ABSTRACT
When the first version of this chapter was written in 1993, almost no specific human factors requirements or methodological standardization existed within the civil aviation regulations (Federal Aviation Administration [FAA] or Joint Aviation Authority [JAA]). Since that time, considerable efforts have been developed in the field. The improvements are threefold: First, a thorough human factors audit of the flight deck was issued in June 1996 by the FAA (with participation of the JAA). Second, mixed working groups involving authorities and industry have been created on both sides of the Atlantic and have framed the content of new guidance material and regulations. Third, researchers have made considerable progress in the comprehension of human error management and risk management that impacts the future regulations. The earlier version of this chapter has been revisited as a matter of these new advances in human factors in design and certification. A specific section has been added as a final part of the chapter to capture all the changes. The other three sections of the earlier version follow, all revisited and updated. The first of these sections debates human error and its relation with system design and accident risk. The second describes difficulties connected to the basically gradual and evolving nature of pilot expertise on a given type of aircraft, which contrasts with the immediate and definitive style of certifying systems. The third section focuses on concrete outcomes of human factors for certification purposes.
