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pilot training

Pilot training and retraining of pilots

 

The imperfection of the system of training of flight personnel is a significant deterrent to improve safety. According to Director of Training Center of flight crews and ground personnel consortium Airbus Industries, The system of training pilots in France at all, or almost does not track scientific and technical progress in civil aviation. The human factor in the flight training process is not given enough attention, during flight training the crew members are taught, basically, "pure aerobatics", whereas on modern aircraft most flight maneuvers are automated. At the same time, issues of general flight control, control of the situation in the workplace, and in the cockpit of the aircraft as a whole were almost entirely removed from consideration. Vocational training practically does not concern different aspects of human relationships, the psychology of command and the responsibility of the pilot.

Developed ICAO The fundamental concepts in the field of the human factor that determine the specific type of basic professionally significant individual and maximum permissible characteristics of the crew of the aircraft were used as the basis for programs to prevent accidents. A significant addition to the ICAO documents regulating the specific content of professional training programs for aviation specialists was the introduction in the eighth edition of the noted documents of the new section "Flight preparation", in which the standards of knowledge requirements for future specialists are differentiated for the first time in special disciplines. These disciplines include requirements for knowledge of the capabilities and limitations of the human operator during the flight process, having the same status as the requirements for knowledge in any other section of the traditional training course, which necessitates the development of an appropriate training program and the introduction of new concepts in System of this training.

In the practice of flight training, the concept that the training of the skills of locomotor automatisms should constitute the basis of training was quite tenacious. In accordance with this concept, the main task of preparing a professional is to train him to quickly and accurately respond to certain external actions. As for studying by the method of observation, analysis of the situation, the ability to operate with imaginary variables, and so on. n., it is a secondary matter. This concept, in fact, based on the behaviorist view of human behavior, reducing it to a scheme "stimulus - reaction".

Consideration of the question of whether it is possible, limited only by skills training, to form a highly qualified, creatively working professional, in the psychological research of aviation orientation, serious attention was paid. It was noted that in the history of aviation psychology, from the very beginning of the organization of the training of pilots (in 1910), attempts are being made to contrast the concept of skills training with another approach, namely: orientation toward developing the ability to creatively comprehend flight situations and act on the basis of reason rather than "instinctively ".

It was concluded that the restructuring of the methods of teaching pilots should be in the rejection of its exclusive focus on the testing of automated skills and the transition to mentalizing techniques, allows active conscious construction of the internal regulatory mechanisms of action and ensures the formation of a full image of the flight in the early stages of training of pilots .

Of interest are education programs for practicing skills of the pilot to choose the right solution at the stage of initial training.

The result of the development of these skills was the development of the ERAU (Enbry - Riddle Aviation University) Manual, which is based on a technique in which the attention of the cadet focuses on three factors that determine the decision making: on the pilot, the aircraft and the environment. The factors associated with professional training, experience, health, stress, fatigue, etc are associated with the pilot; The aircraft is determined by flight characteristics, flight suitability conditions, operation of functional systems and equipment. The environment includes weather conditions, terrain relief, work of ATC services, etc.

Analysis shows that, in the final analysis, air accidents occur because of one wrong decision. "Every wrong assessment," says Jerome Berlin, the head of the development of the ERAU Manual, a pilot in aviation psychology research, "reduces the choice that the pilot manages." The last link in the chain of events is that the pilot does not have any choice at all. " The ERAU methodology provides recommendations for "interrupting" this vicious chain, namely, the manual identifies the psychological attitudes ("dangerous types of thinking") that affect a person's decision, as well as situational exercises that help to identify and overcome these shortcomings.

One section of the Guide ERAU, dedicated to assessing the impact of various stresses on the decision-making process, also contains recommendations for overcoming the negative effects of stress (it was even introduced the concept of "control dangerous situation").

Studies have shown that members of the crew, past the fundamental training on the Guidelines ERAU, made in the supervisory missions to 54% fewer errors than the flight crews that it did not pass. According to experts, the introduction of management review ERAU into practice the training of flight personnel has reduced the number of AP is not less than 5-20%.

Designed later 20 situational exercises for diagnosis and correction of hazardous qualities of the pilot during flight operations, substantially complementary educational materials Guidelines ERAU, make it possible to increase the reliability of diagnostic decision-making process on 42,9%.

The notion of "flight training" has many aspects and, in particular, can be seen in terms of "change of behavior", which aims to develop the members of the crew certain behavioral patterns before they start the practical piloting. It follows that there is no need to work out all the steps of Air Line Pilots training on the basic training aircraft, because, in fact, it may even be harmful to the acquisition of skills of the pilot line.

Today, a lot of progress in the design and use of flight simulators. However, for the successful completion of the flight simulator is necessary to satisfy the following conditions:

  • Trainers should simulate all the possible flight situations;

  • necessary to improve the methodology for the development of training programs;

  • It should be in the process of learning continuous connection to the workplace, which can be used to provide input to the flight simulators of real situations, to effectively investigate these situations by using simulators and complicate their use in the training of pilots in real flight conditions.

Only a continuous communication during training and testing can guarantee the inclusion of proven procedures in the real flight situation.

The high efficiency of training on simulators reduces the flight training program compared to its initial volume by more than 3 times, and the annual economic effect from the introduction of simulators in the training process is about 1 million rubles. (Russian Federation).

The acquisition of skills is crucial to flight training. Flight Skills are divided into mental, sensory, motor, strong-willed and are characterized by extreme complexity, flexibility, plasticity. Often they are implemented in situations of uncertainty and strong emotions.

Practice the initial flight training shows that it is important to take into account the laws of formation flying skills.

Here are some of them:

  • 1. Uneven development of different skills. The acquisition of all skills on the first flights is usually slow. The skill of piloting during a level flight is already firmly established when completing 30-40% of the export program, while a relatively stable skill of landing an aircraft only when passing 70-80% of the export program. Therefore, at the initial stage, one should not demand independence when piloting an aircraft; more attention should be paid to the accuracy, timeliness and sequence of performing the necessary actions, and not to their speed. Otherwise, at first the cadet will master flight skills well, and in the future this will lead to the wrong acquisition of skills, the manifestation of mistakes and bad habits.

  • 2. Periodic appearance of temporary delays in the growth of skill, and sometimes even a decrease in its level, which in psychology is called a "plateau". First, a rapid increase in skill, as a rule, occurs due to the fact that the student begins to copy the movements of the instructor pilot. But with subsequent training, this is not enough. The student must already apply the existing knowledge, rebuild his psychological structure of skills, which leads to the emergence of a "plateau". Outwardly, this process is expressed in an increase in the cadet's tension.

  • 3. Decrease in emotional stress in the number of skill improvement, which indicates the formation of qualities that contribute to the strengthening of psychological stability. During the demonstration flights, the cadet's pulse rate is significantly lower than during the control flights, when he, together with the instructor, begins to work out this skill. Psychologically, this can be explained by the fact that in the first demonstration flights, the pulse rate increases by an average of 12-16 beats per minute compared to the background indicator due to the novelty of the conditions and nature of the activity. On subsequent flights, the heart rate decreases all the time. But as soon as the instructor pilot begins to demand from the cadet the fulfillment of the practiced skills, the heart rate increases by an average of 22-26 beats. With each flight, the pulse rate decreases all the time, since the emotional tension of the cadet decreases, and the effectiveness of training increases. When a "plateau" appears, the cadet's pulse rises again by 15-18 beats per minute, which indicates the ongoing psychological restructuring. With further training, the cadet's pulse rate again decreases to background values.

  • 4. Purposefulness of exercises and knowledge of the results by the student. This pattern is manifested in the fact that, before teaching anything, it is necessary to explain to the cadet why it is necessary in flight work, what methods and techniques of skills formation are used and what the final result should be. This allows the trainee to exercise self-control of their actions, to direct their attention to correcting mistakes and achieving better results. Fulfillment of these requirements increases interest in the exercise, mobilizes the will of the cadet, makes him diligent, patient and persistent in achieving the set goals. But there is another general law of acquiring any skills, the essence of which is automatism that is formed only when in the process of being handled, actions focus is on his goal.

One of the basic principles of flight training, the principle activity, assuming the full development of personality activity and awareness of students with their actions.

In the practice of flight training there are two types of exercises aimed at the formation of motor skills. First - it is learning by trial and error, and the second, based on a psychological concept of learning Galperin, is the gradual formation of mental actions by moving the outside, "material" activities, the inner, mental plan.

Method of exercise based on a thorough understanding of the process of learning motor skills, different from the method of trial and error the prior detailed orientation of cadets in the upcoming mission. At the student pre-formed system of associations estimated and cognitive activity, accelerating the formation of motor skills and significantly reduces the number of errors.

The external signs indicating the progress in the process of formation flying skills, include a number of manifestations:

  • Association of partial actions into one coherent action;

  • eliminating unnecessary movements and excess voltage;

  • weakening the role of the visual and increasing the role of motor control technology implementation actions;

  • possible activities in various ways or methods.

When retraining for a new aviation technology the most important point in the psychological

respect is restructuring skills. The main psychological characteristics of this process are related to the influence of the old skills in the development of new and dynamic acquisition of the latter. In the course of retraining for new skills can have both positive and negative influence of old skills. Influence of the old skills to new skills called transference.

On the positive transference of skills affect the similarity of the new equipment and the old cabins type of aircraft, a single methodology of training, a positive mental attitude for retraining. Positive transference of skills also contributes to the plasticity of skills. Negative transfer occurs when new knowledge, for whatever reason (for example, under the influence of stress) is applied prior experience, the return of which has negative consequences.

In summer practice often there are cases of negative transference of skills during transition to modern aircraft types, including the new aircraft systems. Thus, the increase in the percentage of erroneous actions to 12-15% spoke about the importance and the need to consider the possibility of negative transference skill.

It should be noted that flight skills in the absence of favorable conditions are lost until de-automation. Factors that cause de-automation may be a break in the implementation of appropriate actions, emotional arousal, fatigue, disease, passive attitude to activity. With de automation, not all skills are lost equally. It was noted that the most negative break is reflected in skills during takeoff, landing approach calculation and landing, as well as in instrument pilots, which is explained by less stable sensory skills at breaks compared to motor ones.

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