ABSTRACT
It is clear from the last chapter that actual flight operations are much more complex than portrayed by FOMs. The ideal flow of procedures is constantly perturbed by events and task demands; consequently, cockpit work is in reality dynamic, semi-predictable, and only semi-controllable. Even routine flights require pilots to deal with multiple task demands concurrently by improvising, rearranging, and interleaving planned tasks with unexpected tasks. But so what? In the 60 flights that we formally observed, the crews dealt with many diverse perturbations effectively and with aplomb. Questioned during the Cruise phase or after the end of the flight, pilots reported not having found the perturbations to be in any way extraordinary or threatening. Some were consciously aware of having experienced and addressed multiple perturbations but casually regarded this as “business as usual.” Others were so inured to concurrent task demands that they seemed not to recognize that perturbations had occurred and, knowing the purpose of our presence in the cockpit, expressed disappointment that “nothing interesting” had happened.
