ABSTRACT
Although there is no real possibility of a quantitative evaluation of the benefi ts, no airline having set up a CRM program would now consider killing it.
Pariès and Amalberti
Th is rather ominous remark was made by Pariès and Amalberti in 1995. However, it would have been quite wrong to have considered it as the prophesy of doom. At that time, the comment refl ected the concerns of some within the international aviation human-factors community who, while believing that crew resource management (CRM) was an essential prevention tool in the contemporary aviation system, had taken to critically review CRM and its history to ensure that there was a meaningful future for this training in aviation. In the 10 years since the comment was made, large strides have in fact been made in the evaluation of CRM-both qualitative and quantitative-although these too have not been without controversy. However, it is an undisputed fact that in refl ecting on its quartercentury lifespan to date, the history of CRM is one of greatest success. Like a living being, from its inception, through its short childhood and teenage years, CRM has matured steadily, although by continuing the comparison with an adolescent, some would say-at times-that CRM causes similar angst to its parents and friends! Despite the regular healthy challenge, both from within the aviation industry and parts of the academic world, it has continued to gain impetus and has now reached a stage where it has been assigned a signifi cant role as contributor to the safety and effi ciency of the
aviation system. It is perceived as a sound way to proceed by the user population and regulatory community alike. In fact, nobody would dare say that CRM does not work.
