science of human factors that have contributed signifi cantly to the safety and growth of aviation.