ABSTRACT

In modern aircraft operation flight crews are dealing with increasingly complex environmental conditions, which impose amplified cognitive demands on the pilots. Technological developments such as highly automated cockpit systems, along with an increasing traffic density and flying under marginal weather conditions, have influenced the job profile of flight crewmembers. In addition to more technical competencies like traditional stick-and-rudder skills, so-called nontechnical skills of pilots like decision-making, crew-cooperation, leadership, or general systems management have become more important (Flin et al., 2003). For a long time, pilot training programs have proved effective for the acquisition of the necessary technical knowledge and manual flying skills, which are certainly still essential factors for the safe handling of an aircraft. However, the training of nontechnical skills lacks sufficient empirical evidence through systematic research studies that demonstrate its impact on pilot performance. This chapter is focused on the evaluation of new training concepts for training Situation Awareness (SA) and Threat Management (TM) of pilots, two concepts which have received considerable attention in the available literature of the past ten or fifteen years (e.g., Endsley, 1995; Helmreich, Klinect and Wilhelm, 1999). A European research consortium, called ESSAI (Enhanced Safety through Situation Awareness Integration in training) has recently developed a comprehensive training solution for SA and TM, which went through a full-scale evaluation program in a training experiment (ESSAI, 2003).