It's all about the mission: An assessment of factors influencing nontechnical skills in offshore and emergency helicopter teams.
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Aberdeen
Department Name: Psychology
Abstract
The safety of UK helicopter operations was recently highlighted by the Civil Aviation Authority, after the assessment of 25 offshore helicopter accidents from 1992-2013. The majority of the causal factors identified (73%) were linked to pilot performance. Failures were reported across non-technical skills (NTS), including problems with decision-making and awareness of the environment. NTS encompass both social (leadership, teamwork, communication) and cognitive (decision-making, situation awareness, task management) elements necessary for safe and effective performance. The majority of the literature within aviation has focused on NTS in fixed-wing aircraft, as such it is vital that NTS based research be carried out with helicopter pilots and crew in order to improve safety and reduce the accident rate.
The focus of the proposed research will be on the examination of NTS across two helicopter flight environments: offshore transportation and search and rescue operations. The aim will be to identify the NTS used by helicopter pilots and to investigate the impact of environmental factors such as mission parameters, on the performance of NTS.
The project will utilise a mixed methods approach, with a combination of questionnaire, observation, focus groups and experimental protocols to address the main research questions:
What are the NTS utilised by offshore and search and rescue helicopter pilots?
Do these NTS differ significantly from the NTS identified for fixed-wing pilots?
What is the impact of mission parameters on helicopter pilot NTS attitudes and performance?
What other contextual factors can influence helicopter pilot NTS performance?
The results of the project will provide a comprehensive insight into the NTS used by helicopter pilots, and will begin to explore a new avenue of NTS-based research; the impact of different flight conditions and environmental factors on NTS performance.
The focus of the proposed research will be on the examination of NTS across two helicopter flight environments: offshore transportation and search and rescue operations. The aim will be to identify the NTS used by helicopter pilots and to investigate the impact of environmental factors such as mission parameters, on the performance of NTS.
The project will utilise a mixed methods approach, with a combination of questionnaire, observation, focus groups and experimental protocols to address the main research questions:
What are the NTS utilised by offshore and search and rescue helicopter pilots?
Do these NTS differ significantly from the NTS identified for fixed-wing pilots?
What is the impact of mission parameters on helicopter pilot NTS attitudes and performance?
What other contextual factors can influence helicopter pilot NTS performance?
The results of the project will provide a comprehensive insight into the NTS used by helicopter pilots, and will begin to explore a new avenue of NTS-based research; the impact of different flight conditions and environmental factors on NTS performance.
Organisations
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ES/P000681/1 | 01/10/2017 | 30/09/2027 | |||
| 1924556 | Studentship | ES/P000681/1 | 01/10/2017 | 30/04/2021 | Oliver Hamlet |