Good communication a key to safety

Citation

(2007), "Good communication a key to safety", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 79 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.2007.12779eab.018

Good communication a key to safety

Good communication a key to safety

Aircraft crew are being reminded of the safety importance of clear and effective in-flight communication. The Civil Aviation Safety Authority says good communication between crew on both the flight deck and in the cabin is essential.

Knowing when it is acceptable or even critical for cabin crew to disturb pilots is a vital aspect of the safety judgements that must be made by cabin crew.

The issue of crew communication and teamwork is put in the spotlight in an article in the latest edition of Flight Safety Australia magazine. The article says: “In these days of locked cockpit doors, communication between flight and cabin crew has never been so important.”

“Being mindful of each spoken word and how it might be interpreted is something that must be recognised as a vital component of crew co-ordination and effectiveness.” Good in-flight communication can be blocked by crew complacency, distraction, confusion, fatigue, peer pressure, poor situational awareness, stress or supervisory pressure.

The best captain is described as “authoritative enough to command the flight effectively yet seeks input from other crew members.” “Knowing when it is acceptable to disturb a pilot is an important judgement call and one that is particularly crucial during the sterile cockpit periods of take-off and landing,” the story says.

Flight Safety Australia cites several major overseas accidents that were caused by poor in-flight crew communication.