Why I Do This for You Pilots

You may already know me but I think its worth a recap! I’m Andy and I’ve been flying for over 20 years (I don’t feel that old!) on many different types. Now I’m a Line Training Captain and I have the privilege of flying with pilots new to the A330. During my time as a pilot, I’ve had my fair share of challenges and I’ve tried to help pilots with their struggles. But I always had a nagging feeling that I was missing part of the picture. I discovered the autonomic nervous system and it explained so many aspects of a pilots life. Your biology is inseparably connected to your thoughts, feelings, emotions and mindset.

This realisation was so powerful that I was amazed that it had barely featured in any training in my flying career. Over these years I’ve seen many pilots who have the capability to be a lot better. They could be hard workers and brilliant at the technical and coordination aspects of flying, but as they progress through training this becomes less and less important. Its just expected that you’ll be able to effectively action an ECAM to shut down an engine then fly a raw data ILS. They will spend hours and hours reading the FCOM and the Ops Manual looking for answers. Where you find the real challenge is in being constantly assessed and in the elaborate communication demanded from pilots – the industry aims to reduce all human errors, but in doing so expects that you stop being humans and should all respond in a set way to all scenarios. Especially when being watched from the jump seat. Once you can learn how your nervous system works as a human at a fundamental level, you can improve your performance and reduce anxiety without spending hours aimlessly revising. This elaborate communication is often unwritten. Do you often feel like you’re expected to be open and humble when collating ideas, but then switch to confident when you’ve decided. To be confident and assertive when you have something to say during a checkride, but if you take this to the ‘wrong person’ or use this attitude in the debrief then you’re now labelled as nit-picking or arrogant? Have you ever left a debrief feeling like you are the worst person in the world because you didn’t think of something or mention it to the other pilot?

Much of our Human Factors Training seems to be moulding you to the system. In the race to remove human error from aviation, you are forced to remove everything that makes you human. What if you learnt a new method? By learning about yourself and how your performance is changed in different scenarios you can reach your true potential as a pilot.