The Pilot Factor: A fresh look into Crew Resource Management

I was so looking forward to this book. Heard about it online. Cool cover picture has airline pilot ripping off uniform shirt to show Superman costume underneath. Some glowing reviews on Amazon.Then I got the book and started reading. Oh dear. It's a self-published stretched padded 100 pages with no original research, a limited understanding of CRM history, editing issues, no common thread, and no new personal insights. At the end all I really noticed was that there wasn't a single mention of that pilot-turned-Superman from the cover in the book (although there is some chatter of other super heroes). The first page states "let's go all the way back to the 1970s, and the birth of Human Factors." Do what now? It's generally agreed that aviation human factors came out of WWII. Paul Fitts and Richard Jones published their work on pilot error and flap/gear design in 1947. Grether's seminal studies on altimeter designs were published in 1949. I have a 1953 book by McFarland titled 'Human factors in Air Transportation.' It's 830 pages long. With lots of info packed onto every page. And while 'The Pilot Factor' mostly deals with Crew Resource Management (CRM), a subset of human factors that did indeed become recognizable in the early 1970's, it's birthfather Dr Alan Diehl and the landmark United Airlines flight 173 crash are never mentioned. How could a promised 'human factors expert' not know this?On the second page it's stated that "around the 1970s .... Investigators discovered that between 70% and 80% of aviation accidents involved human error." Oh dear. Again. That figure was accepted knowledge in human factors circles by the end of WWII. From here the book continues with a collection of weak summaries of various human factors models. An example of the editing problems is on page 6, "Al Haynes was at the commands of the United Airlines Flight 232." At the controls? Or in command? Small error, really no big deal, but typical of the need throughout for an editor not a self-publish button.More worrying is the unusual claim that Captain 'Sully' Sullenberger, who glided an Airbus into the Hudson river, is an example of autocratic "old school" or "god" cockpit management. On page 51 the author states Sully "provided an iron-handed management of the situation." How odd. Most people would say even-handed not iron-handed. The NTSB transcripts show Sully calmly asking his First Officer "Got any ideas?" (to which the reply was "actually not"). For a book on CRM to claim Sully as a bad example without presenting any evidence is, to say the least, confusing.The author uses the term PF and PNF (pilot flying and pilot not flying) but since about 2003 the preference by CRM professionals has been to use the terms PF and PM (for pilot monitoring). This is a result of a major concern of the US NTSB and UK AAIB about the number of accidents where the pilot monitoring should have spoken up to the pilot flying. Human performance during monitoring is real 'cutting-edge' HF and CRM. It may have been a contributing cause to accidents like the B777 in San Francisco. This concern is not covered in the book.Modern safety concepts like resilience and emergent system complexity are also absent. The OODA loop is given a couple of pages, without ever mentioning John Boyd, or giving examples of its practical use. The DISC assessment is discussed, but again in a historical and theoretical vacuum. We flit and flirt about but never seem to tie anything together. There is no original research. There is little original research cited. And that would be OK if this were an insightful personal account. But it's not. It's a lightweight re-hash of training manuals and books, poorly integrated, poorly edited, that reaches no final point or conclusion. While I wanted to be impressed, I unfortunately came away with distantly different feelings.What aviation CRM and human factors books are worth your time? Well, the good news is there's loads of great stuff out there. Like  Naked Pilot: The Human Factor in Aircraft Accidents , or  Flight Discipline , or  Crew Resource Management, Second Edition 2nd (second) Edition published by Academic Press (2010) , and  Human Factors in Flight . I hope you found this review useful.

Despite the name of the book, the content is not only for pilots. It extracts the very core concept of resource management and leadership from aviation CRM and rephrases them to easy to understand context. It is a good read for anyone who wants to have better team management skills as well as leadership. Recommended! If I am being picky, this book is a bit too short and has over simplified things a little.

I am a engineering manager who is researching CRM for application in my development teams. Of all my research into the topic, this book brings together everything needed in a very simple and elegant way. This book goes beyond the cockpit. Any team looking to operate more effectively can implement what is in this book with very little effort. This book will be the center of my coaching and developing strategies. Great Job Jean!

Good and basic intoduction to CRM, a good read for people new to the industry.Points are easily understandable backed up with examples. Might be abit too basic for some

In a relatively short book, Captain Marcelin explains CRM and how to use it effectively. Concepts and examples are clearly presented, and references are given if you want to read further on a particular point. As flight operations become more automated - NexGen - CRM will become even more important. Should be part of every pilot's library.

Really great book! Easy to access the information and has many practical examples that can be applied to every day operations on the flight deck.

Great read for anyone interested in aviation. Whether you are a pilot or not you can learn from this book and use what it teaches not only in aviation, but other fields.

Very good wrap up of everything I heard thru the years and intertwined to work together. I liked Leadership vs Mgt, 3 F's of debriefing, LOSA/TEAM/TEM, SHELL, OODA, Swiss Cheese, EiQ, Fatigue = DUI, 4 com Styles (My favorite chapter!), TEAM 3 and 2, the DECIDE model (heard it before, forgot it), 3P's...

If you are looking for an excellent and in depth insight into aviation crm, this is not it. However if it's an americanised introduction you want this may suffice

Der Artikel ist wie beschrieben und in einwandfreiem Zustand. Es gibt keinerlei Beanstandungen meinerseits. Klare Empfehlung, ebenso zum Service. Alles 1a.

I'm an airline pilot. I absolutely loved this book. I wish more people read it and benefit from it

Boring and long. Suggestive content.

Love it!