ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on 'plan continuations', a pattern common to many aviation accidents and discusses how pilots' risk assessment and risk management strategies may play a role in this type of event. It explores several issues relating to pilot risk perception and risk management decisions, presents findings from several studies, and considers their implications for pilot training and procedures to insure system safety. The findings indicated considerable variability in pilots' assessments of risks, which in turn determined the extent to which pilots were willing to take or avoid a risk. Differences in risk assessment were associated with the presence of ambiguous cues, dynamically changing conditions, and uncertain threat and action outcomes. As a safeguard against plan continuation errors, risk management training should encourage pilots to move beyond their initial risk assessment and look for alternative views, especially if their assessment entails continuing with their current plan.
