Training and Evaluating Team Process Skills in the Commercial Aviation Environment

Abstract

The majority of aviation incidents and accidents are attributable to human error (Billings & Reynard, 1984). Most of these human errors involve the ineffective use of team process factors, which are often referred to as Crew Resource Management (CRM) skills in the commercial aviation literature (Helmreich & Foushee, in press). In addition to these applied concerns, a revised version of McGrath's (1964) theory of group performance (Foushee & Helmreich, 1988) suggests that one must analyze the process (i.e., team process) by which a group's inputs (e.g., personality, attitudes) are transformed into group outcomes (e.g., task performance, mission safety) in order to understand how a task-oriented group functions. Therefore, team process attracts theoretical as well as practical interest. The NASA/UT/FAA Line/LOS Checklist (LLC: Helmreich, Wilhelm, Kello, Taggart, & Butler 1991) is one measure of team process that has proven useful in assessing CRM skills in training and in actual Line operations. This paper briefly reviews concepts in team process and summarizes the LLC research findings pertaining to the use of CRM skills in commercial aviation.

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