CRM Principles Essay

Crew Resource Management in Aviation

Crew Resource Management is a field which has helped mold aircraft management procedures in modern aviation. After its initial inception in the 1950s with NASA's continuing crash investigations, it has become an integral part of modern aviation. Today, CRM is being applied in most aviation sectors, including commercial. It continues to evolve and provides greater safety potential in a dangerous industry because of heightened management capabilities on behalf of those in charge in the cock pit of an air craft.

The development of CRM was initially centered on crash sites investigations. NASA uncovered surprising patterns where nearly half of all accidents had issues of proper resource management factoring in to the event in some way or another (Houston, 2014). As major accidents were on the rise, "casual factors included technical and mechanical issues, but the majority of the accidents were listed as pilot error" (Wagener ( & Ison, 2014). This led to NASA and other aviation organizations working towards raising awareness about in flight management techniques that could help reduce potential human errors that have such a detrimental potential.

What resulted was the birth of the field known as Crew Resource Management as a philosophy and discipline that could, when applied correctly, help empower pilots to better handle flights and prevent potentially fatal accidents.According to the research, "Whether they make the right decision or not depend on how much information they have at their fingertips. CRM teaches pilots to seek out all available resources when making a decision, and not to do it alone" (Houston, 2014). CRM aims to empower pilots with the ability to make better decisions by taking a holistic approach to the management of their resources. This means both their technical resources in the equipment, but also their fellow crew members. It is based on the notion that "new aircraft acquisition is relatively straight forward; however, the production of safe and well-trained flight crew is a more complex task" (Wagener ( & Ison, 2014). Ultimately, it is crucial that crews work towards empowering themselves through practicing CRM technique and keep active in learning and improving their collaborative tasks in flight. Today, "CRM is an essential part of any flight department's training and a critical piece of knowledge in an airplane pilot's career" (Houston, 2014). This has vastly increased the applications of CRM to commercial, private, and even government aviation activities. With the increase in application then comes massive evolution in its principles, as seen in recent years.

Today, CRM practices and philosophies are being even….....