There is no single textbook for this course. I have not located a single textbook that covers all of the material that I want to be able to cover in this course. All of the references for this course can be read online and / or downloaded at no charge using the URL addresses provided.
- Reference #1. U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration. (2016). Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (FAA-H-8083-25B).Retrieved from https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/2022-03/pilot_handbook.pdfLinks to an external site.
- Reference #2. U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration. (2009). Risk Management Handbook (FAA-H-8083-2a). Retrieved from https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/2022-06/risk_management_handbook_2A.pdfLinks to an external site.
- Reference #3. U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration. (1991). Advisory Circular 60-22: Aeronautical Decision Making. Retrieved from https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/A C_60-22.pdf
- Reference #4. U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration. (2004). Advisory Circular 120-51E: Crew Resource Management Training. Retrieved from AC_120-51E.pdf
- Reference #5. U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration. (2008). Aeronautical Decision Making (FAA-P-8740-69: AFS-8). Retrieved from P-8740-69.indd (faasafety.gov)
- Reference #6. U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration. (no date). The Art of Aeronautical Decision-Making. Retrieved from Microsoft Word - The Art of Aeronautical Decision.doc (faasafety.gov)
- Reference #7. U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration. The Evolution of Crew Resource Management Training in Commercial Aviation. Retrieved from crmhistory.pdf (faa.gov)
- Reference #8. Air Transport Safety Articles. (2014). The Role of Cognitive Bias in Aircraft Accidents. Retrieved from The role of Cognitive Bias in Aircraft Accidents | Air Transport Safety Articles by Shem Malmquist (airlinesafety.blog)
- Reference #9. Aircraft Owners and Pilot’s Association, Air Safety Foundation, Safety Advisor, Operations and Proficiency No. 11. (no date). Do The Right Thing: Decision Making for Pilots. Retrieved from https://www.aopa.org/training-and-safety/online-learning/online-courses/do-the-right-thing-decision-making-for-pilots
- Reference #10. Aarons, R. N. (no date). Accident Prevention Program: Always Leave Yourself an Out. Retrieved from Microsoft Word - p8740-25.doc (cfidarren.com)
- Reference #11. Swartz, L. (no date). Overwhelmed by Technology: How Did User Interface Failures Onboard the U.S.S. Vincennes Lead to 290 Dead? Retrieved from vincennes.pdf (stanford.edu)
- Reference #12. U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration. Avoid the Dirty Dozen. Retrieved from DirtyDozenWeb3.pdf (faasafety.gov)
- Reference #13. U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration. Human Error in Commercial Aviation Accidents. Retrieved from Human Error and Commercial Aviation Accidents: A Comprehensive, Fine-Grained Analysis Using HFACS (faa.gov)
- Reference #14. SKYbrary Aviation Safety. (no date). Stress and Stress Management. Retrieved from Stress and Stress Management (OGHFABN) | SKYbrary Aviation Safety
- Reference #15. U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration FAA TV. (2012). Stress in Aviation. Retrieved from faastress in aviation - Search (bing.com)
- Reference #16. The Adrenal Fatigue Solution. (2015). How Do Airline Pilots Cope with Stress. Retrieved from Airline Pilots: Recognizing And Coping With Stress (adrenalfatiguesolution.com)
- Reference #17. Stress and Pilot Performance - Parts 1 and 2. Part 1: Retrieved from Stress, and Pilot Performance: Part 1 – Society of Aviation and Flight Educators (safepilots.org) Part 2: Retrieved from Stress and Pilot Performance: Part 2 – Society of Aviation and Flight Educators (safepilots.org)
- Reference #18. Stress and Stress Management. Retrieved from https://skybrary.aero/articles/stress-and-stress-management-oghfa-bn
- Reference #19. Situational Awareness. Retrieved from Situational Awareness? - Aviation Safety (aviationsafetymagazine.com)
- Reference #20. How to Improve Your Situational Awareness: 7 Tips. Retrieved from https://toughprey.com/how-to-improve-your-situational-awareness/
- Reference #21. Situational Awareness. Retrieved from Situational Awareness - AviationKnowledge (wikidot.com)
- Reference #22. Automation in Aviation. Retrieved from Automation in aviation - AviationKnowledge (wikidot.com)
- Reference #23. The Denver Post. (2016). Human Error is Biggest Obstacle to 100 Percent Flight Safety. Retrieved from Human error is biggest obstacle to 100 percent flight safety – The Denver Post
- Reference #24. Olson Brooksby PC. (2013). Aviation Fatalities: Most are Caused by Human Error. Retrieved from Aviation Fatalities: Most are Caused by Human Error | Olson Brooksby PC
- Reference #25. U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration. FAA AC- 120-51E: Crew Resource Management Training. Retrieved from AC 120-51B (skybrary.aero)
- Reference #26: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration. The Evolution of Airline Crew Resource Management. Retrieved from crmhistory.pdf (faa.gov)
- Reference #27: Crew Resource Management: Head in the Game. Retrieved from Crew Resource Management: Head in the game - AOPA
- Reference #28. U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration. CRM Aspects in Incidents / Accidents.
- Reference #29. Aeronautical Decision Making (ADM) and Crew Resource Management (CRM) related accidents for case studies.
- Reference #30. U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration. Tips for Teaching Practical Risk Management. Retrieved from https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/regulations_policies/handbooks_ manuals/aviation/pilot_risk/1.0-Practical-Risk-Management.pdf
- Reference #31. U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration. 3P Risk Management Process. Retrieved from https://www.faasafety.gov/files/gslac/courses/content/28/200/3P%20Ris k%20Management%20Process.pdf
Accident References
Reference #29. Aeronautical Decision Making (ADM) and Crew Resource Management (CRM) related accidents for case studies.
I have selected these accidents because they represent excellent examples of human errors rather than technical errors.
I am generally not a big fan of Wikipedia, but it does have reasonably good aircraft accident reviews, so it is a good place to start.
Air Florida Flight 90. 01/13/1982. Boeing 737-200. Crashed into the 14th Street Bridge Over the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., just after takeoff from Washington National Airport. Killed 74 of the 79 people on board the plane and four people on the ground. Pilot chose to make the takeoff with ice on the airplane wings.
Air France Flight 4590. 07/25/2000. Concorde. Crashed just after takeoff from the Charles de Gaulle International Airport in Paris, France. Killed all 109 people on board the airplane and four people on the ground. On takeoff the airplane hit debris that was not removed from the runway. The debris burst the airplane tires, damaged a fuel tank, and the airplane caught fire in flight.
American Airlines Flight 191. 05/25/1979. McDonnell Douglas DC-10. Crashed just after takeoff from Chicago O’Hare International Airport. Killed all 271 people on board the plane and two people on the ground. The left engine came off of the wing on takeoff due to a maintenance error.
Colgan Air Flight 3407. 02/12/2009. Bombardier Q400. Crashed into a house in Clarence Center, New York. Killed all 49 people on board the plane and one person on the ground. Pilots failed to recognize an impeding aerodynamic stall.
Comair Flight 5191. 08/27/2006. Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet 100ER. Crashed on takeoff at Blue Grass Airport in Fayette County, Kentucky (just outside Lexington, Kentucky). Killed 49 of the 50 people on board the plane. Pilots attempted to takeoff from the wrong runway which was too short for the airplane.
Eastern Airlines Flight 401. 12/29/1972. Lockheed L-1011-1. Crashed into the Florida Everglades while maneuvering west of Miami, Florida. Killed 101 of the 176 people on board the plane. Pilots were distracted in the cockpit and lost control of the airplane.
Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302. 03/10/2019. Boeing 737 Max 8. Crashed six minutes after takeoff from the Bole International Airport in Adis Abba, Ethiopia. Killed all 157 people on board the plane. The airplane went out of control due to an onboard aircraft system failure that Boeing knew about.
Iran Air Flight 655. 07/03/1988. Airbus A-300. Crashed into the Persian Gulf shortly after takeoff from the Bandar Abbas International Airport. Killed all 290 people onboard the plane. The aircraft was mistakenly shot down by two surface-to-air missiles fired from the guided missile cruiser USS Vincennes.
KLM Flight 4805 and Pan Am Flight 1736. 03/27/1977. Two Boeing 747 airplanes. Two airplanes crashed into each other head on while still on the ground at the Los Rodeos Airport on the Spanish Island of Tenerife. Killed all 248 people on board the KLM airplane and 335 of the 396 people on board the Pan Am airplane for a total of 583 people. The KLM pilot failed to follow air traffic control instructions.
Lion Air Flight 610. 10/29/2018. Boeing 737 Max. Crashed into the Java Sea 13 minutes after takeoff from the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang. Killed all 189 people on board the plane. The airplane went out of control due to an onboard aircraft system failure that Boeing knew about.
TAM Flight 3054. 07/17/2007. Airbus A-320. Crashed after overrunning the runway on landing at Congonhas Airport in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Killed all 187 people on board the plane and 12 people on the ground. Pilot error on landing.
United Airlines Flight 173. 12/28/1978. McDonnell Douglas DC-8-61. Crashed into a suburban neighborhood in Portland, Oregon, six miles short of the Portland International Airport. Killed 10 of the 189 people on board the airplane. Pilots allowed the airplane to run out of fuel.
United Airlines Flight 232. 07/19/1989. McDonnell Douglas DC-10. Crashed on the Sioux Gateway Airport at Sioux City, Iowa, during an emergency landing. Killed 112 of the 296 people onboard the airplane. The explosive failure of an internal engine component due to an undetected manufacturing flaw severed all three airplane hydraulic systems and disabled all of the airplane flight controls.
USAir Flight 1016. 07/02/1994. McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31. Crashed next to the airport at Charlotte / Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, North Carolina. Killed 37 of the 57 people onboard the airplane. Pilot made a failed landing into known thunderstorm and microburst weather conditions.
John F. Kennedy Jr. 07/16/1999. Piper Saratoga. Crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on approach to landing at the Martha’s Vineyard Airport at Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. Killed all three people on board the airplane. Pilot lost control of the airplane due to weather conditions that he was not trained to handle.
John Denver. 10/12/1997. Experimental Amateur-Built Long-Eze. Crashed into Monterey Bay near Pacific Grove, California. Killed the single person on board the plane. Pilot failure to maintain aircraft control while working an onboard airplane system.