Diversity in Aviation

Now and then, there are newspaper articles and news stories about diversity in aviation and discussions if diversity would improve safety or not. Some of the arguments against diversity is that the captain of the aircraft should be the best and diversity should not be considered. At the other end, the argument for diversity is that a diverse team stay stronger against bullies, or the one with the best vocabulary who wins the deal. The news media portrays these opinions as opposite ends of a spectrum from safe to unsafe. Sometimes discussions are in favor of diversity, while other times diversity is unsafe. No matter who wants to be the safest candidate, both sides are using the safety card. The only reason to play the safety card is that there is no data to support their statements. Everyone falls for the safety card and becomes paralyzed in a discussion against safety. The answer to diversity is not if it is safe or not, but to answer the question of what personal qualities a successful pilot has. The only different between a pilot and other jobs, is that everyone else do not fall to the ground when taking the wrong turn at the fork in the road. Learning pilot skills are no special or difficult skills to learn that only certain pre-selected people can learn. It is a skill anyone can learn by determination and focus. Diversity in aviation is to recognize people who are excellent at managing these human behavior skills. 

Becoming a successful pilot requires a combination of skills. It is not all mathematical and technical, but they have to think creatively, act under pressure, and adopt a mentality fitting for a role of such great responsibility. Pilots not only require leadership qualities, but they also have to communicate and work well as part of a team. The aviation industry in general expects that a plot develops several human behaviors skills to be a successful pilot. These principles are true for single-pilot operations or as a member of a multi-crew operations. They are true for recreational, or general aviation an professional or commercial aviation. A successful pilot communicates with clear communication, not only verbally, but also behavioral communication. Clear communication closes the gap between expectations, assumptions and anticipation and those immediate tasks to take place in the immediate future. Clear communication also closes the gap between these short-term actions and long-term objections, which is to move the aircraft from one location to another without disruptions, unplanned, or unexpected events. 

Pilots has developed a successful skill of situational awareness. Generally, situational awareness in aviation is that pilots know where they are and know where they are going. However, this definition assumes that the pilots is working within a flawless operational environment and that they are the only system that potentially will malfunction. Situational awareness is comprehension awareness, where data collected is turned into information, knowledge and system comprehension or interactions. Situational awareness is therefore more than just knowing where you are at point in space
over the surface of the earth.

Situational awareness is to understand where in the process the automated system is, it is to understand what is coming next in the process, it is to understand the effect of flight control inputs, including long-term effect, it is to understand power plants, it is to understand human factors, it is to understand the environment,  it is to understand topography, it is to understand law of physics, it is to understand aircraft systems, it is to understand navigation aid inputs, it is to understand display outputs, including visual navigation, it is to understand positions as to point in space, it is to understand air traffic controller communication and intent, it is to understand outside visual clues, it is to understand airport environment and it is to overlay all these situational awareness clues in correct order onto visual cockpit displays and instrument communication, with a mental picture of what effect it will have on continuing the flight. In addition, when in visual meteorological conditions, or on a visual approach, situational awareness is to transfer this virtual information onto the visual view ahead.

Successful pilots have developed teamworking skills. A successful airline several years ago was operating with a principle that captains who had not developed teamworking skills, were forced into a crew environment with major frictions. Eventually, this crew-pairing caused a fatal crash, but the airline also made its point. Accidents will happen if the crew opposes teamwork. Teamworking skills is to develop forward-looking accountability, or to recognize and accept that current actions, or reactions, have consequences. Conventional wisdom is that there is no “I” in team, but there is. Within a team the Captain still has and must have the final decision authority. Teamwork is not to accept the lowest common denominator, but to input data into the Captain’s decision-making process.   

A successful pilot has developed decisiveness and resilience. Time and resource constraints, as well as other pressure-adding factors are decision-making challenges for pilots. Pilot’s resilience to unexpected situations, or special cause variations, are fully developed by self-experienced events. Resilience is continuous improvements, or incremental improvements of a pilot’s behavior during unexpected events, obstacle assessments or emergencies. A pilot is expected to make sound judgements for the best possible outcome for their circumstance.

A successful pilot remains calm. Remaining calm is different than taking your time to assess or react to events. It is to react immediately based on the unexpected event. Depending on the emergency, there will always be a point of no return, where any sound decision, or reaction does not change the outcome. Remaining calm is also a skill developed over time and matured to a point where a reaction to an emergency becomes a normal part of the operations. Several years ago, a flight crew experienced a fire in the airplane just after takeoff. The captain initiated the emergency action by returning for landing, knowing that the aircraft needed be on the ground within 8-minutes before the point of no return was reached. The first officer panicked and froze on the controls at which time the captain had to momentarily interrupt the person’s behavior, taking time away from the emergency. Calmness, as a skill developed incrementally and by self-experience is a quality of a successful pilot.  

Self discipline and time management are two other traits of a successful pilot. Discipline is to do what you know you needs to be done to become very best in your field as a successful pilot. Perhaps the best definition of self discipline is the ability to make yourself do what you should do when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not. It is easy to do something when you feel like it. It’s when you don’t feel like it and you force yourself to do it anyway that you move your life and career onto the fast track. A successful pilot has become successful in self discipline and time management. 

Leadership motivation is another skill needed for a successful pilot. There are five general leadership style that a pilot should comprehend. The first leadership style is Structural. Everyone knows exactly what needs to be done, why it needs to be done, and to what standard. The next leadership style is Participative. This style makes your team feel that you really care about them by putting them first and they are treated with the same respect, patience, and understanding.  The third leadership style is Servant, which is a great style to start off with to gain respect, trust, and loyalty. The style also builds a strong culture since it tailors to the team’s needs. The next leadership style is Freedom, where people have an opportunity to perform. This style inspires an entrepreneurial spirit with a clear goal in your team members. The fifth leadership style is Transformational, which is a leadership style that affect people’s emotions by painting a big, exciting picture of the future. People are transformed by tapping into their hopes, dreams, and ideals. Personnel becomes motivated, leaders become motivated, and productivity is enhanced through high transparency and communication. 

A successful pilot has the ability to understand technical information and they need to comprehend how their aircraft works. They comprehend how decisions affects aircraft performance, regulatory compliance and compliance with their company’s safety policy. A successful pilot’s technical expertise is limited to control inputs and comprehension of how this affects aircraft performance. The extent they are expected to repair a malfunction is limited to the checklist items. The times when a pilot also was a certified aircraft mechanic has passed. By understanding technical information, a successful pilot has a tool to communicate errors effectively.  

A successful pilot is more than a numbers person. Pilots need to know the numbers for the aircraft, with the capability to perform mental arithmetic calculations quickly on demand. These calculations are automated and performed by computers. However, as an auditor of these systems a pilot needs to comprehend what, when, where, why, who and how of these calculations. A tragic example is how an airliner crashed in the South Atlantic several years ago since the pilot could not comprehend these auto-calculations.    

It is also said that a successful pilot must know when it is acceptable to break the rules. Pilots have strict set of rules to follow, laid out by regulating bodies and various other authoritative sources. Rules are often implemented from public pressure as a response to prevent known causes of accidents. Regulatory fuel-reserve became a regulatory requirement since fuel-burn calculations were unreliable in the past, pilots were pressured to accept ATC approach delay clearances, or incorrect weight calculation or winds aloft changed the fuel-burn. Many great inventions and safety improvements came about after major aviation accidents, but with all the rules implemented, they still did not prevent accidents. As to the conventional wisdom that a pilot must know when it is acceptable to break the rule is false and incorrect. The Captain is the final authority of an aircraft and responsible for the safety of that flight. As the final authority the Captain must comply with a rule taking precedence over all other rules, which is the safety of that flight. Whatever a Captain does to ensure safety of that flight does therefore not break any rule at all. 

There are many examples in aviation history of a perfect pilot being involved in an aviation accident. The perfect pilot was involved in the fist accident on September 17, 1908, injuring Captain Orville Wright. Two perfect pilots were operating two airplanes that crashed over Grand Canyon in 1956. An exemplary pilot and a model for all other pilots was in 1977 involved in the worst aviation accident to date. In 1978 a perfect pilot crashed when a thrust-reverser deployed during a missed approach. In 2017 the perfect pilot lined up their approach on a taxiway with sequenced airplanes. The list could go on an on how perfect pilots were involved in accidents.    

When diversity is being discussed, the discussion evolves about safety, ensuring that the best pilot is flying the airplane or that there is only one type of pilot that is safety. Often that type is a pilot who fits all the checkbox answers. What is forgotten in this equation is that the past does not guarantee the future. 

Diversity in aviation is about the Enterprise itself, the Accountable Executive, and their Project Solutions Leadership Motivation. When diversity is discussed on the public platform, these discussions take an emotional turn where diversity is no longer based on facts but on the comfort level of the participants. The public opinion, which is a trigger for new regulations, is swayed by the participant with the best vocabulary as opposed to the facts providing directions at the fork in the road. The best example of this is that a Regulatory changed their aviation Safety Management System due to emotional pressure from inspectors and the public. 

Diversity in aviation is about exposure to events and the environment. Exposure is more than training, since it is about personal experience, it is about the emotions when unexpected events occur, and it is about a Captain making the right decisions when everything else goes wrong and when all odds are against you. It was exposure that saved a light twin in the Rockies running into severe icing, losing all instruments, and ended up in a spin. It was exposure that saved the MU2 with dual flameout in the Rockies. It was exposure that saved the Hudson River aircraft and it was exposure that saved the Gimli Glider from a major accident. 

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