tag:theconversation.com,2011:/africa/topics/pilots-34044/articlesPilots – The Conversation2024-02-02T12:54:31Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2224292024-02-02T12:54:31Z2024-02-02T12:54:31ZMasters of the Air: the real history behind the show’s black fighter pilots<p>New Apple TV series, Masters of the Air, tells the story of the American air effort in Europe during the second world war through the eyes of the Bloody 100th Bomb Group, who were based at Thorpe Abbotts in Norfolk, England. </p>
<p>Viewers have been debating whether its inclusion of black fighter pilots, the famed “Tuskegee Airmen” who served in Italy, is appropriate. As a historian who researches the <a href="https://rdcu.be/dxslz">American air war</a> and the wartime <a href="https://8thaf.co.uk/">“friendly invasion”</a> of Britain by American troops, I believe a historical perspective can help unpick this contentious issue. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/masters-of-the-air-review-austin-butler-barry-keoghan-callum-turner-1235805462/">Negative comments</a> have centred on the inclusion of the all-black 99th Fighter Squadron and 332nd Fighter Group who flew in the Mediterranean. This follows the logic that their inclusion is historically inaccurate, as they were not part of the air campaign flown from Britain. </p>
<p>The unpleasant wartime reality for the Tuskegee Airmen was that, in addition to a determined enemy, they had to <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/freedom-flyers-9780199896554?cc=in&lang=en&">fight their own side</a> – the US War Department, the US Army Air Force and white commanders – for the right to serve.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/masters-of-the-air-apples-air-force-drama-is-imperfect-but-powerful-222220">Masters of the Air: Apple's Air Force drama is imperfect, but powerful</a>
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<p>Although <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/masters-of-the-air-review-austin-butler-barry-keoghan-callum-turner-1235805462/">criticised</a> as “<a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-reviews/masters-of-the-air-review-austin-butler-barry-keoghan-wwii-steven-spielberg-tom-hanks-1234948913/">tokenism</a>”, the show’s screenwriter, John Orloff, ensured airtime for these men’s stories in what would otherwise have been an all-white show. He subsequently <a href="https://www.threads.net/@john_orloff_writes/post/C1e35O8uohS?hl=en">wrote on Threads</a> that he was “totally baffled by some people’s reaction to the Tuskegee Airmen’s inclusion” and that he was “honored to be a small part of telling their story”.</p>
<h2>Black pilots in the US Army Air Force</h2>
<p>By the start of 1944, the American air campaign had undergone considerable changes in command structure. Anxious to fend off Allied rivalries, achieve closer coordination and promote the case for an independent US Air Force (it was then part of the army) its chief, General Henry “Hap” Arnold, established the United States Strategic Air Force in Europe (USSTAF). </p>
<p>Based in London and commanded by General Carl A. Spaatz, <a href="https://media.defense.gov/2010/Oct/12/2001330126/-1/-1/0/AFD-101012-035.pdf">USSTAF controlled the combined strategic bombing efforts</a> of the Eighth Air Force in Britain (including the 100th Bomb Group) and the Fifteenth Air Force in Italy (including the 332nd Fighter Group).</p>
<p>Although black pilots were prevented from serving directly with the 100th, they were still very much part of a unified American campaign against Germany that transcended geographic boundaries.</p>
<p>Despite this laudable inclusion, Masters of the Air struggles to move beyond the established Tuskegee story that has already been portrayed in other TV shows and films, including The Tuskegee Airmen (1995) and Redtails (2012).</p>
<h2>Black stories the show doesn’t tell</h2>
<p>Approximately 130,000 African Americans served in Britain during the war with 12,000 supporting the air campaign. In accordance with contemporary US War Department <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/when-jim-crow-met-john-bull-9781850430391/">policy</a>, most were relegated to service and supply roles, as <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Jim-Crow-law">Jim Crow segregation laws</a> and discrimination followed them to Britain.</p>
<p>Members of the <a href="https://8thaf.co.uk/exhibition/1/jim-crow-segregation-visits-britain">Combat Support Wing</a>, set up to improve morale following the <a href="https://theconversation.com/black-troops-were-welcome-in-britain-but-jim-crow-wasnt-the-race-riot-of-one-night-in-june-1943-98120">Bamber Bridge Race Riot of 1943</a> were responsible for hauling supplies to the airfields, including Thorpe Abbotts. They often faced long hours and the routine refusal of food and accommodation from the “white” bases they serviced. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://8thaf.co.uk/exhibition/2/923rd-engineer-aviation-regiment">923rd Engineer Aviation Regiment</a> were a unit of approximately 3,200 men tasked with constructing and maintaining the airfields. From late 1942, they performed backbreaking construction shifts to ensure the completion and maintenance of vital airfields. In April to May 1944, approximately 200 men of the <a href="https://8thaf.co.uk/exhibition/2/923rd-engineer-aviation-regiment">827th Battalion from Regiment</a> worked to repair the runways at Thorpe Abbotts at the very time that some of most dramatic actions of the 100th were taking place.</p>
<p>Masters of the Air is silent on this black experience much closer to home, representing neither the significant contribution of these men, nor the endemic racism they faced. The mythology of the 100th still masks the realities of 1940s American society, despite the available evidence of a substantial black presence at Thorpe Abbotts. </p>
<p>The story of the Tuskegee Airmen is a worthy and inspiring tale of victory over prejudice and Masters of the Air is correct to include them. But its failure to show black soldiers at Thorpe Abbotts allows some of the myths surrounding the Bloody 100th and the wider “friendly invasion” to continue unchallenged.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Graham Cross receives funding from the British Academy. </span></em></p>The unpleasant wartime reality for the Tuskegee Airmen was that, in addition to a determined enemy, they had to fight their own side for the right to serve.Graham Cross, Senior Lecturer in History, Manchester Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2180372023-11-28T03:49:33Z2023-11-28T03:49:33ZAlmost half the men surveyed think they could land a passenger plane. Experts disagree<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561998/original/file-20231127-29-h9xkjy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=69%2C0%2C5754%2C3877&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Picture this: you’re nestled comfortably in your seat cruising towards your holiday destination when a flight attendant’s voice breaks through the silence: </p>
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<p>Ladies and gentlemen, both pilots are incapacitated. Are there any passengers who could land this plane with assistance from air traffic control?</p>
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<p>If you think you could manage it, you’re not alone. <a href="https://today.yougov.com/topics/politics/survey-results/daily/2023/01/02/fd798/3">Survey results</a> published in January indicate about one-third of adult Americans think they could safely land a passenger aircraft with air traffic control’s guidance. Among male respondents, the confidence level rose to nearly 50%.</p>
<p>Can a person with no prior training simply guide everyone to a smooth touchdown?</p>
<p>We’ve all heard stories of passengers who saved the day when the pilot became unresponsive. For instance, last year <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbMoyWukjbs">Darren Harrison</a> managed to land a twin-engine aircraft in Florida – after the pilot passed out – with the guidance of an air traffic controller who also happened to be a flight instructor. </p>
<p>However, such incidents tend to take place in small, simple aircraft. Flying a much bigger and heavier commercial jet is a completely different game. </p>
<h2>You can’t always rely on autopilot</h2>
<p>A pilot spends about 90% of their time monitoring autopilot systems and making sure everything is working as intended. The other 10% is spent managing problems, taxiing, taking off and landing. </p>
<p>Takeoffs and landings are arguably the most difficult tasks pilots perform, and are always performed manually. Only on very few occasions, and in a handful of aircraft models, can a pilot use autopilot to land the aircraft for them. This is the exception, and not the rule.</p>
<p>For takeoff, the aircraft must build up speed until the wings can generate enough lift to pull it into the air. The pilot must <a href="https://youtu.be/16XTAK-4Xbk?si=66yDo5g5I086Q2y2&t=65">pay close attention</a> to multiple instruments and external cues, while keeping the aircraft centred on the runway until it reaches lift-off speed. </p>
<p>Once airborne, they must coordinate with air traffic control, follow a particular path, retract the landing gear and maintain a precise speed and direction while trying to climb. </p>
<p>Landing is even more complicated, and requires having precise control of the aircraft’s direction and descent rate.</p>
<p><a href="https://youtu.be/u_it9OiTnSM?si=xNZrLB9ZH870LEa3&t=360">To land successfully</a>, a pilot must keep an appropriate speed while simultaneously managing gear and flap configuration, adhering to air traffic regulations, communicating with air traffic control and completing a number of paper and digital checklists.</p>
<p>Once the aircraft comes close to the runway, they must accurately judge its height, reduce power and adjust the rate of descent – ensuring they land on the correct area of the runway.</p>
<p>On the ground, they will use the brakes and reverse thrust to bring the aircraft to a complete stop before the runway ends. This all happens within just a few minutes. </p>
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<p>Both takeoff and landing are far too quick, technical and concentration-intensive for an untrained person to pull off. They also require a range of skills that are only gained through extensive training, such as understanding the information presented on different gauges, and being able to coordinate one’s hands and feet in a certain way.</p>
<h2>Training a pilot</h2>
<p>The journey from student to commercial pilot is a long one. It normally starts with a recreational licence, followed by a private licence, and then a commercial licence (which allows them to fly professionally). </p>
<p>Even before stepping into a cockpit, the student must study aerodynamics, air law and flight rules, meteorology, human factors, navigation, aircraft systems, and performance and flight planning. They also need to spend time learning about the specific aircraft they will be flying. </p>
<p>Once the fundamentals are grasped, an instructor takes them for training. Most of this training is conducted in small, lightweight aircraft – with a simulator introduced briefly towards the end.</p>
<p>During a lesson, each manoeuvre or action is demonstrated by the instructor before the student attempts it. Their attempt may be adjusted, corrected or even terminated early in critical situations.</p>
<p>The first ten to fifteen lessons focus on takeoff, landing, basic in-flight control and emergency management. When the students are ready, they’re allowed to “go solo” – wherein they conduct a complete flight on their own. This is a great milestone.</p>
<p>After years of experience, they are ready to transition to a commercial aircraft. At this point they might be able to take off and land reasonably well, but they will still undergo extensive training specific to the aircraft they are flying, including hours of advanced theory, dozens of simulator sessions and hundreds of hours of real aircraft training (most of which is done with passengers onboard).</p>
<p>So, if you’ve never even learned the basics of flying, your chances of successfully landing a passenger aircraft with air traffic control’s help are close to zero.</p>
<h2>Yet, flying is a skill like any other</h2>
<p>Aviation training has been democratised by the advent of high-end computers, virtual reality and flight simulation games such as Microsoft’s <a href="https://www.flightsimulator.com/">Flight Simulator</a> and <a href="https://www.x-plane.com/">X-Plane</a>.</p>
<p>Anyone can now rig up a desktop flight simulator for a few thousand dollars. Ideally, such a setup should also include the basic physical controls found in a cockpit, such as a control yoke, throttle quadrant and pedals. </p>
<p>Flight simulators provide an immersive environment in which professional pilots, students and aviation enthusiasts can develop their skills. So if you really think you could match-up against a professional, consider trying your hand at one. </p>
<p>You almost certainly won’t be able to land an actual passenger plane by the end of it – but at least you’ll gain an appreciation for the immense skill pilots possess.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218037/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>We conducted a research project with funds provided by Boeing Research & Technology Australia.</span></em></p>Takeoff and landing are among the most difficult tasks commercial pilots perform.Guido Carim Junior, Senior Lecturer in Aviation, Griffith UniversityChris Campbell, Adjunct Associate Professor, Griffith UniversityElvira Marques, Aviation PhD candidate, Griffith UniversityNnenna Ike, Research Assistant, Griffith Aviation, Griffith UniversityTim Ryley, Professor and Head of Griffith Aviation, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2169502023-11-10T13:25:12Z2023-11-10T13:25:12ZSpecialized training programs using sensory augmentation devices could prevent astronauts from getting disoriented in space<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558127/original/file-20231107-15-nnyzbl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C5%2C1941%2C1075&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Astronauts prepare to leave the International Space Station.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/SpaceStation/ab2eaca4b8b84b04a961488995ab42f4/photo?Query=space%20flight&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=570&currentItemNo=NaN&vs=true&vs=true">NASA via AP</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When landing on the surface of the Moon, astronauts can become spatially disoriented, which is when they lose sense of their orientation – they might not be able to tell which way is up. This disorientation can lead to fatal accidents. </p>
<p>Even on Earth, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3357/ASEM.3971.2014">between 1993 and 2013</a>, spatial disorientation led to the loss of 65 aircraft, US$2.32 billion of damages and 101 deaths in the U.S.</p>
<p>Could wearable technology augment the senses of astronauts, allowing them to overcome the limitations of their biological sensors? And what type of training could build a deeper bond between the astronaut and the wearable technology, so that astronauts would be able to rely on the technology when they can’t trust their own senses?</p>
<p><a href="https://sites.google.com/view/vivekanandpandeyvimal/research_2/introduction">I am a research scientist</a> in the <a href="https://www.brandeis.edu/graybiel/">Ashton Graybiel Spatial Orientation Lab</a> at <a href="https://www.brandeis.edu/">Brandeis University</a>. With my collaborators, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=YmkwkIEAAAAJ&hl=en">Alexander Panic</a>, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=B1INHVwAAAAJ&hl=en">James Lackner</a> and <a href="https://scholarworks.brandeis.edu/esploro/profile/paul_dizio/overview">Paul DiZio</a>, I study sensory augmentation and spatial disorientation, which is when astronauts and pilots lose the sense of which way they are oriented. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Spatial disorientation research may help astronauts in the future, and it can have applications for other fields, like vestibular disorders.</span></figcaption>
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<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2023.1249962">In a paper</a> published in November 2023 in Frontiers in Physiology, we determined whether vibrotactors – small vibrating devices placed on the skin – could enhance the performance of participants put in a disorienting condition that mimicked spaceflight. We also studied what type of training could enhance the connection between the human and the device. </p>
<p>Vibrotactors communicate information through the touch receptors of the somatosensory system instead of the visual system. They have previously helped pilots <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/154193120004400148">flying helicopters</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1109/51.827409">airplanes</a>.</p>
<p>When pilots are disoriented, their visual system often gets <a href="https://doi.org/10.3357/ASEM.3048.2011">overwhelmed with information</a>. Vibrotactors can help because they send touch signals rather than visual signals.</p>
<h2>Creating a spaceflight analog condition</h2>
<p>For our first experiment, we wanted to figure out whether using vibrotactors would improve a particpant’s ability to stabilize themselves in a disorienting spaceflight condition. </p>
<p>We strapped participants into a multi-axis rotation device, which is a machine containing a chair that’s programmed to behave like an inverted pendulum. Like a pencil falling left or right as you try to balance it on your fingertip, the multi-axis rotation device tilts to the left or right. Participants used a joystick to try to balance themselves and keep the chair upright. </p>
<p>We blindfolded the participants, because spatial disorientation often occurs when pilots can’t see – like when they <a href="https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/ADP013844">fly at night or through clouds</a>. </p>
<p>On Earth, tiny organs in the inner ears <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK10792/">called otoliths</a> help people keep their balance by sensing how far the body is tilted away from an upright position, also called the gravitational vertical. In space and especially during gravitational transitions, such as while landing on a planet or the Moon, the gravitational information detected by the otoliths is very different than on Earth. This can cause disorientation. </p>
<p>Additionally, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.00476.2019">long-duration spaceflight</a> will change how the brain interprets the signals coming from the otoliths. This can also lead to disorientation when landing. </p>
<p>In our Earth analog condition, which was meant as a control to compare against the spaceflight condition we tested, participants sat in the multi-axis rotation device and used a joystick to stabilize themselves around the balance point. The balance point was at an upright position, or the gravitational vertical. </p>
<p>Because the otoliths can sense tilt from the gravitational vertical, participants always had a good sense of their orientation and the location of the balance point. We called this the Earth analog condition because they could use gravitational cues to do the task. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-017-5068-3">Every participant learned and improved</a> their performance on this over time. </p>
<p>Then, in the spaceflight analog condition, we had the multi-axis rotation device pitch the participants back by 90 degrees. The balance point was still in the center, and the multi-axis rotation device was programmed to tilt to either the left or right while participants were on their back. </p>
<p>In the Earth condition, the balance point was lined up with the upright, so it was easy to use the otoliths to determine how much one was tilted. However, in the spaceflight condition, participants no longer tilted relative to the gravitational vertical, because they were always on their back. So even though the balance point they were trying to find was the same, they could no longer use gravity to determine how much they were tilted from the balance point.</p>
<p>Similarly, astronauts have minimal gravitational cues when initially landing. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-017-5068-3">In our spaceflight condition</a>, the participants showed very poor performance and had high rates of losing control.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557559/original/file-20231103-23-l58q3k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two photos, the left labeled 'Vertical roll plane' shows a participant strapped into a chair that's tilted with his head to the right and feet to the left, but oriented upright. The right, lableled 'horizontal roll plane' shows the participant tilted back" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557559/original/file-20231103-23-l58q3k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557559/original/file-20231103-23-l58q3k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=275&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557559/original/file-20231103-23-l58q3k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=275&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557559/original/file-20231103-23-l58q3k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=275&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557559/original/file-20231103-23-l58q3k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557559/original/file-20231103-23-l58q3k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557559/original/file-20231103-23-l58q3k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">In the Earth analog condition, participants balance in the upright vertical plane, while in the spaceflight analog condition, participants are tilted back and they balance in the horizontal plane. There, they can no longer use gravitational information to figure out where they are.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ashton Graybiel Spatial Orientation Lab</span></span>
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<p>For each of the 13 participants in the experimental group, we attached four vibrotactors on each arm. The farther a participant titled from the balance point, the more vibrotactors vibrated on the same side. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2023.1249962">We found</a> that vibrotactile feedback helped performance in the disorienting spaceflight condition. But it also led to a feeling of conflict between a participant’s incorrect perception of their orientation and their actual orientation, as indicated by the vibrotactors. </p>
<p>Because of this conflict, the participants’ performance in the spaceflight condition <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2023.1249962">was not as good</a> as it was in the Earth condition.</p>
<p>Surprisingly, even knowing that they were disoriented and reporting high levels of trust in the vibrotactors was not enough to allow people to continue learning and improving their performance. This suggests that cognitive trust, or their self-reported level of trust, may differ than their gut-level trust – and cognitive trust alone <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2023.1249962">does not ensure</a> people will be able to rely on the vibrotactors when disoriented.</p>
<h2>Building a human-device bond</h2>
<p>Previous <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2003.10.013">research in sensory substitution</a> has found that allowing participants to freely explore and play around with the device during training builds a bond between the human and the device.</p>
<p>In our first experiment, we provided participants with time to explore how the device works. We gave them 40 minutes to explore the vibrotactile feedback in the Earth condition the day before they were tested in the spaceflight condition. While this helped participants perform better than those who did not have vibrotactors, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2023.1249962">their improvements were modest</a>, and these participants did not show any further improvement in performance after being given 40 minutes in the spaceflight condition. </p>
<p>So, why was this free exploration not enough for our test condition but sufficient for other experiments? One reason could be that the majority of prior studies on sensory augmentation have had the training and testing occur in the same environment. However, astronauts will most likely receive their training on Earth before being in space, where their sensory information will be very different. </p>
<p>To determine whether specialized training could lead to better results, we ran another group of participants <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-019-05631-x">through a training program</a>. </p>
<p>Participants spent the first day in the Earth analog condition, where they had to stabilize themselves while searching for hidden balance points that were different than the upright, or gravitational vertical. In order to find the hidden balance point, they had to disengage from their desire to align with the upright while focusing on the vibrotactors, which indicated the location of the balance point.</p>
<p>When this group was tested on Day 2 in the spaceflight analog condition, they <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2023.1249962">performed significantly better</a> than the group that had the vibrotactors but hadn’t received the training program. Our findings suggest that simple exposure to sensory augmentation devices will be not be enough training for astronauts to rely on the device when they cannot rely upon their own senses. </p>
<p>Also, cognitive trust in the device may not be enough to ensure reliance. Instead, astronauts will need specialized training that requires disengaging from one sense while focusing on feedback from the device.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216950/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vivekanand Vimal receives funding from NASA’s Human Research Program under grant 80NSSC22K0758</span></em></p>When you’re an astronaut landing on the Moon, you can’t rely on the same gravitational cues we have on Earth. But regimented training with sensory devices could one day prevent spatial disorientation.Vivekanand Pandey Vimal, Research Scientist, Brandeis UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2107782023-08-09T12:55:43Z2023-08-09T12:55:43ZAir travel is in a rut – is there any hope of recapturing the romance of flying?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540440/original/file-20230801-15-96mm6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=6%2C0%2C4019%2C2685&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The high-risk adventure of air travel has been subdued, yet today's long flights can paradoxically feel torturous.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Christopher Schaberg</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Amelia Earhart broke a transcontinental speed record 90 years ago, in July 1933, by flying <a href="https://airandspace.si.edu/multimedia-gallery/web11183-2009640jpg">her signature red Lockheed Vega</a> from Los Angeles to New Jersey in just 17 hours, seven and a half minutes. Earlier that year, Earhart had flown as an observer on a Northwest Airways winter flight across the U.S., testing the possibilities of a “Northern Transcontinental” route. </p>
<p>Because those early airplanes couldn’t reach high altitudes, they weaved through dangerous peaks and the erratic weather patterns that mountain ranges helped create. One co-pilot <a href="https://www.deltamuseum.org/about-us/blog/from-the-hangars/2019/07/24/delta-stories-amelia-earhart">remembers the journey</a> as “seat-of-the-pants flying across the Dakota and Montana plains and through, over and around the Western mountain ranges.” </p>
<p>How does air travel today compare? </p>
<p>I’ve studied <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/02/engine-failure/552959/">airplane technology</a>, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/09/a-forgettable-passage-to-flight/279346/">airport design</a> and <a href="https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/grounded">cultural attitudes</a> toward air travel, and I’ve noticed how aspects of flying seem to have calcified over time. </p>
<p>Long-distance flight <a href="https://theconversation.com/longing-for-the-golden-age-of-air-travel-be-careful-what-you-wish-for-34177">advanced rapidly between the 1930s and the early 1960s</a>, shaving off the number of hours in the sky by half. But over the past 60 years, the duration of such flights has remained roughly the same. Meanwhile, the ecosystem of air travel has grown more elaborate, often leaving passengers squirming in their seats on the tarmac before or after flight. </p>
<p>Coast-to-coast air travel is in a rut – but there are still efforts to improve this mode of transit.</p>
<h2>Just another ordinary miracle</h2>
<p>Transcontinental air journeys are clearly different 90 years after Earhart’s record-breaking exploratory flights: Travelers now take such trips for granted, and often find them to be pure drudgery. </p>
<p>In 2018, <a href="https://thepointsguy.com/reviews/united-757-200-first-class-ewr-sea/">travel blogger Ravi Ghelani reviewed in minute detail</a> a United Airlines flight from Newark, New Jersey, to Seattle – roughly the same northern route that Earhart explored in 1933. </p>
<p>But for Ghelani, seated in first class, it wasn’t the terrain or frigid temperatures that were the most cumbersome part of his adventure. It was a cheap complimentary blanket, which “barely qualified as one – it was very thin, very scratchy.” </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541779/original/file-20230808-21-f9i0u2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Black and white photo of woman smiling and waving in front of an airplane." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541779/original/file-20230808-21-f9i0u2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541779/original/file-20230808-21-f9i0u2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=807&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541779/original/file-20230808-21-f9i0u2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=807&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541779/original/file-20230808-21-f9i0u2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=807&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541779/original/file-20230808-21-f9i0u2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1015&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541779/original/file-20230808-21-f9i0u2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1015&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541779/original/file-20230808-21-f9i0u2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1015&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Amelia Earhart grins in Newark, N.J., after completing her first nonstop flight across the U.S. in 1932.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/newark-new-jersey-a-wide-grin-covers-the-face-of-amelia-news-photo/104404070?adppopup=true">Keystone-France/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>The dreaded blanket reappears in Ghelani’s summary of his trip: “My main qualm with this flight was the lack of a decent blanket – the tiny, scratchy blanket that was provided wasn’t cutting it for the six-hour flight.” </p>
<p>I can imagine Earhart rolling in <a href="https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/legend-amelia-earharts-disappearance">her watery grave</a>: “You zip across the continent in six hours and you complain about a scratchy blanket?”</p>
<p>Yet Ghelani’s account of a mundane cross-country flight reveals a truth: Commercial air travel just isn’t the adventure it was back in Earhart’s time.</p>
<p>As one captain of a major U.S. airline who regularly flies long routes told me, “Today jetliners fly across the country from Los Angeles to New York, or Boston to Seattle, full of passengers oblivious to the commonplace practice it has become.” </p>
<p>This pilot compared coast-to-coast flights to “iPhones, microwaves or automobiles” – just one more ordinary miracle of modern life. </p>
<h2>Little indignities multiply</h2>
<p>The high-risk adventure of air travel has been subdued, yet long flights today can paradoxically feel torturous. </p>
<p>As philosopher Michael Marder puts it in his 2022 book “<a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262543712/philosophy-for-passengers/">Philosophy for Passengers</a>”: “When crew members wish passengers a ‘pleasant journey,’ I hear a dash of cruel irony in their words. How pleasant can the passenger experience be when you are crammed in your seat, with little fresh air, too hot or miserably cold, and sleep deprived?” </p>
<p>I asked my colleague and <a href="http://airplanereading.org/story/55/frequent-flight">frequent flier</a> Ian Bogost about his experience of coast-to-coast trips, and his reply was illuminating: “The same trip seems to get longer every year, and less comfortable. There are reasons – consolidation, reduced routes, pilot and air-traffic labor shortages, decaying technical infrastructure – but it still feels like moving backwards.” In spite of widespread attempts to update aircraft and modernize terminals, the vast system of air travel can seem cumbersome and outdated. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Glum-looking people in an airport terminal stand in a line that snakes out of the frame." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541783/original/file-20230808-19-5kb2r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541783/original/file-20230808-19-5kb2r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541783/original/file-20230808-19-5kb2r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541783/original/file-20230808-19-5kb2r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541783/original/file-20230808-19-5kb2r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541783/original/file-20230808-19-5kb2r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541783/original/file-20230808-19-5kb2r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Passengers wait in line amid a series of cancellations at Newark (N.J.) International Airport in June 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/people-queue-for-their-flight-reschedule-inside-of-the-news-photo/1259132586?adppopup=true">Kena Betancur/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Recently at The Atlantic, reporter <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/07/clear-airport-security-lines-tsa-infrastructure/674809/">Amanda Mull wrote about</a> the biometric screening company Clear, describing this firm’s high-tech service to skip the ubiquitous toil of identity checks before flight, at the cost of surrendering some privacy and personal information. Mull concludes the reason more travelers will likely enroll in this service is that “traversing American airport security is simply that grim.” </p>
<p>For Mull, the adventure of contemporary air travel isn’t the destination, or even the journey itself – it’s what you must do to get through the airport. </p>
<p>Still, it’s worth noting that the majority of the human population has never boarded an airplane; flying cross-country remains <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/how-much-worlds-population-has-flown-airplane-180957719/">a relatively exclusive experience</a>. For most people, the closest they’ll get to a coast-to-coast flight is seeing a small white scratch across the sky, as another airliner makes its arc at 35,000 feet. </p>
<h2>2 futures of cross-country flight</h2>
<p>Coast-to-coast travel is no longer about breakneck speed or defying elemental odds, and Earhart’s quests to push the limits of aviation couldn’t be further from the bland routines of contemporary air travel. Nor does it involve people dressing to the hilt to step aboard a jetliner for the first time, with passengers stowing their fancy hats in spacious overhead bins. </p>
<p>Where are the new frontiers for transcontinental flight today? </p>
<p>One area of innovation is in a greener form of flight. Solar Impulse, a completely solar-powered plane, took two months to fly coast-to-coast in 2013. It averages a plodding 45 mph at cruising altitude. As <a href="https://apnews.com/ded34ccc19f24aeea67ba3da130a2be0">The Associated Press reported</a>: “Solar Impulse’s creators view themselves as green pioneers – promoting lighter materials, solar-powered batteries, and conservation as sexy and adventurous. Theirs is the high-flying equivalent of the Tesla electric sports car.” Solar Impulse was more recently <a href="https://aviationweek.com/aerospace/aircraft-propulsion/solar-powered-skydweller-completes-first-autonomous-flights?check_logged_in=1">reconfigured as a remotely piloted aircraft</a>, with new experiments in long-distance solar flight underway. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Futuristic looking plane with long wingspan flies over bay and city." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541781/original/file-20230808-16-r1r69n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541781/original/file-20230808-16-r1r69n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541781/original/file-20230808-16-r1r69n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541781/original/file-20230808-16-r1r69n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541781/original/file-20230808-16-r1r69n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541781/original/file-20230808-16-r1r69n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541781/original/file-20230808-16-r1r69n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Solar Impulse 2 flies over the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco in 2016.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/solar-impulse-2-a-solar-powered-plane-piloted-by-swiss-news-photo/523604684?adppopup=true">Jean Revillard/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>The comparison of Solar Impulse to a Tesla is handy because a different extreme can be found in Elon Musk’s company SpaceX. As part of the relentless development of its biggest vehicle, “Starship,” SpaceX has advertised the possibility of “<a href="https://www.spacex.com/human-spaceflight/earth/">point-to-point</a>” travel on Earth: for example, flying on a commercial rocket from Los Angeles to New York in 25 minutes. Never mind the physical tolls of a normal <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-would-anyone-want-to-sit-on-a-plane-for-over-18-hours-an-economist-takes-the-worlds-longest-flight-122433">19-hour flight</a>; it’s hard to imagine what such a brief yet fast trip would feel like, not to mention what sort of class divisions and bleak industrial launch sites such jaunts would rely on.</p>
<p>Get there as fast as possible, using as much fuel as necessary; or glide lazily along, powered by the sun, saving the planet. These are two starkly different visions of coast-to-coast flight, one a dystopian nightmare and the other a utopian dream. </p>
<p>In the middle, there’s what most flying mortals do: wait in lines, board unceremoniously and be relieved if you get to your destination without too much discomfort or delay.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210778/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christopher Schaberg does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Over the past 60 years, the duration of flights has remained roughly the same, while passengers have been subjected to more indignities, longer waits and more cancellations.Christopher Schaberg, Director of Public Scholarship, Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. LouisLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2058082023-05-17T20:14:05Z2023-05-17T20:14:05ZLooming WestJet strike illustrates the lasting impact deregulation has had on the aviation industry<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526871/original/file-20230517-9933-icqnfp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C5%2C3994%2C2407&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Members of the Air Line Pilots Association demonstrate amid contract negotiations outside the WestJet headquarters in Calgary on March 31, 2023.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/looming-westjet-strike-illustrates-the-lasting-impact-deregulation-has-had-on-the-aviation-industry" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>WestJet pilots are poised to <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9700932/westjet-pilots-72-hour-strike-notice/">start striking on Friday</a> after issuing a <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/westjet-strike-action-travel-canada-1.6844601">72-hour strike notice</a>, leaving some Canadians’ long weekend travel plans up in the air. </p>
<p>Contract negotiations between the Air Line Pilots Association and airline management fell through over <a href="https://globalnews.ca/video/9701608/westjet-pilots-threaten-strike/">pay, work conditions and job protections</a>. According to the <a href="https://www.cp24.com/news/massive-gap-between-westjet-pilots-union-as-strike-looms-and-bookings-fall-ceo-1.6401897">CEO of WestJet</a>, there is still a massive gap between the expectations of pilots and that of the airline. </p>
<p>One of the key issues that has led to the current dispute is pilot retention. A high number of pilots have been leaving WestJet, resulting in scheduling uncertainty for those who remain. </p>
<p>Additionally, pilots are concerned about the two-tier system of pay between pilots at WestJet and its subsidiary, Swoop. The pilots’ union has also pointed to the significant difference in levels of pay at WestJet — <a href="https://simpleflying.com/westjet-fleet-in-2023/">the second largest airline in Canada</a> — and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/air-canada-pilots-decry-embarrassing-pay-gap-with-us-after-delta-deal-2023-03-03/">counterparts in the United States</a>. </p>
<p>While contract negotiations are still ongoing, flying customers are undoubtedly watching the situation unfold nervously. If the strike action goes ahead, it will result in problems for all involved — customers, pilots and the airline.</p>
<p>Customers will face flight cancellations, pilots will lose out on pay, and the airline itself will suffer revenue losses from the cancelled flights. The airline might also experience decreased customer confidence regarding future bookings.</p>
<h2>The legacy of deregulation</h2>
<p>While COVID-19 <a href="https://theconversation.com/air-traffic-control-funding-model-ravaged-by-pandemic-as-industry-struggles-to-recover-185663">undoubtedly impacted the aviation industry</a>, problems were already present prior to the pandemic. The crisis simply intensified these issues.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/transportation-regulation">deregulation of commercial aviation </a> provided airlines with the motive, means and opportunity to reduce costs.</p>
<p>Deregulation meant that airlines were able to set the fare for their flights, thereby generating a powerful incentive to compete on fare and to reduce costs in order to do so. Deregulation also saw the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.1.1581.4800">emergence of new low-cost carriers</a> that directly competed with established airlines and whose success <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.1.3678.6322">intensified cost reduction at established airlines</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A row of men wearing navy pilot uniforms hold protest signs in the background of a photo as someone unpacks luggage from the trunk of a car in front of them." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526886/original/file-20230517-17-jh8yxt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526886/original/file-20230517-17-jh8yxt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526886/original/file-20230517-17-jh8yxt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526886/original/file-20230517-17-jh8yxt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526886/original/file-20230517-17-jh8yxt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526886/original/file-20230517-17-jh8yxt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526886/original/file-20230517-17-jh8yxt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">WestJet Airlines pilots stand on a picket line at Toronto’s Pearson Airport on May 8, 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>It is difficult for an airline to reduce many operational costs, such as fuel. One cost that isn’t fixed is the cost of labour. It should come as no surprise that cost-cutting in response to deregulation led to a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jairtraman.2020.101968">reduction in labour costs and reduced terms and conditions of employment</a>.</p>
<p>While reduced terms and conditions of employment is bad for all employees affected, operating with inferior terms and conditions for highly trained employees like pilots is a high-risk strategy for any airline.</p>
<p>Pilots can, and do, leave one airline for another if the terms and conditions are better, as the case of <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9695725/westjet-pilots-contract-talks/">WestJet in recent years demonstrates</a>.</p>
<h2>Labour supply problems</h2>
<p>Cutting labour costs has created a labour supply problem. Becoming an airline pilot is <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/pilot-shortage-super-t-atac-wellington-waterloo-1.4471354">far less attractive than it once was</a>. </p>
<p>The time commitment required to become a commercial aviator is significant and the total financial commitment is estimated to be around <a href="https://ca.indeed.com/career-advice/finding-a-job/how-long-does-it-take-to-become-a-pilot">$100,000</a>. </p>
<p>That is a daunting sum, especially when one’s starting salary can be $65,000 and a pilot can lose their license at any point because commercial aviation has high reliability standards; pilot mental and physical health must be paramount.</p>
<p>The labour supply problem has recently been used in support of a <a href="https://www.icao.int/Meetings/a41/Documents/WP/wp_101_en.pdf">proposal</a> for <a href="https://simpleflying.com/single-pilot-operations-risks-challenges/">single pilot operations</a>. Single pilot operations would mean a single pilot rather than two in the flight deck assisted by a remote pilot if necessary.</p>
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<img alt="A crowd of pilots in uniform stand facing the camera. Almost all of them are wearing sunglasses." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526882/original/file-20230517-12466-5x4o5q.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526882/original/file-20230517-12466-5x4o5q.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526882/original/file-20230517-12466-5x4o5q.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526882/original/file-20230517-12466-5x4o5q.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526882/original/file-20230517-12466-5x4o5q.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526882/original/file-20230517-12466-5x4o5q.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526882/original/file-20230517-12466-5x4o5q.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">WestJet Airlines pilots assemble for a group photo after standing on a picket line at Toronto’s Pearson Airport on May 8, 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young</span></span>
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<p>Deregulation has ultimately reduced the supply of pilots, creating a tighter labour market. This, in turn, has been used to justify reducing the requirement for pilots. </p>
<p>As a resolution to the insufficient supply of pilots, this policy is fraught with numerous problems. These problems include safety and security concerns, a negative impact on other employee groups in aviation — like cabin crew and air traffic control officers — and the perpetuation of a <a href="https://www.zippia.com/airplane-pilot-jobs/demographics/">field dominated by white men</a>. If the requirement for pilots drops, so does the probability of greater diversity. </p>
<p>It’s unlikely that commercial airlines will be able to introduce single pilot operations any time soon. The proposal is still under discussion by aviation authorities.</p>
<p>In the meantime, what should airlines do to attract and retain pilots?</p>
<h2>Investing in employees</h2>
<p>One approach is to invest in employees as illustrated by the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/01/business/delta-pilots-approve-contract.html">pay deal struck by pilots at Delta Air Lines</a>. Pilots approved a new contract to increase pay by 34 per cent pay by 2026. </p>
<p>This deal is not just good for improving labour conditions — it is good business sense. Raising wages in this way enhances what is known as <a href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/external-equity">external equity</a>, or the perceived fairness of wages compared to other employers. It increases employee commitment to their employer, and thereby improves staff retention. </p>
<p>Airlines — WestJet included — are service providers dependent upon the efforts of employees. As <a href="https://www.inc.com/peter-economy/17-powerfully-inspiring-quotes-from-southwest-airlines-founder-herb-kelleher.html">Herb Kelleher</a>, founder and former CEO of one of the most successful and incidentally most highly unionized airlines in the U.S., Southwest Airlines, once said: “Your people come first, and if you treat them right, they’ll treat the customers right.”</p>
<p>Investment in employees is the key to airline success. WestJet might discover this the hard way.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205808/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Geraint Harvey does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>While the pandemic undoubtedly impacted the aviation industry, its problems were already present prior to COVID-19. The pandemic simply intensified these issues.Geraint Harvey, DANCAP Private Equity Chair in Human Organization, Western UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1981422023-01-19T00:05:41Z2023-01-19T00:05:41ZQantas flight mayday: can a plane normally fly on just one engine? An aviation expert explains<p>You may have seen the news Qantas flight 144 from Auckland landed safely in Sydney yesterday after the pilot was forced to shut down an engine and issue a mayday call while flying over the Pacific Ocean.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/heard-a-bang-investigation-launched-into-qantas-flight-that-sparked-mayday-call/wpyvcthe6">The plane was reportedly</a> a ten-year-old, twin-jet Boeing 737 and was carrying 145 passengers, all of whom disembarked normally after landing yesterday afternoon. </p>
<p>These events do, unfortunately, happen occasionally in aviation – I myself have lost an engine while flying – but the good news is it’s extremely rare. That makes aviation the safest form of transport in the world.</p>
<p>These are highly trained pilots who spend a lot of time in full-motion simulators going over events exactly like this.</p>
<p>When you’re down an engine and you have lot of water under you, you have a process to follow.</p>
<p>It becomes rote; you don’t panic, you don’t go off the rails, you remember your training, and that’s what happened here.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/heres-the-real-reason-to-turn-on-aeroplane-mode-when-you-fly-188585">Here's the real reason to turn on aeroplane mode when you fly</a>
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<h2>Can planes fly on just one engine?</h2>
<p>Absolutely. That is what they are designed to do. </p>
<p>By law, planes have to be able to fly from point A to point B, over water, on just one engine. The <a href="https://www.casa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2021-08/caap-82-1-extended-diversion-time-operations.pdf">guidance set by safety regulators</a> in Australia mandates that any plane that takes off with the intention of getting to a certain destination has to be able to get there on one engine – based on the departure loads determined before takeoff. </p>
<p>That rule ensures that even if one engine goes down – as appears to have happened here – the plane can still arrive safely. It can fly until it runs out of fuel. Basically, these planes are built to fly as well on one engine as they can on two. </p>
<p>Having just one engine operating means you won’t have the maximum thrust power for take off, but you’d be able to fly and land just fine.</p>
<p>But while a plane can fly on one engine, it is very rare for an engine to go down in the middle of a flight.</p>
<p>Airline maintenance procedures are meticulous and technicians are licensed at the same level and quality as pilots. Typically you have someone do the maintenance on a plane on the ground, but they have someone come after them and inspect it and test it to make sure it is operating at 100% performance. </p>
<p>There are ground tests and flight tests and certification processes that need to be followed before a plane can take passengers. That’s why these events are so unusual.</p>
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<h2>A bang and air-con shutdown</h2>
<p>Passengers <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/heard-a-bang-investigation-launched-into-qantas-flight-that-sparked-mayday-call/wpyvcthe6">said they heard</a> a bang during the Qantas flight yesterday.</p>
<p>Details on what exactly happened are yet to emerge, but it’s certainly possible for engine failure to make a sound. It depends on the type of failure. If it was a section within the engine breaking, that could make a noise loud enough for passengers to hear it.</p>
<p>But normally if the pilot needed to isolate the engine and could see pressure fluctuation or engine temperature exceeding normal levels, then the pilot could choose to shut it down even before they heard a bang.</p>
<p>Reports the plane’s air conditioning subsequently stopped working suggests to me the crew probably had to turn off some systems to achieve their goal of landing successfully back in Sydney.</p>
<h2>Anatomy of a crisis</h2>
<p>When an event like this happens, pilots have a process for scanning their instrumentation to isolate and figure out what’s happening. </p>
<p>Once they do, we have what’s known as a <a href="https://www.skybrary.aero/articles/quick-reference-handbook-qrh">Quick Reference Handbook</a> to consult. It lists all the potential emergency situations that might happen on a plane. The pilots then follow that handbook to analyse each step and each possibility, which helps isolate and solve the problem.</p>
<p>In this case, it appears the solution was to shut that engine down.</p>
<p>For the sake of precaution, aviators announce a mayday call when we have a situation we think means we need priority help. The mayday call clears out the airspace to permit this plane to be number one in the queue for priority; all other aircraft have to get out of the way. </p>
<p>The air traffic controllers put everyone else in the air in a holding pattern or give them a big turn to keep them out of the area.</p>
<p>However, sometime after the pilot on QF144 issued a mayday call, <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/heard-a-bang-investigation-launched-into-qantas-flight-that-sparked-mayday-call/wpyvcthe6">it was downgraded</a> to what’s known as a PAN – that stands for Possible Assistance Needed. </p>
<p>A PAN is a less extreme event; it still signals it is an emergency, and meant yesterday there were emergency vehicles on the runway and the plane retained its priority status in the queue. But it is not quite as serious as a mayday.</p>
<p>From here, a very thorough review will help shed light on what happened. The pilots typically go through drug and alcohol testing and there will be a full investigation to ensure nothing was missed and help Qantas return to normal operations.</p>
<h2>Remembering your training</h2>
<p>I wasn’t there on the flight deck yesterday and can only infer from what I have heard and read that the pilots on this plane did exactly what they are trained to do.</p>
<p>Airlines spend a lot of money on training so pilots and crew can handle events like this. </p>
<p>As we begin the conversation toward single pilot planes and autonomous aircraft, it’s worth asking how AI and autonomous systems might respond to circumstances that are not normal events.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-happens-to-your-body-on-a-long-haul-flight-183034">What happens to your body on a long-haul flight?</a>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Doug Drury does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When you’re down an engine and you have lot of water under you, you have a process to follow. You don’t panic, you don’t go off the rails, you remember your training, and that’s what happened here.Doug Drury, Professor/Head of Aviation, CQUniversity AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1977542023-01-12T21:13:47Z2023-01-12T21:13:47ZWhat is the FAA’s NOTAM? An aviation expert explains how the critical safety system works<p><em>Late in the evening of Jan. 10, 2023, an important digital system known as NOTAM run by the Federal Aviation Administration <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/01/11/1148340708/faa-notam-ground-stop-flight-delay">went offline</a>. The FAA was able to continue getting necessary information to pilots overnight using a phone-based backup, but the stopgap couldn’t keep up with the morning rush of flights, and on Jan. 11, 2022, the FAA grounded all commercial flights in the U.S. In total, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/01/11/1148340708/faa-notam-ground-stop-flight-delay">nearly 7,000 flights</a> were canceled. <a href="https://aviation.osu.edu/people/strzempkowski.1">Brian Strzempkowksi</a> is the interim director of the Center for Aviation Studies at The Ohio State University and a commercial pilot, flight instructor and dispatcher. He explains what the NOTAM system is and why planes can’t fly if the system goes down.</em></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504319/original/file-20230112-60827-1gx11f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A number of planes line up for takeoff on a runway." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504319/original/file-20230112-60827-1gx11f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504319/original/file-20230112-60827-1gx11f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=200&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504319/original/file-20230112-60827-1gx11f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=200&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504319/original/file-20230112-60827-1gx11f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=200&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504319/original/file-20230112-60827-1gx11f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504319/original/file-20230112-60827-1gx11f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504319/original/file-20230112-60827-1gx11f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Pilots must check the NOTAM system before takeoff so that they know about any situations that may affect safety.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:6_planes_in_one_photo!_United_Airlines_Boeing_787,_747,_777,_WOW_Airbus_A330_takeoff,_SWA_737,_United_CRJ_landing_SFO_runway_28_L_and_R_(30480576501).jpg#/media/File:6_planes_in_one_photo!_United_Airlines_Boeing_787,_747,_777,_WOW_Airbus_A330_takeoff,_SWA_737,_United_CRJ_landing_SFO_runway_28_L_and_R_(30480576501).jpg">Bill Abbott/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<h2>What is NOTAM?</h2>
<p>Aviation is full of acronyms, and Notice to Air Missions, or NOTAM, is one acronym that pilots learn early on in their training. A NOTAM is quite simply a message that is disseminated to flight crews of every aircraft in the U.S.</p>
<p>The NOTAM system is a computer network run by the Federal Aviation Administration that provides real-time updates to crews about situations relating to weather, infrastructure, ground conditions or anything else that may <a href="https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation/phak/03_phak_ch1.pdf">affect the safety of flight</a>. Trained professionals – like air traffic controllers, airport managers, airport operations personnel and FAA personnel in charge of national airspace infrastructure – can access the system and enter any information they need to share broadly.</p>
<p>Pilots, air traffic controllers and anyone else who needs to know about flying conditions can access the NOTAM system and make appropriate changes to planned flights. It’s similar to checking the traffic on your phone or on the local news before you head to work in the morning. A traffic report will inform you of potential hazards or backups on the roadways that may lead you take a different route to work.</p>
<h2>What’s in the NOTAM system and how is it used?</h2>
<p>NOTAMs are issued for a wide range of reasons. Some of the notices are good to know but don’t affect a flight – such as personnel mowing grass alongside a runway or a crane working on a building next to the airport. Others are more critical, such as a runway being closed because of snow, ice or damage, forcing a plane to take off or land on a different runway. Changes in access to airspace are also logged with a NOTAM. For example, airspace is always closed above the president and when he or she travels; a NOTAM will alert pilots to changes in airspace closures.</p>
<p>Pilots <a href="https://pilotweb.nas.faa.gov/PilotWeb/">review these NOTAMs</a> during their preflight briefings. Generally this is done digitally using a computer, but pilots and air traffic controllers can also access the system by calling flight service briefers, who can share <a href="https://www.1800wxbrief.com/Website/home;jsessionid=624B2EEA87E48B2E1DF67CB0B791E054?desktop=true#!/phone-numbers-quick-steps">live weather and NOTAM information</a>. Airline pilots also rely on their dispatchers to relay any relevant NOTAMs not only before but also during the flight. </p>
<p>The NOTAMs themselves use a lot of abbreviations and are often cryptic to nonaviation folks, but a small amount of text <a href="https://www.notams.faa.gov/downloads/contractions.pdf">can carry a lot of information</a>. Hundreds of different acronyms can convey a range of information, from taxiway closures to certain types of airport lighting being out of service to a notice that some pavement markings may be obscured.</p>
<p>But not all NOTAMs are straightforward. I remember once seeing a notice from an airport alerting pilots that a fire department was conducting a controlled burn of a house nearby.</p>
<h2>Why can’t you fly if the NOTAM system is down?</h2>
<p>The Federal Aviation Authority requires flight crews to <a href="https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14/chapter-I/subchapter-F/part-91/subpart-B/subject-group-ECFRe4c59b5f5506932/section-91.103">review NOTAMs before every flight</a> for safety reasons. Without access to this information, a plane cannot legally depart, because there may be an unknown hazard ahead. </p>
<p>As an example, a pilot departing Seattle to fly to Miami would need to know that the Miami airport is open, that the runways are clear and that all the navigational sources – like GPS signals and ground-based navigation antennas – that a pilot may use while in the air are working. Theoretically, they could call the Miami airport and ask, and then call the person who oversees every navigational aid on their route, but that would take a lot of time. A much more efficient way to gather this information before and during a flight is to use the NOTAM system. </p>
<p>At the end of the day, the NOTAM system is about safety. When the system is down, pilots can’t fly as safely. It is for good reason that planes don’t go anywhere unless the NOTAM system is up and running.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197754/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brian Strzempkowski does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Notices to Air Mission system failed on Jan. 10, 2023, leading to thousands of canceled flights. The system is where all important safety information for pilots and dispatchers gets posted.Brian Strzempkowski, Interim Director, Center for Aviation Studies, The Ohio State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1850762022-07-04T18:40:56Z2022-07-04T18:40:56ZHow does the cockpit pecking order impact decision-making during the final approach?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472287/original/file-20220704-13-iyr4cr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C19%2C4272%2C2820&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">file v jw</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Senohrabek</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Deciding whether to land or to make a go-around is one of the most important and hazardous operations involved in flying. In fact, the vast majority of accidents <a href="https://accidentstats.airbus.com/statistics/accident-by-flight-phase">in the past 20 years</a> have occurred during the final approach or landing phases. While these are not the deadliest accidents (accounting for 9% of all deaths in commercial flights between 2015 and 2019), they nevertheless generate huge financial losses for airlines.</p>
<p>Airline pilots are expected to perform a go-around in the case of an unstabilised approach, which is characterised by a important deviation of at least one flight parameter (e.g., airspeed, flight path, altitude). However, <a href="https://flightsafety.org/asw-article/inspiring-the-decision-to-go-around/">a 2011 study</a> showed pilots chose to continue the landing in 95% of unstabilised approaches for which a go-around should be performed (unstabilised approaches representing 3.5% of all approaches). The <a href="https://flightsafety.org/">Flight Safety Foundation</a> estimates that 83% of runway excursions and 54% of all accidents that occurred between 2000 and 2015 could have been avoided had the pilots chosen to go around.</p>
<p>An <a href="https://flightsafety.org/toolkits-resources/go-around-project-final-report/">extensive study</a> carried out in 2017 looked at the reasons why pilots struggle to opt to go around during an unstabilised approach. On top of the complexity, cost, and risks associated with this course of action (with one in ten go-arounds resulting in a hazardous outcome), the research also demonstrated that pilots are reluctant to call it due to feeling certain pressure from the rest of the crew to go ahead with a landing, as well as great unease when it comes to challenging the judgement of other pilots.</p>
<p>While the captain is both legally responsible for the aircraft operation and more experienced than the first officer, the onus is on the crew to execute the go-around if one of the pilots (regardless of status) has called it. Interestingly, studies have shown that go-around requests are issued <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925753520301351?via%3Dihub">less frequently by first officers</a> than by captains.</p>
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<span class="caption">Southwest Airlines Flight 1248 slid off the runway while attempting to land in Chicago in December 2005.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<h2>Hierarchical influence and risk taking during landing</h2>
<p>Just before the start of the pandemic, my colleagues and I <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2021.105536">investigated</a> the behaviour of young, inexperienced first officers during more or less stable approaches, with an emphasis on the captain’s influence on their propensity to take risks during landing.</p>
<p>Participants were student pilots nearing the end of their training, all of whom possessed the necessary knowledge to fly an aircraft, but had no professional experience as commercial pilots. The captain, an A380 pilot for Air France, acted as our accomplice during the experiment.</p>
<p>The participants had to decide, both alone (in the first part of the experiment) and within a crew (in the second part), whether to land or to go around during various landing situations rated as (1) safe, (2) moderately risky, (3) highly risky, and (4) extremely risky.</p>
<p>[<em>Nearly 70 000 readers look to The Conversation France’s newsletter for expert insights into the world’s most pressing issues. <a href="https://theconversation.com/fr/newsletters/la-newsletter-quotidienne-5">Sign up now</a>.</em>]</p>
<p>Following the completion of the first part of the experiment, the participants were told that they would have to make decisions as first officers alongside a real A380 captain for Air France, who had agreed to take part in the study.</p>
<p>The uniformed captain was then invited into a room where he greeted the newly appointed first officer participant with a firm handshake. This <a href="https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_00295">exercise</a> was intended to induce a strong hierarchical imbalance between the two pilots.</p>
<p>After introducing himself, the captain spoke to the participants of the potential difficulties in decision-making that could arise during landing, using the example of a hazardous situation (i.e., strong wind, slight overspeed, etc.) in which he had recently found himself and explaining how he had managed to land despite the adverse conditions.</p>
<p>This (entirely fabricated) story aimed to lead the participants to believe that their captain had a certain propensity for taking risks. At the end of his speech, the captain then walked out of the room, leaving the pilots to their own devices.</p>
<p>In the second part of the experiment, the participants had two decisions to make:</p>
<p>(1) a pre-decision, which was not communicated to the captain and made before being told his decision, and (2) a final decision, communicated to the captain and made after learning of his decision.</p>
<p>The captain chose to land the aircraft in safe, moderately risky, and highly risky situations, and to go around in extremely risky situations.</p>
<h2>The captain’s direct and indirect influence on the first officer</h2>
<p>Our results show that the captain strongly influenced the participants’ decisions in moderately and highly risky landing situations, whereby their likelihood of proceeding with a landing increased respectively by 19% and 15% (in comparison with the earlier solo pilot configuration).</p>
<p>In moderately risky situations, participants were significantly more likely to go ahead with a landing even before knowing the captain’s decision. Given this rate did not vary over time, this increase in risk taking may not result from a tendency to adapt to the captain’s behaviour.</p>
<p>Several studies have shown that the mere presence of one or more other people increases an observed individual’s motivation and desire to be perceived as competent by the observer(s).</p>
<p>Known as <a href="https://www.verywellmind.com/an-overview-of-social-facilitation-4800890">“social facilitation”</a>, this phenomenon can often result in <a href="https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bjop.12195">increased risk-taking behaviour</a>. Further research has also indicated that first officers make a great deal of effort to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128129951000038">appear competent</a> in the eyes of their captain.</p>
<p>With this in mind, our results suggest that the increased risk taking observed in moderately risky situations reflected participants’ eagerness to impress the captain.</p>
<p>In highly risky situations, however, increased risk taking occurred at the moment of final decision, that is, only after the participants had been informed of the captain’s own decision.</p>
<p>Moreover, the more the participants perceived their captain as authoritative, the greater their tendency to adapt their decision to the Captain’s. These results suggest that a fear of opposing the captain may have accounted for the increased risk taking during highly risky landing situations.</p>
<h2>Inexperience and Dunning-Kruger effect</h2>
<p>Although the landing rate observed during the solo pilot configuration was proportional to the risks associated with the landing situations (57%, 34% and 30% respectively in moderately, highly, and extremely risky situations), first officers’ risk-taking was nonetheless elevated.</p>
<p>This result is coherent with <a href="http://www.cog-tech.com/papers/NASA/avspych.pdf">previous studies</a>, which had already shown that young, inexperienced pilots often struggled to assess the risk level in landing situations and decide to go around.</p>
<p>Of particular note in our study was the participants’ behaviour in extremely risky situations. In 8% of such situations, participants chose to insist upon landing despite knowing the captain’s wanted to go around (final decision).</p>
<p>This makes for a reassuring yet troubling statistic. We can find some reassurance in the fact that the captain’s feedback considerably reduced the participants’ risk-taking behaviour, which highlights the former’s positive impact and important role in limiting such behaviour among first officers.</p>
<p>But while this figure may appear rather low, it becomes troubling when placed in the context of annual air traffic figures worldwide (i.e. <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/564769/airline-industry-number-of-flights/">38.9 million flights</a>.</p>
<p>This result is all the more surprising when we consider that the participants were essentially operating as pilot flying, meaning that they would have had the commands of the aircraft. It appears, therefore, that certain participants had an unrealistic vision of their flying skills. This phenomenon (which I have covered <a href="https://theconversation.com/comment-le-coronavirus-nous-a-tous-biaises-134415">in other articles</a>) is referred to as “overconfidence bias” or <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B9780123855220000056">the “Dunning-Kruger effect”</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Illustration of the Dunning-Kruger effect, which depicts an individual’s level of confidence as compared to their actual skill level in a given area" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472322/original/file-20220704-25-wlwce0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472322/original/file-20220704-25-wlwce0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=323&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472322/original/file-20220704-25-wlwce0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=323&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472322/original/file-20220704-25-wlwce0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=323&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472322/original/file-20220704-25-wlwce0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472322/original/file-20220704-25-wlwce0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472322/original/file-20220704-25-wlwce0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Illustration of the Dunning-Kruger effect, which depicts an individual’s level of confidence as compared to their actual skill level in a given area.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Leighton Kille/Wikimedia</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<p>It often affects beginners in a discipline, who tend to overestimate their skills by a significant degree. First officers under the influence of the Dunning-Kruger effect represent a risk to flight safety, especially when partnered with a captain who lacks <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assertiveness">assertiveness</a> and/or authority. This was the case for instance with the <a href="https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/AAR0706.pdf">accident</a> that befell the Southwest Airlines 1248 Flight from Baltimore, Maryland to Chicago, Illinois, whereby the captain had given in to indirect pressure from his first officer and went ahead with a dangerous landing.</p>
<h2>Communication between crew members: the cornerstone of flight safety</h2>
<p>Flight safety depends largely on the pilots’ ability to prevent, detect, and correct their own errors, as well as those of other pilots.</p>
<p>A hierarchical organisation is by far the <a href="https://commons.erau.edu/jaaer/vol10/iss1/8/">most effective</a> for flight crews, but if the hierarchy balance between the captain and first officers is inadequate, it can present a safety risk. This is in great part due to the fact that first officers often have difficulty <a href="https://econtent.hogrefe.com/doi/10.1027/2192-0923/a000021">challenging captains</a>, mainly because they see them as more experienced, do not wish to damage their relationship, and/or fear potential retaliation.</p>
<p>Yet, in spite of their expertise, captains are still human and therefore fallible. In the large majority of commercial aviation accidents that are attributed (at least partially) to human error, it is the captain who made the <a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Limits-of-Expertise-Rethinking-Pilot-Error-and-the-Causes-of-Airline/Dismukes-Berman-Loukopoulos/p/book/9780754649656">initial error</a> behind the accident, which then went on to be either undetected or uncorrected by their first officers.</p>
<p>While the implementation of <a href="https://skybrary.aero/articles/crew-resource-management-crm">Crew Resource Management</a> – a set of crew training procedures that aims to prevent human error – has greatly improved inter-pilot communication and crew decision-making, hierarchical imbalance between captains and first officers remains a potential hazard factor.</p>
<p>Our study has revealed how young, inexperienced pilots are very likely to be swayed by their captain’s influence in situations of particularly strong hierarchical imbalance. We are hopeful that our research will make captains more aware of how they may be influencing their first officers’ decisions (even without meaning to).</p>
<p>Our protocol could also help assess how easily swayed student pilots are during their training, and strengthen their awareness of these associated risks. This would contribute to improving flight safety in commercial aviation, which is – lest we forget – still the safest form of transport available.</p>
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<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310261/original/file-20200115-134768-1tax26b.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310261/original/file-20200115-134768-1tax26b.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=158&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310261/original/file-20200115-134768-1tax26b.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=158&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310261/original/file-20200115-134768-1tax26b.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=158&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310261/original/file-20200115-134768-1tax26b.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=198&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310261/original/file-20200115-134768-1tax26b.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=198&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310261/original/file-20200115-134768-1tax26b.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=198&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em>Created in 2007 to help accelerate and share scientific knowledge on key societal issues, the AXA Research Fund has supported nearly 700 projects around the world conducted by researchers in 38 countries. To learn more, visit the site of the AXA Research Fund or follow on Twitter @AXAResearchFund.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185076/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eve Fabre has received funding from the European Union, the DGA and the AXA Research Fund. She currently works for APSYS.</span></em></p>A study into the hierarchical relationship between first officers and their captains has shed light on the risk taking that occurs during the critical moment of landing an aircraft.Eve Fabre, Chercheure en Facteur Humain & Neurosciences Sociales, ISAE-SUPAEROLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1530862021-01-13T04:18:15Z2021-01-13T04:18:15ZIndonesia’s aviation safety has improved, but a lot remains to be done<p>The Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 disaster serves as a warning for aviation safety regulators, not only in Indonesia but worldwide. </p>
<p>Four minutes after taking off from Jakarta in heavy rain on January 9, the Boeing 737-500 nosedived into the ocean, killing all 62 passengers and crew. The cause of the crash has yet to be determined.</p>
<p>The tragedy has naturally raised questions about Indonesia’s air safety standards. Over the past decade the nation has done much to improve them. But more still remains to be done. As commercial aviation recovers from its COVID stall, regulators will need to focus on aviation safety to ensure the progress is not reversed.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-air-accident-investigators-turn-disaster-into-a-way-of-saving-lives-50135">How air accident investigators turn disaster into a way of saving lives</a>
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<h2>Explosive growth</h2>
<p>Indonesia’s commercial civil aviation sector has experienced explosive growth in the past two decades, with the number of passengers increasing from 10 million in 2000 to <a href="https://knoema.com/atlas/Indonesia/Number-of-air-passengers-carried">115 million in 2018</a>. </p>
<p>This is due to Indonesia’s population and geography. It is the world’s fourth-most populous country (after China, India, and the United States), with more than 270 million people spread over five main islands and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Indonesia">about 6,000 smaller islands</a>. </p>
<p>Air travel is the obvious way to get around, and it has become more affordable due to both competition (the government opened the domestic airline industry to competition in the 1990s) and rising incomes (with GDP per capita <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.KD?locations=ID">doubling since 2000</a>).</p>
<p>The International Air Transport Association (IATA) <a href="https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/11/11/indonesia-to-have-worlds-fourth-largest-air-passenger-market-by-2039-iata.html">predicts</a> by 2039 Indonesia’s commercial passenger airline market will be the world’s fourth largest.</p>
<h2>At the expense of safety?</h2>
<p>The explosive growth in Indonesian air travel initially happened, to a certain extent, at the expense of safety. In the 2000s there were more than a dozen serious incidents and several major disasters. </p>
<p>These included Mandala Airlines Flight 91, which in September 2005 crashed into a neighbourhood in Medan, the capital city of North Sumatra, killing 149 people; and Garuda Indonesia Flight 200, which crashed while landing at Yogyakarta, Java in March 2007, killing 20 of the 133 passengers and one crew member. </p>
<p>In response, the European Union took the rather drastic step of <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/indonesia-slams-eu-airline-ban/#:%7E:text=Indonesia's%2051%20airlines%20were%20all,is%20allowed%20into%20EU%20airspace.">banning all Indonesian carriers</a> from its airspace in July 2007. (This ban was only fully lifted <a href="https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/eu-lifts-ban-on-all-indonesia-airlines-after-safety-boost">in June 2018</a>.)</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-pilots-dont-always-hear-alarms-98434">Why pilots don’t always hear alarms</a>
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<h2>Safety has improved</h2>
<p>Improvement in Indonesia’s aviation safety record can be seen in the data provided by the <a href="https://aviation-safety.net/database/country/country.php?id=PK">Aviation Safety Network</a>. From 2000 to 2009, there were 27 fatal aviation incidents in Indonesia. From 2010 to 2019, there were 18. </p>
<p>The country has made significant gains in implementing <a href="https://www.icao.int">International Civil Aviation Organization</a> (ICAO) standards. </p>
<p>The US Federal Aviation Administration’s <a href="https://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/iasa/">International Aviation Safety Assessment Program</a> rates Indonesia as a Category 1 country. This implies Indonesia’s aviation sector conforms to ICAO requirements and allows Indonesian carriers to fly to the US.</p>
<p>At the same time, much work remains to be done to bring Indonesia’s aviation safety level up to that of the OECD nations. Japan, for example, has recorded only five fatal aviation incidents since 2000. </p>
<p>In the US (the world’s largest aviation market before the pandemic) the last crash with similar fatalities to that of Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 was in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colgan_Air_Flight_3407">February 2009</a>, when Colgan Air Flight 3407, a turboprop plane flying between Newark, New Jersey and Buffalo, New York, crashed shortly before arrival, killing all 49 people on board (and one person on the ground).</p>
<h2>Aviation safety globally</h2>
<p>Globally, commercial passenger airline regulation can be legitimately proud of the safety record it has achieved. </p>
<p>According to aviation researchers, 2017 was the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-42538053#:%7E:text=2017%20was%20the%20safest%20year,The%20Aviation%20Safety%20Network%20found">safest year in commercial aviation history</a>. There were just 79 deaths related to incidents with commercial flights – an impressive record, given airlines carried nearly 4 billion passengers that year. By all metrics, flying in the 21st century has been far safer than in the last two decades of the 20th century.</p>
<p>Regional disparities still persist, however. According to an <a href="https://www.iata.org/en/pressroom/pr/2020-04-06-01/">IATA analysis</a>, Africa and the Commonwealth of Independent States (Russia and eight other former Soviet countries) have considerably worse safety records than other regions. The Asia Pacific region, which includes Indonesia, is about the global average.</p>
<h2>How COVID-19 may affect safety</h2>
<p>The COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a serious blow to the commercial passenger airline industry. The IATA estimates global passenger volume in 2020 <a href="https://www.iata.org/en/pressroom/pr/2020-09-29-02/">was one-third</a> that in 2019. Return to those levels is not expected before 2023. Whether the industry returns to its pre-pandemic growth trajectory is, at this point, anyone’s guess.</p>
<p>Against this background, my concern is potential of the pandemic to seriously affect the aviation safety culture that took decades to build. </p>
<p>With aircraft sitting idle, pilots remaining on the ground, mechanics and air traffic controllers out of work or underemployed, the question of bringing people and equipment up to speed will be important as travel restrictions lift.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/once-the-pandemic-is-over-we-will-return-to-a-very-different-airline-industry-134124">Once the pandemic is over, we will return to a very different airline industry</a>
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<p>The key message for aviation safety regulators, both in Indonesia and worldwide, is simple. </p>
<p>They have have made great progress in building, improving and maintaining safety culture in the industry. But post-pandemic recovery will require an extra sharp focus on aviation safety, above and beyond what has been done before. </p>
<p>This will be especially intense for nations such as Indonesia. The fate of Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 is a reminder of the work still to be done, and the challenges to come.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/153086/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Volodymyr Bilotkach is an External Instructor with IATA Training.</span></em></p>Air travel in Indonesia is a lot safer than a decade ago.Volodymyr Bilotkach, Associate Professor, Singapore Institute of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1463142020-11-30T19:07:15Z2020-11-30T19:07:15ZHidden women of history: Millicent Bryant, the first Australian woman to get a pilot’s licence<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364194/original/file-20201019-13-1yhdmts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C9%2C794%2C835&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Clipping from Woman’s World, January, 1927. Bryant Scrapbook. Courtesy of John R. H. Bryant. </span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>In <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/hidden-women-of-history-64072">this series</a>, we look at under-acknowledged women through the ages.</em></p>
<p>Before the glamorous flyers of the 1930s like Amelia Earhart, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34035692-the-fabulous-flying-mrs-miller">“Chubby” Miller</a> and Nancy Bird Walton, another woman opened the way to the skies — and were it not for a tragic twist of fate, her name might now be just as familiar. </p>
<p>Her name was Millicent Maude Bryant, and in early 1927, she became the <a href="https://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/people/aviation/display/22035-millicent-bryant">first woman to gain a pilot’s licence in Australia</a>. She was also first in the Commonwealth outside Britain.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364184/original/file-20201019-21-1mhw3a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Millicent Bryant c.1919. Portrait by Monte Luke." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364184/original/file-20201019-21-1mhw3a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364184/original/file-20201019-21-1mhw3a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=795&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364184/original/file-20201019-21-1mhw3a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=795&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364184/original/file-20201019-21-1mhw3a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=795&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364184/original/file-20201019-21-1mhw3a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=999&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364184/original/file-20201019-21-1mhw3a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=999&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364184/original/file-20201019-21-1mhw3a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=999&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Millicent Bryant c.1919. Portrait by Monte Luke.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
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<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/hidden-women-of-history-catherine-hay-thomson-the-australian-undercover-journalist-who-went-inside-asylums-and-hospitals-129352">Hidden women of history: Catherine Hay Thomson, the Australian undercover journalist who went inside asylums and hospitals</a>
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</p>
<hr>
<h2>A boundary-pusher who met an untimely end</h2>
<p>Millicent was born in 1878 at Oberon and grew up near Trangi in western New South Wales. Her family, the Harveys, moved to Manly for a period after a younger brother, George, contracted polio (one of the treatments was “sea-bathing”). She met and <a href="https://collection.maas.museum/object/353609">married</a> a public servant 15 years her senior, Edward Bryant. They had three children but the couple separated not long before Edward died in 1926. </p>
<p>Later that year, Bryant began instruction with the Australian Aero Club at Mascot in Sydney. At the time, the site of the current international airport was just a large, grassy expanse with a few buildings and hangars.</p>
<p>Bryant was accepted by the Aero Club’s chief instructor, <a href="https://collection.maas.museum/object/353609">Captain Edward Leggatt</a> (himself a noted first world war fighter pilot), soon after the club had opened its membership to women. </p>
<p>Even then, though, she was unusual: here was a 49-year-old mother of three taking up the challenge of flying which, in the 1920’s, was still as dangerous as it was exciting and glamorous. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365329/original/file-20201025-14-1sfkekp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Millicent Bryant with a plane and other aviators." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365329/original/file-20201025-14-1sfkekp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365329/original/file-20201025-14-1sfkekp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365329/original/file-20201025-14-1sfkekp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365329/original/file-20201025-14-1sfkekp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365329/original/file-20201025-14-1sfkekp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365329/original/file-20201025-14-1sfkekp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365329/original/file-20201025-14-1sfkekp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Millicent Bryant (second from left) with other aviators beside her De Havilland Moth.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided courtesy of Mary Taguchi.</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>She quickly progressed, ahead of two other younger, women students, and made her first solo flight in February, 1927. By this time, newspapers all around Australia were following her story, and in late March she took the test for the “A” licence that would enable her to independently fly De Havilland Moth biplanes. </p>
<p>She passed, and with the issue of her licence by the Ministry of Defence, Bryant was acclaimed as the first woman to gain a pilot’s licence in Australia.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365330/original/file-20201025-13-1f3ebns.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An image of Bryant's Aero Club training certificate." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365330/original/file-20201025-13-1f3ebns.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365330/original/file-20201025-13-1f3ebns.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365330/original/file-20201025-13-1f3ebns.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365330/original/file-20201025-13-1f3ebns.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365330/original/file-20201025-13-1f3ebns.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=594&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365330/original/file-20201025-13-1f3ebns.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=594&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365330/original/file-20201025-13-1f3ebns.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=594&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Millicent Bryant’s training certificate from the Aero Club of Australia (NSW Section). Her ‘A’ Licence was issued by the Department of Defence in April, 1927.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Why, then, isn’t she better known in our day? While Bryant immediately began training for a licence to carry passengers and flew regularly in the months that followed, it was her particular misfortune to step onto the Sydney ferry <a href="https://www.sea.museum/2017/11/03/90-years-since-the-greycliffe-ferry-disaster">Greycliffe</a> on its regular 4.14pm run to Watson’s Bay on November 3, 1927. </p>
<p>Less than an hour later, she was among 40 dead after the ferry was cut in half off Bradley’s Head by the mail steamer <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/dredging-up-tragic-memories-20031205-gdhx31.html">Tahiti</a>. It was Sydney’s worst peacetime maritime disaster. Bryant was still only 49.</p>
<p>Her funeral two days later was attended by hundreds of people and accorded a remarkable aerial tribute, as the Wellington Times <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/143262879">reported</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Five aeroplanes from the Mascot aerodrome flew over the procession as it wended its way to the cemetery. As the burial service was read by the Rev. A. R. Ebbs, rector of St. Matthew’s, Manly, one of the planes descended to within about 150 feet of the grave, and there was dropped from it a wreath of red carnations and blue delphiniums … Attached to the floral tribute was a card bearing the following inscription:</p>
<p>5th November, 1927. With the deepest sympathy of the committee and members of the Australian Aero Club — N.S.W. section.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364185/original/file-20201019-21-1ybmdly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="_Greycliffe_, lifting the wreck of the ferry. The heavy lifting gear of the SHT steam sheerlegs is used to bring the hull section to the surface. From the Graeme Andrews ‘Working Harbour’ Collection, courtesy of the City of Sydney Archives." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364185/original/file-20201019-21-1ybmdly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364185/original/file-20201019-21-1ybmdly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364185/original/file-20201019-21-1ybmdly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364185/original/file-20201019-21-1ybmdly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364185/original/file-20201019-21-1ybmdly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=559&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364185/original/file-20201019-21-1ybmdly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=559&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364185/original/file-20201019-21-1ybmdly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=559&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Lifting the wreck of the ferry, Greycliffe. The heavy lifting gear of the SHT steam sheerlegs is used to bring the hull section to the surface.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided. Image from the Graeme Andrews ‘Working Harbour’ Collection, courtesy of the City of Sydney Archives.</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A pioneer in life as well as the sky</h2>
<p>Bryant’s story quickly lapsed into obscurity. Fortunately, some 80 years later, the rediscovery in the family of a collection of letters and other writings has enabled Bryant’s life beyond her flying achievement to be rediscovered.</p>
<p>The letters were — and are still until they are added to the collection of Bryant’s papers in the National Library — held by her granddaughter, Millicent Jones of Kendall, NSW, who rediscovered them in storage at her home.</p>
<p>The main correspondence is a conversation with her second son, John, in England. It covers the period she was flying, though it only moderately expands on the flights recorded in her <a href="https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1129408">logbook</a>.</p>
<p>However, her letters and writings reveal much more about Bryant herself, her relationships, her feelings and her leisure, business and political activities. And they make it apparent that she was as much a pioneer in life as well as in the sky.</p>
<p>For one, flying was not Bryant’s only unconventional interest. She was also an entrepreneur, registering an importing company in partnership with John, who went on to become a pioneer of the Australian dairy industry.</p>
<p>She opened a men’s clothing business, <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/45934857">Chesterfield Men’s Mercery</a>, in Sydney’s CBD. However, disaster struck when it was inundated with water mere weeks after opening, following a fire in the tea rooms upstairs. </p>
<p>Bryant then became a small-scale property developer, buying and building on land in Vaucluse and Edgecliffe. She’d been well tutored in this by her father, grazier Edmund Harvey (a grandfather of billionaire Gerry Harvey), whose own holdings eventually included a large part of the Kanimbla Valley west of the Blue Mountains. </p>
<p>An excellent horsewoman, Bryant was also an early motorist who had driven over 35,000 miles around NSW and who could fix her own car. She was a keen golfer and reader and even a student of Japanese at the University of Sydney.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364171/original/file-20201019-13-xwvd4z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A fragment from Bryant's letters" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364171/original/file-20201019-13-xwvd4z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364171/original/file-20201019-13-xwvd4z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=781&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364171/original/file-20201019-13-xwvd4z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=781&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364171/original/file-20201019-13-xwvd4z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=781&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364171/original/file-20201019-13-xwvd4z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=982&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364171/original/file-20201019-13-xwvd4z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=982&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364171/original/file-20201019-13-xwvd4z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=982&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A key writing fragment by Millicent Bryant (c.1924).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Several fragments of a family saga she planned to write, based on her own life, are among her papers. One sheet, entitled “A Life”, summarises in a series of rough notes rather more than she might have told anyone about her inner world. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Marriage – mistakes – children – despondency. Ill-health. Great desire to “live” and create things…</p>
</blockquote>
<p>She notes that a trip abroad was a complete success but</p>
<blockquote>
<p>it furnished a heart interest which lasted for fourteen years until hope died owing to a marriage. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>This fragment provides some background to her taking, in her forties, the unusual step at that time of leaving her marriage and family home to start life afresh with her sons.</p>
<p>This was not long before she took her first flight, probably with <a href="http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/percival-edgar-wikner-8018">Edgar Percival</a>, a family friend and later a successful aircraft designer whose planes won air races and were noted for their graceful lines.</p>
<h2>Vigour, values and conflicts</h2>
<p>Growing up in the NSW inland late in the 19th century, Bryant would have begun with a fairly traditional view of what it meant to be a wife and mother.</p>
<p>However, her early life was also “free-spirited” (as one newspaper described her upbringing) and her determination to make decisions and shape her own life put her on a collision course with gender role expectations common at the time. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364193/original/file-20201019-19-u52bht.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="In 2006 a new memorial to Millicent Bryant was placed in Manly (now Balgowlah) Cemetery. It was dedicated by the late Nancy Bird Walton, pictured with Gaby Kennard (left) the first Australian woman to fly a single-engine plane around the world." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364193/original/file-20201019-19-u52bht.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364193/original/file-20201019-19-u52bht.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364193/original/file-20201019-19-u52bht.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364193/original/file-20201019-19-u52bht.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364193/original/file-20201019-19-u52bht.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364193/original/file-20201019-19-u52bht.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364193/original/file-20201019-19-u52bht.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In 2006 a new memorial to Millicent Bryant was placed in Manly (now Balgowlah) Cemetery. It was dedicated by the late Nancy Bird Walton, pictured with Gaby Kennard (left) the first Australian woman to fly a single-engine plane around the world, and (right) a great-great-granddaughter of Millicent Bryant, Matilda Millicent Power-Jones.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Learning to fly, especially in middle age, was a breakthrough she pursued perhaps even more keenly after being denied work with the Sydney Sun newspaper solely because she was married.</p>
<p>Bryant clearly came to hold strong ideas about what a woman could and couldn’t do, and her life shows a determination to make her own path, despite confronting obstacles that are still familiar in our own time. </p>
<p>Bryant is not just a figure in aviation history. Her life — spanning the colonial period, the newly-federated nation and the tragedies of World War I — came to reflect the vigour, values and conflicts of Australia in the early 20th century.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/hidden-women-of-history-wauba-debar-an-indigenous-swimmer-from-tasmania-who-saved-her-captors-126487">Hidden women of history: Wauba Debar, an Indigenous swimmer from Tasmania who saved her captors</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/146314/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Vicars is a member of the Australasian Association of Writing Programs, the peak body for the teaching and study of writing in higher education institutions. He is the author of 'Beyond the Sky: the Passions of Millicent Bryant, Aviator', published by Melbourne Books in November 2020.</span></em></p>Millicent Bryant made her first solo flight at the age of 49 in 1927. The life of this bold, unconventional woman was tragically cut short in a ferry disaster that same year.James Vicars, Sessional Lecturer, University of New EnglandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1420692020-07-06T12:46:06Z2020-07-06T12:46:06ZBattle of Britain: how the British press found a hero in Douglas Bader – the amputee fighter ace<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345755/original/file-20200706-25-1x7a79x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C0%2C3419%2C2474&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Squadron Leader Douglas Bader CO of No Squadron seated on his Hawker Hurricane after the Battle of France, September 1940.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Devon S A (F/O), Royal Air Force official photographer, Imperial War Museum</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In July 1940, Britain’s coalition government was <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/228834681">concerned about public morale</a>. German forces that had swept through France stood poised to invade. In the skies, Luftwaffe warplanes fought for the supremacy that Adolf Hitler needed to get his army across the channel. The nation’s fate hung in the balance and the Air Ministry believed uplifting stories could inspire optimism and encourage resistance.</p>
<p>When a 30-year-old Hurricane pilot shot down a Dornier 17 “in a fierce aerial fight”, the ministry spotted <a href="http://find.gale.com.ezphost.dur.ac.uk/dvnw/newspaperRetrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=DateAscend&tabID=T003&prodId=DVNW&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchId=R2&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&currentPosition=1&qrySerId=Locale%28en%2C%2C%29%3AFQE%3D%28ke%2CNone%2C20%29Legless+Pilot+Dances%3AAnd%3ALQE%3D%28MB%2CNone%2C4%29Dmha%24&retrieveFormat=MULTIPAGE_DOCUMENT&inPS=true&userGroupName=duruni&docId=EE1865014643&contentSet=LTO&&docId=&docLevel=FASCIMILE&workId=&relevancePageBatch=EE1865014643&contentSet=UDVIN&callistoContentSet=UDVIN&docPage=article&hilite=y&tabLimiterIndex=&tabLimiterValue=">a tremendous story</a>. This was no ordinary pilot. In 1931, he had lost both his legs when “coming out of a slow roll over Woodley Aerodrome, Reading, he crashed and for weeks struggled against death in hospital”. His legs were amputated and, although he soon learned to fly again using artificial legs, the RAF rejected his applications to return to active service until the war began.</p>
<p>The hero was, of course, <a href="https://funeral-notices.co.uk/national/death-notices/notice/sir+douglas+bader/4070937">Douglas Robert Stuart Bader</a> (1910-1982). Today, his story is familiar to millions who have seen the award-winning film <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049665/">Reach for the Sky</a> or read of his courage in books and newspapers. But in 1940, Bader was little known beyond RAF Fighter Command. In a meticulous public relations exercise, Air Ministry press officers would make him a household name.</p>
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<p>Alerted by an Air Ministry briefing on July 14, the mass-market Conservative Daily Mail sent a reporter to interview Bader’s mother. She told the journalist: “I wish I could tell you adequately the story of how he had to face life again without two legs … It was amazing to watch his courage and the gradual return of his sunny disposition.” He had also learned how to dance and drive a car. The Mail portrayed the hero in uniform and smiling for the camera.</p>
<h2>Thrilling tale</h2>
<p>Like its conservative rival, the Labour-supporting Daily Mirror displayed its populist flair when it covered the story. Douglas Bader was the “<a href="https://go-gale-com.ezphost.dur.ac.uk/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=Newspapers&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchResultsType=SingleTab&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=3&docId=GALE%7CACHQRF037770620&docType=Article&sort=Pub+Date+Forward+Chron&contentSegment=ZDMA&prodId=DMIR&contentSet=GALE%7CACHQRF037770620&searchId=R2&userGroupName=duruni&inPS=true&ps=1&cp=3">Greatest hero of them all … Britain’s most amazing RAF Fighter Command Pilot</a>”. The Mirror sent a reporter to meet the hero’s mother-in-law. Mrs Edwards said: “The more fights he can fly himself into, the better he is pleased.” He was encouraged by the love and support of her daughter Olivia, whom he married in 1938. The Mirror declared that “the story of his courage thrilled Britain”.</p>
<p>Establishment broadsheet The Times also got carefully targeted help. Its readers learned that Bader had “passed through Cranwell [home since 1920 of the RAF College] where he was a fine games player and captain of cricket”. The Manchester Guardian decided that its educated readers would resent mawkish populism. <a href="https://search-proquest-com.ezphost.dur.ac.uk/hnpguardianobserver/docview/484765831/98487A5B82074837PQ/1?accountid=14533">It noted</a>: “Everybody who was in the Air Force or who was interested in rugby football eight or nine years ago knew DRS Bader, the Harlequins and RAF fly half, whose crash robbed him of his legs, cut short a brilliant service career and destroyed good prospects of an England cap”. </p>
<p>But, the report continued, Bader was not unique. Before the war an officer nicknamed “Peggy” flew “in spite of having one artificial leg. He wore a plain wooden peg-leg which he inserted into a cylindrical cigarette tin screwed to the rudder bar.”</p>
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<p>The Daily Telegraph was not sceptical. Its correspondent, Major CC Turner, reported: “I learn that a Hurricane pilot who although he lost both his legs shot down a Dornier 17 in a weekend raid was Flying Officer DRS Bader.” Turner did not acknowledge that he had learned this from the Air Ministry. But that’s how every newspaper found out about Bader – it was a formidable work by a team determined to promote courageous young men and cheer the nation.</p>
<h2>Naval gazing</h2>
<p>The RAF worked closely with journalists and its reputation benefited accordingly. By contrast, the Royal Navy took a rigidly secretive approach that infuriated even the government’s chief press censor, <a href="http://www.dreadnoughtproject.org/tfs/index.php/George_Pirie_Thomson">Rear Admiral George P Thomson</a>. </p>
<p>Thomson lamented that the adventures of HMS Triumph, which limped home after being damaged in action 300 miles from home, had begun on Boxing Day 1939. “Yet it was not until September 1941 that the British public were told this magnificent story of the heroism and fortitude of the British sailor.” Thomson believed secrecy had stopped people talking about the navy with pride. </p>
<p>The navy’s reluctance to reveal detail about the war at sea remained entrenched. In his outstanding book about journalism and conflict, <a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/vol20no1/pdf/v20i1a05p.pdf">The First Casualty</a>, journalist Phillip Knightley reveals how Edward R Murrow of CBS Radio complained about the secrecy surrounding this theatre of war: “The curious thing about the Battle of the Atlantic is that no one knows anything about it. Nothing may be said either to the Americans or to the British public about this battle which, we are told, will determine the destinies of freemen for centuries.”</p>
<p>The thoroughly modern RAF understood that Douglas Bader was the hero Britain needed in its hour of greatest need. And such early success in promoting its achievements set a pattern that the Air Ministry would follow throughout the war. It would even invite BBC correspondents <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b039lmkg">Wynford Vaughan Thomas</a> and <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0187bbk">Richard Dimbleby</a> to report from Lancaster Bombers flying in raids over Germany. </p>
<p>The army also learned to value positive reporting of its achievements when Field Marshal Montgomery presented the war in the desert to readers at home with striking phrases such as “Kill Germans, even padres – One per week day and two on Sundays”.</p>
<p>As for Bader, his fame did not fade when he was shot down and taken prisoner. Having received a replacement aluminium leg, dropped by parachute to his prisoner of war camp, he immediately tried to escape. A German search party found him hiding in a hayloft. <a href="http://find.gale.com.ezphost.dur.ac.uk/dvnw/newspaperRetrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=DateAscend&tabID=T003&prodId=DVNW&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchId=R3&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&currentPosition=20&qrySerId=Locale%28en%2C%2C%29%3AFQE%3D%28ke%2CNone%2C13%29Douglas+Bader%3AAnd%3ALQE%3D%28MB%2CNone%2C185%29Bbcn+Or+Ncnp+Or+Ncuk-2+Or+Ncuk-1+Or+Bncn-1+Or+Bncn-2+Or+Bncn-3+Or+Bncn-4+Or+Bncn-5+Or+Dmha+Or+Econ+Or+Ftha+Or+Iln+Or+Inda-1+Or+Inda-2+Or+Lsnr+Or+Pipo+Or+Stha+Or+Ttda-1+Or+Ttda-2+Or+Tlsh%3AAnd%3ALQE%3D%28gs%2CNone%2C36%29%22Editorial+and+Commentary%22+Or+%22News%22%3AAnd%3ALQE%3D%28da%2CNone%2C23%2901%2F01%2F1940+-+12%2F20%2F1945%24&retrieveFormat=MULTIPAGE_DOCUMENT&inPS=true&userGroupName=duruni&docId=JF3237833214&contentSet=LTO&&docId=&docLevel=FASCIMILE&workId=&relevancePageBatch=JF3237833214&contentSet=UDVIN&callistoContentSet=UDVIN&docPage=article&hilite=y&tabLimiterIndex=&tabLimiterValue=&uzFieldValue=bncn-4">After that</a>: “They took away one of his legs every night and gave it back to him in the morning.” </p>
<p>Bader ended the war in the infamous Colditz castle where he was held as a member of the group known as the <em>Prominente</em> – famous prisoners the Nazi leadership hoped they might use as bargaining chips.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/142069/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tim Luckhurst has received research funding from News UK and Ireland Ltd. He is a fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts and a member of the Free Speech Union and the Society of Editors. . </span></em></p>As it faced imminent Nazi invasion, Britain needed heroes. The RAF provided one ready made: a fighter pilot with no legs.Tim Luckhurst, Principal of South College, Durham UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1232422020-05-18T12:15:48Z2020-05-18T12:15:48ZHow greater diversity in the cockpit could help airlines avoid a looming pilot shortage<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334464/original/file-20200512-82379-1h8cyxo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=54%2C162%2C3971%2C2752&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The cockpit has long been the dominion of white men.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Benjamin Ohnona/EyeEm via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Before the new coronavirus hit, the airline industry was bracing for a <a href="https://www.boeing.com/commercial/market/pilot-technician-outlook/">severe pilot shortage</a>. But just as the pandemic has forced school closures across the country, it’s also <a href="https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2020/march/12/faa-training-industry-take-precautions-amid-coronavirus-concerns">disrupting aviation training programs</a>, which could mean even fewer pilots are trained to fly tomorrow’s fleet of commercial aircraft.</p>
<p>There are many reasons for the anticipated shortage, including <a href="https://www.faa.gov/pilots/training/atp/">increased regulation</a>, <a href="https://www.iata.org/en/pressroom/pr/2017-10-24-01">growing demand for air travel</a> and <a href="https://www.cae.com/media/documents/Civil_Aviation/CAE-Airline-Pilot-Demand-Outlook-Spread.pdf">an aging workforce</a>, coupled with a <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2009/07/15/E9-16777/part-121-pilot-age-limit">mandatory retirement age</a> of 65. But there’s one cause that also offers a solution: The industry has long struggled to recruit women, people of color and members of other marginalized groups.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://aviation.osu.edu/people/morrison.413">scholar of aviation education and policy</a>, I believe a stronger focus on attracting a diverse workforce and embracing a more inclusive culture is pivotal to ensuring there are enough pilots as Americans return to the skies in record numbers after this crisis passes.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/335744/original/file-20200518-83384-6tsec6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/335744/original/file-20200518-83384-6tsec6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335744/original/file-20200518-83384-6tsec6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335744/original/file-20200518-83384-6tsec6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335744/original/file-20200518-83384-6tsec6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335744/original/file-20200518-83384-6tsec6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335744/original/file-20200518-83384-6tsec6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Helen Richey, the first woman pilot to fly a commercial airline, is seen here in the cockpit of a Central Airlines plane in 1934. No major carrier hired a woman pilot until the 1970s.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Lack of diversity</h2>
<p>Upon entering the field of aviation in 2014, it took me about a year on the job before I fully grasped that I was, more often than not, the only woman in the room – and frequently the youngest to boot.</p>
<p>Eventually, I had the opportunity to critically examine the systemic problems that have led to a lack of diversity in both the academic aviation world and the broader industry it reflects. I found that women, people of color and members of the LGBTQ community were significantly underrepresented, yet <a href="https://news.delta.com/delta-s-first-black-female-captain-taking-was-thrill-my-life">their mere presence was often used</a> to symbolize progress in diversifying the industry. </p>
<p>And little has changed.</p>
<p>A review of the latest <a href="https://www.faa.gov/data_research/aviation_data_statistics/civil_airmen_statistics/">Civil Airmen Statistics</a> indicates that a little over 4% of Airline Transport Certificate holders – the required certification to fly for a major carrier – are women. <a href="https://www.wai.org/pioneers/2018/bonnie-tiburzi-caputo">No major U.S. carrier hired</a> a female pilot until 1973. </p>
<p>The situation is even worse for African Americans, who were <a href="https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/green-marlon-dewitt-1929-2009/">not hired to pilot a commercial airplane until the 1960s</a>. Things changed only because of a six-year battle against Continental Airlines waged by Marlon Green, who filed a discrimination complaint against the carrier. In 1963, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in his favor, paving the way for the first black pilot, David Ellsworth Harris, whom American Airlines hired in 1964. Green would follow suit at Continental in 1965.</p>
<p>But even today there are few African American pilots. Sociologists Louwanda Evans and Joe Feagin estimate that the number in 2012 <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1177/0002764211433804">was fewer than 700</a> – less than 1% of all commercial pilots. Fewer than 20 were black women. </p>
<h2>Pilot shortage</h2>
<p>I believe this lack of inclusion has contributed to the looming pilot shortage the industry has worried about for several years.</p>
<p>Every few years, Boeing releases a report forecasting the number of professionals that the aviation industry will need in the coming years, from pilots and maintenance technicians to cabin crew. In its most recent report, <a href="https://www.boeing.com/commercial/market/pilot-technician-outlook/">Boeing estimates</a> that North America is short 212,000 pilots through 2038.</p>
<p>One of the problems is the field’s high barrier for those who lack resources and support. The cost of a <a href="https://aviation.osu.edu/flight-training-costs">flight education</a> at a traditional four-year institution can range from US$50,000 to upwards of $100,000, in addition to rising tuition fees.</p>
<p>Another issue is a culture that isn’t very inclusive.</p>
<p>For an ongoing research project, I’ve been interviewing African American women in a variety of positions in the aviation industry about the challenges pursuing a successful career in the field. I’ve found that the lack of mentors, access to the industry, resources and “people who look like you” have all been barriers to entry and retention in the industry. There is also a perception problem, where women are not seen as authoritative enough for positions like <a href="https://time.com/longform/tammie-jo-shults-southwest-pilot-hero/">captain of an aircraft</a>.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/women-in-aviation/index.html">recent CNN article</a>, aviation writer Kathryn Creedy put part of the blame on work rules that “haven’t changed in 50 years.” A sexist work environment is the subject of an ongoing lawsuit against Frontier Airlines, which <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/10/opinion/pregnancy-discrimination-frontier-airlines.html">is accused of discriminating against</a> pregnant and breastfeeding women. </p>
<h2>Beyond tokenism</h2>
<p>In the various months devoted to recognizing historically marginalized groups such as <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/womens-history-month">women</a>, <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/black-history-month">African Americans</a> and <a href="https://lgbthistorymonth.com">LBGTQ people</a>, the aviation industry joins the chorus of group that use the calendar to highlight historic diversity firsts.</p>
<p>For example, you’ll often see <a href="https://www.airlines.org/blog/u-s-airlines-celebrate-black-history-month/">articles in February</a> showcasing the “first African American pilot” or the “<a href="http://news.aa.com/american-stories/american-stories-details/2019/Flying-with-pride/default.aspx">first all LGBTQ flight crew</a>.” Unfortunately, those firsts did not spark a significant change that led to real diversity in the cockpit, which continues to be <a href="https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/aviation-diversity-commercial-pilots-trnd/index.html">dominated by white men</a>. </p>
<p>The problem with celebrating diverse talent only during the designated month is that this approach does not require the industry to reflect on why it needs diversity and inclusion policies in the first place. In her 2013 book, “<a href="https://rowman.com/isbn/9781442221352/cabin-pressure-african-american-pilots-flight-attendants-and-emotional-labor">Cabin Pressure: African-American Pilots, Flight Attendants, and Emotional Labor</a>,” sociologist Louwanda Evans writes about how mere representation can’t paper over entrenched discrimination. And this problem, in turn, is contributing to the looming pilot shortage. </p>
<p>The principles of justice and equity should be enough to convince carriers to make their policies and practices more equitable and inclusive to individuals who have not typically been drawn to the industry. But if they need more convincing, the clear economic imperative should do the job. </p>
<p>[<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=expertise">Expertise in your inbox. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter and get a digest of academic takes on today’s news, every day.</a></em>]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123242/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shannon McLoughlin Morrison is affiliated with The Ohio State University, and has volunteered for the National Gay Pilots Association and Women in Aviation</span></em></p>The aviation industry was already expecting a severe pilot shortage over the coming years. The pandemic could make it even worse.Shannon McLoughlin Morrison, Assistant Director, Academics and Program Assessment, The Ohio State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1171392019-06-03T12:40:55Z2019-06-03T12:40:55ZPilots sleeping in the cockpit could improve airline safety<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277100/original/file-20190529-192405-10gywgz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C16%2C5596%2C3702&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Airline pilots are often exhausted.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock.</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Airline pilots are often exhausted. An extreme example happened in 2008, when a pilot and a co-pilot <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/life/travel/faa-suspends-pilots-who-fell-asleep-on-hawaii-flight-overshooting-airport/">both fell asleep at the controls</a>, missing their landing in Hawaii – earning pilot’s license suspensions as well as getting fired. More recently, overtired pilots came very close to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-24/after-near-disaster-ntsb-eyes-tech-to-keep-planes-on-runways">landing on top of another airplane</a> at San Francisco International Airport in 2017.</p>
<p>It’s not uncommon for a pilot for a major commercial airline to, for instance, start work in Florida at 5 p.m., with her first flight departing an hour later for a five-hour trip across the country, arriving in California just after 8 p.m. local time. Then she might get a short break and fly a 90-minute short-hop flight to to another California city. When she lands from this second flight, she has spent six and a half hours of the last nine in the cockpit. She is also three time zones from where she started work, and her body thinks it’s 2 a.m. There’s no doubt she’s tired – and she’s lucky not to have encountered any <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/columnist/cox/2018/10/21/airline-pilot-schedules-vary-widely/1690756002/">schedule adjustments</a> for aircraft maintenance or weather delays.</p>
<p>The airline industry and the government agency that regulates it, the Federal Aviation Administration, have taken steps to reduce <a href="https://www.skybrary.aero/index.php/Fatigue">pilot fatigue</a>, but many pilots and others <a href="https://www.eurocockpit.be/sites/default/files/eca_barometer_on_pilot_fatigue_12_1107_f.pdf">remain worried</a> that two pilots are required to remain awake and alert for the entire flight, though one or both may be dealing with symptoms of fatigue. One possible suggestion is letting pilots take <a href="https://flightsafety.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Controlled-Rest.pdf">brief naps in the cockpit</a>. As researchers of consumer opinions about the airline industry, we’ve found that the American public is wary of this idea, but may feel better about it once they’ve heard an explanation of how it actually makes their flights safer.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aGQlQFn0euI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">An Air Canada plane flown by overtired pilots nearly lands on a taxiway in San Francisco in 2017.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Limiting pilots’ work time</h2>
<p>Pilot fatigue can be difficult to predict or diagnose – especially since tired pilots usually manage to take off, fly and land safely. Even when something goes wrong, accident investigators may have little evidence of fatigue, except perhaps the sound of someone yawning on cockpit audio recordings.</p>
<p>In 2014, the FAA imposed the first <a href="https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=7fc4e6fe69deee75c9d2ffd80b47d30f&mc=true&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title14/14cfr117_main_02.tpl">new pilot-rest rules</a> in 60 years, limiting overall on-duty time and flight hours per day depending on when a pilot’s shift starts. The rules also established a process by which pilots can report fatigue without being disciplined by their airlines or the government.</p>
<h2>Resting in the cockpit</h2>
<p>It’s widely known that a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2013.10.010">short nap can improve a pilot’s alertness</a>. Some planes, such as those commonly used on long international flights, <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/chris-mcginnis/article/airlines-crew-rest-areas-beds-12941787.php">have beds their pilots and other crew can use</a>, but smaller planes don’t have the space. Only flights that are longer than eight hours require an additional pilot to be on board so one pilot at a time can rotate out for rest. On shorter flights, U.S. regulations expect both pilots to remain alert for the entire length of the flight, without any chance for rest during the flight.</p>
<p>Some countries, including <a href="http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/civilaviation/regserv/cars/part7-standards-720-2153.htm#720_23">Canada</a> and Australia, allow for pilots to nap in the cockpit. In an example from <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/china-airlines-pilot-asleep-taiwan-boeing-747-a8790591.html">China</a>, a pilot was caught napping and faced disciplinary action for napping in the cockpit. The official procedure to allow for pilots to nap in the cockpit is called “<a href="https://flightsafety.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Controlled-Rest.pdf">controlled rest in position</a>.” CRIP has established policies and procedures to allow pilots to rest.</p>
<p>The rules are strict. The Air Canada Flight Operations Manual, for instance, says a pilot who wants to rest must notify the co-pilot and a flight attendant. The pilot can sleep for no more than 40 minutes, and must wake up at least half an hour before the descent for landing. They get the first 15 minutes after the nap to fully awaken, during which they can’t resume actually flying the plane, unless they need to help deal with an emergency.</p>
<h2>Consumers’ opinions</h2>
<p>As consumer opinion experts, we have conducted a series of studies to see <a href="https://doi.org/10.22488/okstate.18.100461">what members of the public think</a> about letting pilots use this CRIP procedure to nap in the cockpit. In general, people are less willing to fly when they know a pilot might be allowed to sleep at the controls, and women are less willing than men. </p>
<p>In our research, we find that this is mostly attributed to fear, because they don’t understand the benefits of pilot naps. Some of our earlier work has shown that when consumers understand the value of a new procedure, they’ll <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2018.04.002">feel better about it</a>. It seems likely that explaining to people how better-rested pilots makes a flight safer could help more people feel comfortable flying in a plane where the CRIP procedure is allowed.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277252/original/file-20190530-69055-raqahw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277252/original/file-20190530-69055-raqahw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277252/original/file-20190530-69055-raqahw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=345&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277252/original/file-20190530-69055-raqahw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=345&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277252/original/file-20190530-69055-raqahw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=345&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277252/original/file-20190530-69055-raqahw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277252/original/file-20190530-69055-raqahw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277252/original/file-20190530-69055-raqahw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An aircrew rest and sleep area is tucked away off the business class section on this Boeing 747.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Outtakes-AP-A-F-WA-USA-WATW210-Delta-Alaska-Asia/a52b89451b1247cfac9ace34ad2f4f2a/2/0">AP Photo/Ted S. Warren</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What do pilots think?</h2>
<p><a href="https://commons.erau.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1181&context=ijaaa">In a follow-up study</a>, we asked pilots what they thought about being allowed to rest in the cockpit during flight – and they were much more enthusiastic than nonpilots. Seventy percent of pilots favored allowing CRIP. On average, all participants who completed the survey felt that naps of 45 minutes should be approved, which was closely related to the <a href="https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19950006379">40 minutes suggested by scientific evidence</a>. They also recognized the need for the pilot to be awake at least 30 minutes before beginning the descent to landing. Overall, the participants thought there were <a href="http://ojs.library.okstate.edu/osu/index.php/CARI/article/view/7733/7158">very few potential problems</a> with CRIP and said it would be useful.</p>
<p>However, some pilots did express worry about unintended consequences of CRIP implementation. The airlines, knowing that pilots could take naps during the flight, might be tempted to impose more rigorous flight schedules that would eliminate any benefits derived from CRIP. Lastly, participants commented on how this procedure is already being used by international carriers such as Air Canada and Qantas with success. So far, those companies’ crews have not registered widespread complaints about abuse of scheduling practices, and none of the survey respondents who fly for those airlines complained about this potential problem.</p>
<h2>Will the US allow it?</h2>
<p>It is hard to say whether the FAA would ever move to let U.S. pilots nap in the cockpit. The <a href="https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19950006379.pdf">scientific research</a> provides empirical evidence as to its advantages, and while consumers are somewhat hesitant, pilots seem very supportive of it.</p>
<p>What is clear is that fatigue in the cockpit remains a threat to the aviation industry worldwide. Given the scientific evidence supporting CRIP to counter fatigue, clearly there is value in considering how it could improve aviation safety. Perhaps it’s time to listen to the pilots we trust to fly these airplanes and let them rest when they need to – within reason, and so they can fly more safely.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/117139/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Scott R. Winter has received funding from the Federal Aviation Administration and Department of Transportation. The opinions in this article are solely the opinions of the authors.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen Rice has received funding from the Federal Aviation Administration and Department of Transportation.</span></em></p>Pilots are often overtired, making them prone to errors. Some countries let them sleep on the job – under strict rules. Pilots love the idea, but consumers are wary, for now.Scott Winter, Assistant Professor of Graduate Studies, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical UniversityStephen Rice, Professor of Human Factors, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1027842018-10-04T05:05:39Z2018-10-04T05:05:39ZAverting a plane crash: what to do about the global pilot shortage<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/238261/original/file-20180927-48641-1shgi3n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4187%2C1817&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Students in Australia who want to undertake a flight training degree need to find close to $35,000 upfront.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The world is running out of experienced pilots. Supply is not keeping up with the growing demand for air travel. In Australia the effects are already starting to bite. </p>
<p>Even flagship carrier Qantas is having problems. In recent months it has had to perform a very nimble tap dance to crew its vast fleet and maintain its extensive flight schedule. </p>
<p>In response Qantas has plans for one of the biggest pilot training programs in its history. It has just announced its first ever pilot training academy, training 250 pilots a year, will be based in Toowoomba. A second site, to train a similar number of pilots, is still to be announced.</p>
<p>Training this many pilots, though, will be a struggle. The academy will first have to find enough instructional pilots to deliver the required training flights.</p>
<h2>Ruptured training pipelines</h2>
<p>The reason airlines and other operators are in this predicament stems from the rupturing of the training pipelines that historically supplied pilots across all levels of the aviation industry. </p>
<p>Experience is everything in aviation. Qantas and Australia’s other major carriers – Virgin Australia, Tiger and Jetstar – have mostly employed pilots with high levels of flying experience. Pilots gained that experience flying for regional airlines, charter operators and, critically, as instructors at flight training schools.</p>
<p>As pilots gained experience and progressed to more lucrative flying positions, newly qualified pilots were employed to replace them. Together with a trickle of ex-military pilots topping up the airlines, the whole system had sat more or less in equilibrium. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/one-flies-planes-the-other-makes-money-the-two-sides-of-aviation-12753">One flies planes, the other makes money: the two sides of aviation</a>
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<h2>Reaching a tipping point</h2>
<p>This equilibrium has been at tipping point for some time. Almost a decade ago (in 2009) <a href="https://infrastructure.gov.au/aviation/publications/files/Aviation_White_Paper_final.pdf">a government white paper</a> predicted the training system would fail without remedial action. </p>
<p>Some measures were put in place, but not enough. Most of the weaknesses went uncorrected. It was only because of the Global Financial Crisis, which suppressed global demand for air travel, that crisis was delayed. </p>
<p>A leading indicator of system failure is a dearth of available experienced trainers, as flying school instructors move into airline employment. Without these instructors, flight schools struggle to train new pilots to feed the industry from the bottom up. </p>
<p>In Australia there is no mechanism to maintain this vital pool of flight instructors. There are no formalised career pathways and minimal financial support to those looking to teach others to fly. A bespoke airline training scheme won’t remedy the problem if its pilots all go straight into the airline’s employ.</p>
<h2>Taking care of training pathways</h2>
<p>In the US the system is somewhat different. Despite substantial evidence to show that <a href="https://www.atsb.gov.au/media/4171790/ar-2012-023_final.pdf">airline cadetship programs posed no negative impact to flight safety</a>, in 2013 the US Federal Aviation Administration chose to stipulate a substantial minimum level of experience a pilot must have to be employed by a major airline. </p>
<p>While this has exacerbated the pilot shortage issue for American airlines, it has also forced the industry to create formal pathways to train new pilots and help freshly qualified pilots progress to an airline career. Such pathways often include a period of <a href="https://news.delta.com/delta-propels-next-generation-pilots-through-innovative-career-paths">employment as a flying instructor</a>. </p>
<p>A similar “instructing pathway” needs to be a central part of Australia’s airline training programs if they are going to be sustainable.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/were-flying-into-an-aviation-skills-crisis-with-safety-under-the-radar-27064">We're flying into an aviation skills crisis, with safety under the radar</a>
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<p>Government also has a role to play, as noted by <a href="https://taaaf.org/raaa_site/wp-content/uploads/secure/V-7-FINAL-Expert-Panel-20180629-1.pdf">the expert panel</a> charged with recommending strategies for a sustainable and successful aviation training sector in Australia. A key issue is education funding.</p>
<h2>Sky-high student costs</h2>
<p>The cost to become a commercial pilot is comparable to that of becoming a doctor or a veterinarian. A university-trained commercial pilot with a flight-instructor rating will pay more than $140,000 in fees. </p>
<p>But unlike those doing medicine or veterinary science courses, trainee pilots have never been adequately assisted by federal student subsidy and loan schemes such as HECS, FEE-HELP of VET Student Loans. </p>
<p>Recent <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/Bills_Search_Results/Result?bId=r6051">amendments to the Higher Education Support Act</a> cap the maximum debt a student can have under the Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) at $104,440. The only exceptions are medicine, dentistry and veterinary science, where the cap is $150,000. </p>
<p>This effectively means students wanting to undertake a flight training degree need to find close to $35,000 upfront. The effect will be profound. Many talented potential pilots will not be able to pursue the career.</p>
<h2>Over the horizon</h2>
<p>Looking further into the future, we must find more ways to maintain the pilot training pipeline. Encouraging more female and Indigenous students to pursue the career would be a start. The numbers now are woefully low. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/life-in-a-post-flying-australia-and-why-it-might-actually-be-ok-70388">Life in a post-flying Australia, and why it might actually be ok</a>
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<p>Finally, the entire process of pilot training needs to be made more effective and efficient. Practices have remained essentially unchanged since flight training began. </p>
<p>Our future training systems must make pragmatic use of learning technologies and theory to enhance student progression, reduce failure and maximise the use of expensive aircraft resources. This requires investment. </p>
<p>In Canada, the training and simulation giant CAE, in partnership with the national and Quebec governments, is <a href="https://www.nasdaq.com/press-release/cae-poised-to-revolutionize-pilot-aircrew-and-healthcare-professional-training-by-investing-c1-20180808-01000">investing C$1 billion</a> over the next five years to develop the next generation of aviation training systems. </p>
<p>In Australia we need to recognise this opportunity for innovation and act now, before our pilot training system completely crumbles.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/102784/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>We have known for more than a decade that the pilot training pipeline is close to rupturing. Now the crunch has come there are some obvious things to do.Stephen Fankhauser, Deputy Chair, Aviation Department, Faculty of Science, Engineering & Technology, Swinburne University of TechnologyMatt Ebbatson, Senior lecturer, Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1038342018-09-28T07:01:47Z2018-09-28T07:01:47ZLessons learned from the Essendon air crash: the importance of pilot checklists<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/238405/original/file-20180928-48650-17pp74y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C885%2C7043%2C3721&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The importance of check lists.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/lillolillo</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>One of the issues raised in the investigation of a Melbourne air crash that killed five people was the importance of pilots sticking to any pre-flight checklists.</p>
<p>Pilot Max Quartermain and four American tourists died when a Beechcraft B200 Super King Air VH-ZCR crashed into the DFO shopping centre shortly after takeoff from Essendon Airport on February 21, 2017.</p>
<p>The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) <a href="https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/2017/aair/ao-2017-024/">report into the crash</a> found the pilot did not detect that the aircraft’s rudder trim was not in the correct position before take-off. This rudder trim helps a pilot control an aircraft.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-black-box-an-australian-invention-that-nearly-didnt-happen-25435">The black box: an Australian invention that nearly didn't happen</a>
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<p>With the rudder trim incorrectly set, the report found, this adversely affected the aircraft’s take-off performance and ability to climb.</p>
<p>While not apportioning blame, the ATSB report said the rudder trim’s incorrect position was a contributing factor to the crash.</p>
<p>The ATSB’s chief commissioner Greg Hood said this accident <a href="https://www.atsb.gov.au/newsroom/news-items/2018/the-importance-of-following-a-cockpit-checklist/">emphasised</a> the importance of having a cockpit checklist applicable to an aircraft’s specific and current modification status.</p>
<p>The report said it was not known whether the pilot had used a checklist on the day of the crash, but Mr Hood added:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In this particular tragic accident there were opportunities in the checklist that existed for the pilot to ensure the rudder trim was set to neutral prior to take-off.</p>
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<h2>Checklists for pilots</h2>
<p>The use of checklists in single-pilot operations has been a contentious issue over the years. From the beginning of flight training, pilots are taught to memorise key checklists so they can readily recall and perform the required checks accurately. </p>
<p>In simpler cockpits, this process can provide reliable results. As the complexity of the aircraft systems and the cockpit controls increases, the inadequacy of solely relying on memory and recall becomes evident. </p>
<p>To minimise the likelihood of configuration errors in two-pilot airline operations, it is usual practice in each phase of flight for the cockpit to be initially configured by the pilots by recall.</p>
<p>The correct configuration is then checked by the two pilots by running through the applicable checklist. </p>
<p>The pilot not flying will usually call the item, both pilots will then check the appropriate switch or control setting. The pilot flying will verbally respond to the call to confirm the correct setting. </p>
<p>For a configuration error to occur in that environment, the setting has to be made incorrectly from recall, or omitted, in the first instance. Then both pilots have to miss the incorrect setting when the checklist call is made and responded to. </p>
<p>This method – sometimes referred to as a “challenge and response” method – provides two levels of procedural redundancy to guard against human errors that might otherwise lead to incorrect settings.</p>
<h2>Single pilot operations</h2>
<p>The challenge arises when considering how to achieve the same level of error-proofing in single-pilot operations. For example, a <a href="https://hsi.arc.nasa.gov/groups/HCSL/publications/Deutsch_SinglePilot_2005.pdf">2005 study</a> for the NASA Ames Research Centre said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… the failure to execute a checklist can cause readily detectable problems to remain undiscovered. Beyond simply being required, executing checklists is recognized by everyone as being essential to safe aircraft operation, and yet, checklist processing omissions and errors continue to be a factor in aircraft incidents and accidents. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>New Zealand’s Civil Aviation Authority, in its <a href="https://www.caa.govt.nz/Advisory_Circulars/AC091_11.pdf">advisory on single-pilot operations</a>, said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… the pilot is very reliant on the use of checklists to provide a suitable structure to replace the “Challenge and Response” checklists used in the multi-pilot cockpit.</p>
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<p>Further, in discussion of single-pilot flying techniques, the US Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association <a href="https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2017/august/pilot/turbine-single-pilot-flying-techniques">said</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… proper checklist use is a skill with some overlooked subtleties. First, though, the pilot must be committed to, and recognize the need for, disciplined checklist use. Industry working groups have recognized that single-pilot adherence to checklist usage is an area with some room for improvement. Especially in new light jets with highly automated systems, pilots can develop complacency regarding checklist usage that grows with time and familiarity.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>The drift into failure</h2>
<p>Many years ago I delivered a paper at a safety conference in which I argued that deviation from approved procedures and practices erodes the safety margins that were afforded by the system. The magnitude and criticality of the reduction in protection was unknown until the margins had eroded to zero and an accident occurred. </p>
<p>More recently, safety expert <a href="https://experts.griffith.edu.au/academic/s.dekker">Sidney Dekker</a> described this phenomenon in his 2011 book <a href="https://www.crcpress.com/Drift-into-Failure-From-Hunting-Broken-Components-to-Understanding-Complex/Dekker/p/book/9781409422211">Drift into Failure: From Hunting Broken Components to Understanding Complex Systems</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sharkspotter-combines-ai-and-drone-technology-to-spot-sharks-and-aid-swimmers-on-australian-beaches-92667">SharkSpotter combines AI and drone technology to spot sharks and aid swimmers on Australian beaches</a>
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<p>One of the biggest problems with single-pilot operations is the fact that it is very difficult to self-diagnose errors and omissions, and to recognise the associated drift into failure.</p>
<p>Just telling people about error, as tends to be the case sometimes in industry, does not immunise them from making errors or omissions of their own. </p>
<p>The systems and procedural environment in which a person functions needs to help provide those checks and balances. In short, rigorous use of checklists by pilots in single-pilot operations is really the only protection available to prevent critical errors.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/103834/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Geoffrey Dell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>One of the biggest problems with single-pilot operations is that it’s very difficult to self-diagnose errors. That’s why checklists can help.Geoffrey Dell, Associate Professor/Discipline Leader Accident Investigation and Forensics, CQUniversity AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1005632018-07-26T14:25:57Z2018-07-26T14:25:57ZCurious Kids: what’s it like to be a fighter pilot?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229407/original/file-20180726-106524-1eqzzhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C21%2C3594%2C2554&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.defenceimagery.mod.uk/fotoweb/archives/5042-Downloadable%20Stock%20Images/Archive/RAF/45152/45152844.jpg">Ministry of Defence. </a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This is an article from <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/curious-kids-36782">Curious Kids</a>, a series for children of all ages. The Conversation is asking young people to send in questions they’d like an expert to answer. All questions are welcome: find details on how to enter at the bottom.</em> </p>
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<p><strong>What’s it like to be a fighter pilot? – Torben, aged eight, Sussex, UK</strong></p>
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<p>Thanks for your question, Torben. I’m a professor working at the University of Portsmouth’s Extreme Environments Laboratory, where we study how humans respond when going into space, mountains, deserts and the sea, as well as what it’s like to be in submarines, spacecraft and, of course, jet planes. </p>
<p>To be a fast jet pilot, you must be fit and smart, and able to do what’s needed, even when the going gets tough. You also get to wear some very special clothes, to protect your body while flying. </p>
<p>If you’re a fighter pilot, you’re not allowed to get air sick (which is a bit like getting car sick, in a plane). And you have to be the right height and weight to fit in the cockpit – and to jump out in emergencies.</p>
<p>Fighter jets can go 1,550 miles an hour: that’s more than twice <a href="https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/UEET/StudentSite/dynamicsofflight.html#sound">the speed of sound</a>, or 25 miles in a minute. So, if you live two miles from school, you could get home in less than five seconds in a fighter jet. </p>
<p>Only the best pilots in the world can fly a plane that goes so fast: you have to be able to think and act very quickly. To help you, modern jets listen to your voice, so you can tell them what to do – it’s called “voice command”. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229408/original/file-20180726-106524-16gfev.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229408/original/file-20180726-106524-16gfev.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229408/original/file-20180726-106524-16gfev.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229408/original/file-20180726-106524-16gfev.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229408/original/file-20180726-106524-16gfev.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229408/original/file-20180726-106524-16gfev.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229408/original/file-20180726-106524-16gfev.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Alright pilots, now let’s get in formation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/show-force-jets-271619963?src=bEfNVxJtqBBBdpM1_F7dXw-1-0">Shutterstock.</a></span>
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<p>Fast jets aren’t smooth to fly in, like the kind of planes you go on holiday in – they’re more like a fast fairground ride. You have to be strapped into your seat very tightly, so that you don’t get thrown around. </p>
<p>In fact, flying that fast and making lots of turns and dives can make you feel very sick. Can you imagine being sick, while wearing a mask and flying a plane at 1,000 miles an hour? That’s why fighter pilots have to be checked and trained to make sure they don’t get air sick. </p>
<p>Fast jet pilots also have to wear lots of special clothes to protect them in different situations. One thing they have to wear is a helmet to protect their head, and a mask with a microphone. </p>
<p>The mask is linked up to a system that can provide extra oxygen if anything goes wrong – after all, there’s less oxygen in the air when you’re flying very high, and humans need plenty of oxygen to breathe properly. </p>
<p>Standing on Earth, humans experience gravity at 1G (that’s one times the acceleration due to gravity). But when fighter jets make fast turns and rolls, the pilot can experience up to 9G (by comparison, roller coasters only produce 3-6G). That means they feel nine times heavier, which can be very unpleasant and would make most people black out. </p>
<p>To help with this, fighter pilots also wear special trousers that squeeze their legs tightly when they go round bends – this keeps the blood pumping up to their brain, to stop them from fainting: trust me, you don’t want to faint when flying a fast jet. </p>
<p>Fast jet pilots may also have to wear a flying suit, a life jacket and an “immersion suit” – that’s a suit which keeps you warm and dry, if you end up in the sea. They may also wear another suit to protect them from chemicals and other dangerous things. </p>
<p>All this kit and clothing can make a fighter pilot pretty hot. Plus the jet has a plastic lid and lots of very clever electronics, which can also heat up the cockpit. And when the plane goes fast through the air, it warms up due to friction – like when you rub your hands together fast. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229409/original/file-20180726-106517-1inenp8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229409/original/file-20180726-106517-1inenp8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229409/original/file-20180726-106517-1inenp8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229409/original/file-20180726-106517-1inenp8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229409/original/file-20180726-106517-1inenp8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229409/original/file-20180726-106517-1inenp8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229409/original/file-20180726-106517-1inenp8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">It’s hot up here.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/fairford-gloucestershire-uk-july-10-2016-1067231909?src=aSPjXTFKuuGiNY2RP-YfGw-2-61">Andrew Harker/Shutterstock.</a></span>
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<p>To stay cool, fighter pilots can wear a special vest with long small tubes in it, which pump cold water around. Or, they can wear a suit next to their skin which has cold air blowing through it. </p>
<p>Pilots sit on a rocket-powered ejector seat, so if he or she gets into trouble, they can pull a handle and be blasted up into the air and away from the crashing plane. </p>
<p>Luckily, the seat has a parachute that opens up and lets them float down to the ground safely. But the force of the ejection <a href="http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/AD0708776">actually makes them shorter</a> for a little while afterwards.</p>
<p><em>Hello, curious kids! Have you got a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to us. You can:</em></p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/165749/original/image-20170419-32713-1kyojyz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/165749/original/image-20170419-32713-1kyojyz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165749/original/image-20170419-32713-1kyojyz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165749/original/image-20170419-32713-1kyojyz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165749/original/image-20170419-32713-1kyojyz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165749/original/image-20170419-32713-1kyojyz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165749/original/image-20170419-32713-1kyojyz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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<p><em>Please tell us your name, age and which town or city you live in. You can send an audio recording of your question too, if you want. Send as many questions as you like! We won’t be able to answer every question, but we will do our best.</em></p>
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<p><em>More <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/curious-kids-36782?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=CuriousKidsUK">Curious Kids</a> articles, written by academic experts:</em></p>
<ul>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-how-do-the-clouds-stay-up-in-the-sky-99964?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=CuriousKidsUK">How do the clouds stay up in the sky? – Samson, age four, London, UK</a></em></p></li>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-if-an-insect-is-flying-in-a-car-while-it-is-moving-does-the-insect-have-to-move-at-the-same-speed-98833?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=CuriousKidsUK">If an insect is flying in a car while it is moving, does the insect have to move at the same speed? – Sarah, age 12, Strathfield, Australia</a></em></p></li>
</ul><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/100563/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mike Tipton receives funding from the MoD and Industry</span></em></p>You have to be smart and fast to be a fighter pilot – but perhaps the most surprising challenge is the clothes you have to wear.Mike Tipton, Professor of human and applied Physiology, University of PortsmouthLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/956992018-07-12T10:23:32Z2018-07-12T10:23:32ZThe US is facing a serious shortage of airline pilots<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/221599/original/file-20180604-175442-stgsps.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">For many, the job of a pilot has lost its luster.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/interior-details-water-plane-pilot-co-549216529?src=zcoY1aKVC7F0Kd49wJrhZQ-1-2">Emilian Danaila/shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The national security of the U.S. relies on a healthy airline industry. That requires modern reliable airplanes – and highly skilled pilots to operate them. </p>
<p>However, the U.S. has a shortage of pilots right now, particularly at the regional airline levels. </p>
<p>According to the <a href="https://www.faa.gov/data_research/aviation_data_statistics/civil_airmen_statistics/">Federal Aviation Administration</a>, there were about 827,000 pilots in the U.S. in 1987. Over the last three decades, that number has decreased by 30 percent. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, during this time period, there has been a tremendous increase in the <a href="http://www.iata.org/pressroom/pr/Pages/2017-10-24-01.aspx">demand for air travel</a>. The International Air Transport Association predicts that, over the next 20 years, air travel will double.</p>
<p>This is a classic case of low supply and high demand. This mismatch has created a perfect storm that could wreak havoc on the U.S. airline industry over the next decade. The somber news is this shortage is going to get much worse. </p>
<p>I have not only studied and researched the airline industry since 1978, but I also was a pilot for 19 years, before going back to academia in 2006.</p>
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<h2>Industry changes</h2>
<p>In the 1970s, when most of today’s airline pilots like myself were growing up, piloting for an airline was considered a prestigious career. The job offered not only high salaries and nice schedules with many days off, but also a respected position in society. In the early 1990s, pilot salaries approached US$300,000 in today’s dollars for some international pilots.</p>
<p>What’s more, during this time, the military had a steady and consistent demand for pilots. A young aspiring aviator could go into the military to receive all of his or her flight training. Once these pilots had fulfilled their military commitment, they were almost guaranteed a good job flying for a major airline. </p>
<p>Today, this is no longer the case. The career of the airline pilot has lost its luster.</p>
<p>This is due in part to deregulation. The 1978 <a href="http://m.aviationweek.com/blog/law-changed-airline-industry-beyond-recognition-1978">Airline Deregulation Act</a> kicked off the era of the low-cost carrier. As a result, airlines such as Pan-Am went out of business.</p>
<p>Then, the 9/11 attacks left the airlines in <a href="https://www.mcgill.ca/iasl/files/iasl/aspl613_paul_dempsey_airlinebankruptcies2012.pdf">poor financial condition</a>. Five of the six major legacy airlines in the U.S. declared bankruptcy: US Airways, Delta, Northwest, United and American Airlines. I clearly recall a day a couple of weeks after 9/11, when one of my flights, from Washington D.C. to Orlando, Florida, boarded just one passenger.</p>
<p>From my own experience, I can attest to many pilots like myself who were forced to vacate their captain position and go back to first officer, resulting in their pay dropping from roughly $190,000 per year to $75,000 per year. </p>
<h2>Fewer new pilots</h2>
<p>Meanwhile, the number of pilots supplied by the military has dwindled. Much of this is due to the use of unmanned aerial vehicles.</p>
<p>In the 80s, roughly two-thirds of airline pilots were ex-military. Recently, that percentage has dropped to less than one-third. The Navy predicts <a href="https://m.usni.org/usni-blog">a 10 percent pilot shortage in 2020</a>, while the Air Force predicts its own <a href="https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-air-force/2018/04/11/the-militarys-stunning-fighter-pilot-shortage-one-in-four-billets-is-empty/">1,000-pilot shortage by 2022</a>. </p>
<p>This means many young aspiring aviators now have to pay for their own flight training. That can be very costly, easily exceeding $100,000, especially in light of an uncertain future. Many are simply unwilling to take the risk. This effect was aggravated by the <a href="https://www.thebalance.com/2007-financial-crisis-overview-3306138">Great Recession</a>.</p>
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<p>In 2009, Congress changed the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2007/12/11/AR2007121101884.html?noredirect=on">mandatory retirement age for airline pilots</a> from 60 to 65. In my view, this didn’t solve the problem, but merely kicked the can down the road. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.boeing.com/resources/boeingdotcom/commercial/about-our-market/assets/downloads/cmo_print_2016_final.pdf">A 2016 report by Boeing</a> shows that 42 percent of the pilots currently flying for the major airlines in the U.S. will reach their mandatory retirement age of 65 in the next 10 years. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, this move crippled the career advancements of the more junior, younger pilots. That’s caused many of them – including myself – to seek a more stable career.</p>
<p>If that’s not enough, there have been significant changes in the work and rest rules for airline pilots. After the <a href="https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/AAR1001.aspx">Colgan crash near Buffalo in 2009</a>, Congress changed the <a href="https://www.tmtindustryinsider.com/2014/04/the-effect-of-the-1500-hour-rule-and-new-pilot-certification-and-qualification-requirements-for-air-carrier-operations/">pilot experience requirements for the airlines</a>. Newly hired pilots must now have a certificate which requires a minimum of 1,500 hours of flight time. Prior to this law being passed, pilots could fly for an airline with a minimum of 250 flight hours. </p>
<h2>Growing demand</h2>
<p>The other side of the shortage problem is that demand for well-trained pilots is actually increasing. The greatest demand is <a href="http://www.iata.org/pressroom/pr/Pages/2017-10-24-01.aspx">in Asia and the Pacific regions</a>.</p>
<p>Manufacturers <a href="https://www.boeing.com/commercial/market/pilot-technician-outlook/">such as Boeing and Airbus</a> are delivering <a href="https://centreforaviation.com/analysis/reports/record-global-aircraft-deliveries-in-2017-boeing-ahead-of-airbus-again-but-behind-on-order-backlog-393914">more and more airplanes</a> and plan to continue to do so over the next 20 years.</p>
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<p>Congress also changed the duty time rules in 2010 <a href="https://www.faa.gov/news/fact_sheets/news_story.cfm?newsKey=12445">to mitigate pilot fatigue issues</a>. This change meant airlines had to increase their <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249315130_An_Investigation_of_the_United_States_Airline_Pilot_Labor_Supply">pilot staffing by 5 to 8 percent in order to cover the same schedule</a>. In other words, they need to hire even more qualified pilots.</p>
<p>The U.S. major airlines are not yet directly experiencing the pilot shortage. But smaller regional airlines are experiencing this firsthand. Their schedules have been reduced and some, such as Republic, have been <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/flights/todayinthesky/2016/02/27/why-republic-airways-filed-bankruptcy-even-though-s-profitable/81035522/">forced into bankruptcy as a result of inadequate staffing</a>.</p>
<p>The industry has taken a few steps to address this problem. Regional airlines now offer much higher pay and even signing bonuses. Also, there have been some minor amendments to the 1,500-hour rule. Pilots can now receive their certificate in fewer than 1,500 hours <a href="https://www.flyingmag.com/senate-amendment-could-alter-1500-hour-pilot-rule">if training takes place at certain flight schools</a>. There’s even talk of extending the retirement age again to 67.</p>
<p>In my view, these steps alone will not solve this problem. Airlines need to consider forming their own pipeline. The airlines will need to begin recruiting and training their own pilot candidates. For example, in April, American Airlines, where I used to work, <a href="http://news.aa.com/news/news-details/2018/American-Airlines-Announces-New-Program-to-Recruit-Next-Generation-of-Pilots-With-Launch-of-Cadet-Academy/default.aspx">announced the American Airlines Cadet Academy</a>, with the intent of recruiting the next generation of pilots.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/95699/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Gall is on extended leave from American Airlines.</span></em></p>Over the last three decades, the number of US pilots has decreased by 30 percent. That problem is only going to get worse as demand increases.Peter Gall, Teaching Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, West Virginia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/984342018-06-18T19:59:45Z2018-06-18T19:59:45ZWhy pilots don’t always hear alarms<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223387/original/file-20180615-85834-1dnfuj4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C29%2C1500%2C967&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source"> Stocksnap/Pexels</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The ability to concentrate our attention is essential for carrying out everyday tasks. Our brain has built-in mechanisms to stop our attention from fragmenting and our minds from wandering, and while they may be highly useful for, say, work, or driving a car, they can deceive us</p>
<p>Building up on the work of <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364661398012443">Mack and Rock</a> at the end of the 1990s, there is now a strong body of evidence that too much focus can make our brains “blind” to very obvious events or stimuli in our environment. <a href="http://www.theinvisiblegorilla.com/biographies.html">Simons and Chabris</a> from Harvard University, brilliantly demonstrated this phenomenon, called “inattentional blindness”.</p>
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<p>In their experiment, they asked volunteers to watch a video of a basketball training practice and count the number of passes made by players in white t-shirts. More than half of the participants did not see the gorilla that appeared centre screen and beat its chest midway through, so absorbed were they in the task.</p>
<h2>Brain deafness</h2>
<p>These attentional blinkers are not limited to vision: our auditory system can, astoundingly, be affected to the point of becoming completely deaf. This “inattentional deafness” has been highlighted in studies where, for instance, people listening to Strauss’ famous _Also Sprach Zarathustra _failed to notice an unexpected electric guitar solo smack in the middle of the symphonic poem.</p>
<p>Research on our brains’ sudden deafness and the associated cerebral imaging studies have provided vital scientific knowledge for understanding human performance in practical situations, like piloting a plane. The history of aviation is littered with accidents in which human operators in the cockpit did not notice auditory warnings, and persisted in their mistakes.</p>
<p>How could professional pilots ignore such critical information? To answer this question, we must adopt a scientific approach, beyond traditional ergonomic approaches, based on both subjective and objective observations of human behaviour. Recent progress in cognitive neuroscience has indeed revolutionised our understanding of the brain mechanisms underlying our perceptual, cognitive and motor behaviour.</p>
<p>A key factor has been the development of neuroimaging techniques such as fMRI and wearable systems like EEG and fNIRS. But, neuroscience is generally confined to highly controlled laboratory studies, often too removed from the situations we face in our everyday lives.</p>
<h2>Neuroergonomics</h2>
<p>In the last few years, a new discipline has emerged, combining the tools and techniques of neuroscience with the field approach of ergonomics. This discipline, called neuroergonomics, is defined by its founder, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=F5iBMtEAAAAJ&hl=en">Prof. Raja Parasuraman</a>, as the study of the brain at work. This is the approach we adopted in order to understand the mechanisms underlying pilots’ deafness to alarms, under the auspices of a chair funded by AXA Research Fund at the ISAE-SUPAERO aerospace engineering school, in Toulouse, France.</p>
<p>Our initial study was conducted in collaboration with <a href="http://www.cns.atr.jp/%7Edcallan/">Daniel Callan from NICT at Osaka University</a>, an associate researcher with our laboratory. Pilots were placed in an fMRI and asked to fly an acrobatic plane in a simulator, projected into the scanner through the use of mirrors. Participants were asked to report auditory alarms, set off at regular intervals during the flight scenario.</p>
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<span class="caption">A simulator hooked up to a near infrared spectroscopic imaging device.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Frédéric Dehais</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>The results showed that around 35% of alarms went unheard. Even more interestingly, analyses revealed that certain areas of the prefrontal cortex, the “executive arm” of the brain, were activated when flight conditions became critical, and effectively switched off the auditory cortex, rendering the pilots incapable of processing and responding to the alarms. At the same time, there was increased activity in certain visual areas, associated with processing movement.</p>
<p>It is as if the brain decided that visual information was primordial and smothered the processing of auditory signals. This would likely explain why when driving, for example, we can no longer hear the voices of passengers or the radio during emergency breaking. The brain reconfigures itself to avoid danger and activate the most relevant sense.</p>
<p>While fMRI is a vital tool for identifying which areas of the brain are responsible for this deafness, its temporal resolution is not sufficient to allow us to measure exactly when the phenomenon arises. In order to find this out, we conducted a second experiment with my colleagues <a href="https://scholar.google.com.au/citations?user=Ez_WVNcAAAAJ&hl=fr&oi=ao">Raphaëlle Roy</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com.au/citations?view_op=search_authors&mauthors=S%C3%A9bastien+Scannella&hl=fr&oi=ao">Sébastien Scannella</a>, using an EEG, a useful technique for studying the brain in action.</p>
<h2>‘Visual’ pilots vs. ‘auditory’ pilots</h2>
<p>Participants were placed in our simulator, mounted on hydraulic jacks, and confronted with a scenario where smoke was filling the cockpit, meaning they had to make an emergency landing in difficult conditions. Prior to the experiment, the volunteer pilots had to complete a test to determine whether they were more visual or auditory.</p>
<p>According to our results, more than 50% of the alarms were ignored, and “visual” pilots were more likely to fail to respond to alarms than “auditory” pilots. Moreover, analyses of the neurophysiological signals revealed that the mechanism behind deafness to alarms was automatic and intervened very early on, at 100ms post-stimuli – that is, long before the sound reaches consciousness (300ms).</p>
<p>We also developed algorithms to determine whether the pilots were able to hear the alarms, by looking at their neurophysiological responses. In 70% of cases, our algorithm managed to detect when the pilot’s brain was no longer capable of processing the auditory alarms.</p>
<p>A final experiment was conducted in real flight conditions, using light planes from ISAE-SUPAREO, with Prof. Callan. Student pilots wearing EEG headsets were asked to take an instructional flight and manage a number of unexpected situations, while responding to auditory alarms. The use of advanced mathematical tools for signal processing enabled us to further understand the phenomenon of deafness to alarms. When pilots missed the alarms, their auditory cortex was out of phase with the rest of the brain and the environment.</p>
<p>These results add to our initial fMRI study by showing that, in these situations, the auditory cortex likely no longer communicates with the brain. Beyond deepening our understanding of the mechanisms underlying attention, this work also opens up the interesting possibility of integrating sensors into pilots’ helmets in order to monitor their attentional states in real time. Ultimately, we should be able to adapt the cockpit and alarms so as to make them more effective for pilots under stress.</p>
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<p><em>Created in 2007, Axa Research Fund supports more than 500 projects worldwide led by researchers of 51 nationalities. To learn more about Frédéric Dehais’ work, visit the[Axa Research Fund] website (https://www.axa-research.org/fr/projets/frederic-dehais).</em></p>
<p><em>Translated from the French by Alice Heathwood for <a href="http://www.fastforword.fr/en/">Fast for Word</a></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/98434/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Frédéric Dehais carried out this work as part of a chair funded by the Axa Research Fund at the Institut Supérieur de l'Aéronautique - SUPAERO (ISAE-SUPAERO) in Toulouse.</span></em></p>Aviation safety has much to gain from neuroscience: studying how our brains become “deaf” to alarms allows us to adapt the pilot’s flight instruments.Frédéric Dehais, Prof F. Dehais , titulaire de la chaire AXA - ISAE "Neuroergonomics for flight safety", ISAE-SUPAEROLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/923302018-04-18T14:29:08Z2018-04-18T14:29:08ZYour next pilot could be drone software<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212503/original/file-20180328-109193-p11abt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5604%2C3733&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Would you be – or feel – safer if one of these people were a robot?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/flight-deck-modern-aircraft-pilots-work-389795107">Skycolors/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Would you get on a plane that didn’t have a human pilot in the cockpit? <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/aug/07/air-passengers-pilotless-planes-fares-ubs/">Half of air travelers</a> surveyed in 2017 said they would not, even if the ticket was cheaper. Modern pilots do such a good job that almost any air accident is big news, such as the <a href="https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2018/04/how-a-cracked-fan-blade-probably-ended-a-decade-of-no-us-air-travel-fatalities/">Southwest engine disintegration</a> on April 17.</p>
<p>But stories of <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/21/us/northwest-pilots-are-found-guilty-of-drunken-flying.html">pilot drunkenness</a>, <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/united-pilot-kicked-flight-rant-divorce-politics-article-1.2970358">rants</a>, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dr-gridlock/wp/2017/04/29/delta-says-pilot-who-struck-a-passenger-was-trying-to-break-up-a-fight/">fights</a> and <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/northwest-airlines-pilots-miss-airport-150-miles/story?id=8892976">distraction</a>, however rare, are reminders that pilots are only human. Not every plane can be flown by a disaster-averting pilot, like Southwest <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-veteran-fighter-pilot-tammy-jo-shults-saved-crippled-southwest-flight-1380">Capt. Tammie Jo Shults</a> or <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/id/28678669/ns/us_news-life/t/ny-jet-crash-called-miracle-hudson/">Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger</a>. But software could change that, equipping every plane with an extremely experienced guidance system that is always learning more.</p>
<p>In fact, on many flights, autopilot systems already control the plane for <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2015/03/26/autopilot-what-the-system-can-and-cant-do.html">basically all of the flight</a>. And software handles <a href="http://aviationweek.com/business-aviation/going-blind-zerozero-landings">the most harrowing landings</a> – when there is no visibility and the pilot can’t see anything to even know where he or she is. But human pilots are still on hand as backups.</p>
<p>A new generation of software pilots, developed for self-flying vehicles, or drones, will soon have logged more flying hours than all humans have – ever. By combining their enormous amounts of flight data and experience, drone-control software applications are poised to quickly become the world’s most experienced pilots.</p>
<h2>Drones that fly themselves</h2>
<p>Drones come in many forms, from <a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/best-toy-drones/">tiny quad-rotor copter toys</a> to <a href="http://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104470/mq-9-reaper/">missile-firing winged planes</a>, or even <a href="http://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104516/rq-4-global-hawk/">7-ton aircraft</a> that can stay aloft for 34 hours at a stretch. </p>
<p>When drones were <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/brief-history-drones/">first introduced</a>, they were <a href="https://breakingdefense.com/2018/03/predator-started-drone-revolution-and-made-military-innovation-cool/">flown remotely</a> by human operators. However, this merely substitutes a pilot on the ground for one aloft. And it <a href="https://breakingdefense.com/2018/03/predator-started-drone-revolution-and-made-military-innovation-cool/">requires significant communications bandwidth</a> between the drone and control center, to carry real-time video from the drone and to transmit the operator’s commands. </p>
<p>Many newer drones no longer need pilots; some drones for <a href="https://www.dronezon.com/drone-reviews/drone-gps-autopilot-at-very-affordable-prices/">hobbyists and photographers</a> can now <a href="https://www.dronezon.com/drone-reviews/drone-gps-autopilot-at-very-affordable-prices/">fly themselves</a> along <a href="https://www.dronezon.com/drone-reviews/drone-gps-autopilot-at-very-affordable-prices/">human-defined routes</a>, leaving the human free to sightsee – or control the camera to get the best view.</p>
<p><a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/drones/this-autonomous-quadrotor-swarm-doesnt-need-gps">University researchers</a>, <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/capital-projects-and-infrastructure/our-insights/commercial-drones-are-here-the-future-of-unmanned-aerial-systems">businesses</a> and <a href="https://www.nato.int/docu/review/2017/Also-in-2017/autonomous-military-drones-no-longer-science-fiction/EN/index.htm">military agencies</a> are now testing larger and more capable drones that will operate autonomously. <a href="https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a24675/pentagon-autonomous-swarming-drones/">Swarms of drones</a> can fly without needing tens or hundreds of humans to control them. And they can perform <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/60-minutes-autonomous-drones-set-to-revolutionize-military-technology/">coordinated maneuvers</a> that human controllers could never handle.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/waeXQwnkYAc?wmode=transparent&start=121" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Could humans control these 1,218 drones all together?</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Whether flying in swarms or alone, the software that controls these drones is rapidly gaining flight experience. </p>
<h2>Importance of pilot experience</h2>
<p>Experience is the main qualification for pilots. Even a person who wants to fly a small plane for personal and noncommercial use needs <a href="https://www.firstflight.com/private-pilot-requirements/">40 hours</a> of flying instruction before getting a private pilot’s license. Commercial airline pilots must have <a href="https://www.flyingmag.com/training/getting-your-atp-certificate">at least 1,000 hours</a> before even serving as a co-pilot. </p>
<p>On-the-ground training and in-flight experience prepare pilots for unusual and emergency scenarios, ideally to help save lives in situations like the “<a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/id/28678669/ns/us_news-life/t/ny-jet-crash-called-miracle-hudson/">Miracle on the Hudson</a>.” But many pilots are less experienced than “Sully” Sullenberger, who saved his planeload of people with quick and creative thinking. With software, though, every plane can have on board a pilot with as much experience – if not more. A popular software pilot system, in use in many aircraft at once, could gain more flight time each day than a single human might <a href="https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=1e483077c0bff7e356d8aece28712f40&node=14:3.0.1.1.7.17.3.2&rgn=div8">accumulate in a year</a>. </p>
<p>As someone who studies <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2013.12.004">technology policy</a> as well as the use of artificial intelligence for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1109/AERO.2016.7500814">drones</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1109/SYSOSE.2017.7994957">cars</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/0952813X.2015.1020569">robots</a> and other uses, I don’t lightly suggest handing over the controls for those additional tasks. But giving software pilots more control would maximize computers’ advantages over humans in training, testing and reliability.</p>
<h2>Training and testing software pilots</h2>
<p>Unlike people, computers will follow sets of instructions in software the same way every time. That lets developers create instructions, test reactions and refine aircraft responses. Testing could make it far less likely, for example, that a computer would <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2012/04/17/travel/canada-disoriented-pilot/index.html">mistake the planet Venus for an oncoming jet</a> and throw the plane into a steep dive to avoid it. </p>
<p>The most significant advantage is scale: Rather than teaching thousands of individual pilots new skills, updating thousands of aircraft would require only downloading updated software.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212492/original/file-20180328-109169-eq9rxd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212492/original/file-20180328-109169-eq9rxd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212492/original/file-20180328-109169-eq9rxd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212492/original/file-20180328-109169-eq9rxd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212492/original/file-20180328-109169-eq9rxd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212492/original/file-20180328-109169-eq9rxd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=575&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212492/original/file-20180328-109169-eq9rxd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=575&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212492/original/file-20180328-109169-eq9rxd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=575&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">US Airways Flight 1549 passengers evacuate in the water after an emergency landing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Miracle-on-the-Hudson-Bird-Strikes/876999a8e670497ca7299e9d137c9109/1/0">AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These systems would also need to be thoroughly tested – in both real-life situations and in <a href="http://mdpi.com/2073-431X/2/2/67">simulations</a> – to handle a wide range of aviation situations and to <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-you-be-hacked-by-the-world-around-you-83195">withstand cyberattacks</a>. But once they’re working well, software pilots are not susceptible to distraction, disorientation, fatigue or other human impairments that can create problems or cause errors even in common situations.</p>
<h2>Rapid response and adaptation</h2>
<p>Already, aircraft regulators are concerned that human pilots are <a href="https://www.popularmechanics.com/flight/a18951/department-of-transportation-report-pilots-are-forgetting-how-to-fly-manually/">forgetting how to fly</a> on their own and may have trouble taking over from an autopilot in an emergency.</p>
<p>In the “<a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/id/28678669/ns/us_news-life/t/ny-jet-crash-called-miracle-hudson/">Miracle on the Hudson</a>” event, for example, a key factor in what happened was <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ntsb-sully-could-have-made-it-back-to-laguardia/">how long it took for the human pilots to figure out what had happened</a> – that the plane had flown through a flock of birds, which had damaged both engines – and how to respond. Rather than the <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/sully/miracle-on-the-hudson-how-it-happened/">approximately one minute</a> it took the humans, a computer could have assessed the situation in seconds, potentially saving enough time that the plane could have landed on a runway instead of a river.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212493/original/file-20180328-109190-1vmv8y0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212493/original/file-20180328-109190-1vmv8y0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212493/original/file-20180328-109190-1vmv8y0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212493/original/file-20180328-109190-1vmv8y0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212493/original/file-20180328-109190-1vmv8y0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212493/original/file-20180328-109190-1vmv8y0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212493/original/file-20180328-109190-1vmv8y0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212493/original/file-20180328-109190-1vmv8y0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">At the NTSB hearing, investigators learned how the decision time made it impossible for Flight 1549 to return to the airport, forcing the water landing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Plane-Splashdown-Hearing/263dbf7af6f24c98bd3b973dd59e68da/1/0">AP Photo/Charles Dharapak</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Aircraft damage can pose another particularly difficult challenge for human pilots: It can change what effects the controls have on its flight. In cases where damage <a href="http://bismarcktribune.com/news/state-and-regional/und-plane-crashed-after-hitting-goose/article_07e9494c-3719-5cd6-84ac-84a72d575a2e.html">renders a plane uncontrollable</a>, the result is often tragedy. A sufficiently advanced automated system could make minute changes to the aircraft’s steering and use its sensors to quickly evaluate the effects of those movements – essentially learning how to fly all over again with a damaged plane.</p>
<h2>Boosting public confidence</h2>
<p>The biggest barrier to fully automated flight is psychological, not technical. Many people may not want to trust their lives to computer systems. But they might come around when reassured that the software pilot has tens, hundreds or thousands more hours of flight experience than any human pilot.</p>
<p>Other autonomous technologies, too, are progressing despite public concerns. Regulators and lawmakers are <a href="http://www.ncsl.org/research/transportation/autonomous-vehicles-self-driving-vehicles-enacted-legislation.aspx">allowing self-driving cars on the roads</a> in many states. But more than half of Americans <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-get-the-most-out-of-self-driving-cars-tap-the-brakes-on-their-rollout-88444">don’t want to ride in one</a>, largely because they <a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/2017/10/04/americans-attitudes-toward-driverless-vehicles/">don’t trust the technology</a>. And only <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2017/08/07/technology/business/pilotless-planes-passengers/index.html">17 percent of travelers</a> around the world are willing to board a plane without a pilot. However, as more people experience self-driving cars on the road and have <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Prime-Air/b?ie=UTF8&node=8037720011">drones deliver them packages</a>, it is likely that software pilots will gain in acceptance.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/2017/10/04/automation-in-everyday-life/pi_2017-10-04_automation_3-05/"><img width="420" height="671" src="http://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2017/10/03102012/PI_2017.10.04_Automation_3-05.png" class="attachment-large size-large" alt="Slight majority of Americans would not want to ride in a driverless vehicle if given the chance; safety concerns, lack of trust lead their list of concerns"></a></p>
<p>The airline industry will certainly be pushing people to trust the new systems: Automating pilots could <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2017/08/07/technology/business/pilotless-planes-passengers/index.html">save tens of billions of dollars</a> a year. And the current <a href="http://www.grandforksherald.com/news/4422547-us-pilot-shortage-reaching-crisis-fargo-travelers-it-means-fewer-flights-destinations">pilot shortage</a> means software pilots may be the key to having any airline service to smaller destinations. </p>
<p>Both <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2017/10/05/news/companies/boeing-acquires-aurora-autonomous-797-air-taxi/index.html">Boeing</a> and <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/airbus-pilotless-planes-self-flying-aircraft-passenger-flights-cto-paul-eremenko-a8068956.html">Airbus</a> have made significant investments in automated flight technology, which would remove or reduce the need for human pilots. Boeing has actually bought a drone manufacturer and is <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2017/10/05/news/companies/boeing-acquires-aurora-autonomous-797-air-taxi/index.html">looking to add software pilot capabilities</a> to the next generation of its passenger aircraft. (Other tests have tried to <a href="https://phys.org/news/2016-10-cockpit-robot.html">retrofit existing aircraft</a> with robotic pilots.)</p>
<p>One way to help regular passengers become comfortable with software pilots – while also helping to both train and test the systems – could be to introduce them as co-pilots working alongside human pilots. Planes would be operated by software from gate to gate, with the pilots instructed to touch the controls only if the system fails. Eventually pilots could be removed from the aircraft altogether, just like they eventually were from the <a href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/wnj75z/why-dont-we-have-driverless-trains-yet">driverless trains</a> that we routinely ride in airports around the world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/92330/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jeremy Straub is the associate director of the NDSU Institute for Cyber Security Education and Research. He has received funding related to AI and robotics from the North Dakota State University, the NDSU Foundation and Alumni Association, the U.S. National Science Foundation, the University of North Dakota and Sigma Xi. He is the lead inventor on a patent-pending technology for autonomous control of robots, UAVs and spacecraft. The views presented are his own and do not necessarily represent the views of NDSU or funding agencies.</span></em></p>Airplanes could be safer with technology at the helm. A key sticking point is human opinion.Jeremy Straub, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, North Dakota State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/946302018-04-11T20:04:05Z2018-04-11T20:04:05ZAre there two pilots in the cockpit?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213667/original/file-20180407-5600-5qdgkn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C1495%2C916&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pay attention!</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ever since the early days of commercial aviation, flight safety has steadily improved. Considering the number of flights, accidents are now extremely rare, and 70% of them are attributable to human factors. This has led to research in psychology, cognitive science and, more recently, in <a href="https://www.isae-supaero.fr/IMG/pdf/neuroergonomics4pages.pdf">neuroergonomics</a>. Researchers have been investigating factors such as drowsiness, stress, attention, workload, communication, and cognitive biases. One that has been surprisingly overlooked is that of social relations within the cockpit.</p>
<p>Commercial-airline crews are made up of one or two first officers and a designated leader, the captain. While all the pilots have the necessary skills to fly the aircraft, the captain is legally responsible for the flight. They are more experienced, better paid and often significantly older than first officers. Before takeoff, the captain decides who will pilot the aircraft and who will monitor the instruments, checklists and communication. The power imbalance between the two creates a hierarchical system. Depending on the situation and the pilots’ personalities, this imbalance can sometimes compromise communication and adversely influence decision making.</p>
<h2>Power and cognitive bias</h2>
<p>Being in a position of power increases the risk of cognitive bias. The halo effect – i.e., the tendency to judge people on the basis of their characteristics (such as ethnicity, age, cast, religion, etc.) or past events unrelated to the situation at hand – can severely affect captains. This happened in 2011 during the approach of <a href="http://www.bst-tsb.gc.ca/eng/rapports-reports/aviation/2011/a11h0002/a11h0002.pdf">First Air flight 6560</a>, when the relatively inexperienced first officer noticed that the aircraft was veering sightly off-course. The captain – who, unlike the first officer, had flown many times over the Arctic region – believed the instruments were simply adversely impacted by the proximity of the north magnetic pole. Blinded by his first officer’s relative lack of experience, the captain ignored the latter’s repeated warnings and suggestions to go around. The mistake proved fatal to the captain, the first officer and 10 passengers.</p>
<p>Captains can also be affected by the false-consensus bias – the tendency to believe that those around us approve of our ideas and actions to a far greater extent than is actually the case. Also, the higher a person’s position in the hierarchy, the less negative feedback he or she will openly receive from subordinates. Therefore, the greater the power imbalance between the captain and the first officer, the higher the risk of false-consensus bias in the cockpit.</p>
<h2>First officers or passive observers?</h2>
<p>Captains aren’t the only ones to be affected by this power imbalance. In the 1970s, a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/5110108">study</a> carried out in a flight simulator showed that when the captains pretended to lose consciousness during a landing, nearly one in four first officers failed to take over the controls. Given the changes that have taken place in cockpit organisation since that time, it is unlikely that a new study would produce such worrying results. However, it demonstrates that under certain conditions first officers can feel less engaged, responsible or legitimate than the captain, and fail to react appropriately.</p>
<p>An overly authoritarian captain can severely exacerbate this tendency and even paralyse the first officers to the point that they become mere bystanders. This occurred during the crash of <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5422f0a5ed915d13710002fb/3-2003_HL-7451.pdf">Korean Air cargo flight 8509</a>. The captain, a domineering former military pilot, made a catastrophic error. The first officer noticed but did nothing for fear of reprisal. The aircraft hit the ground less than 60 seconds after take off, killing everyone on board.</p>
<p>Finally, the halo bias can also affect first officers, who sometimes see the captain as all-knowing and infallible. They are less inclined to challenge the captains and more likely to bow to their decisions (conformity bias), which can have a negative effect on safety.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212776/original/file-20180401-189827-57vagn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212776/original/file-20180401-189827-57vagn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=306&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212776/original/file-20180401-189827-57vagn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=306&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212776/original/file-20180401-189827-57vagn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=306&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212776/original/file-20180401-189827-57vagn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212776/original/file-20180401-189827-57vagn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212776/original/file-20180401-189827-57vagn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">US Airways flight 1549 in the Hudson River, New York, on January 15, 2009. After the aircraft’s engines failed and no airport was sufficiently close for an emergency landing, Captain Chesley Sullenberger, assisted by co-pilot Jeffrey Skiles, chose to set down in the Hudson. He kept the landing gear up, to allow the plane to land relatively smoothly. All 150 passengers and 5 crew members were brought to safety.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Greg L./Wikipedia</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What next?</h2>
<p>So why not simply abolish hierarchy among pilots? There are sound reasons not to. First of all, the hierarchical structure has demonstrated, time and again, its effectiveness in cases of emergency. Take, for example, the January 2009 landing of <a href="https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/AAR1003.pdf">US Airways flight 1549</a> on the Hudson River, or the management of 55 failures brought on by the explosion of an engine on <a href="http://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/2010/aair/ao-2010-089.aspx">Qantas flight 32</a> in November 2010. Moreover, a lack of hierarchy can prove just as disastrous, as it was for the two first officers at the controls of the <a href="https://www.bea.aero/docspa/2009/f-cp090601/pdf/f-cp090601.pdf">Rio-Paris flight</a>.</p>
<p>Eliminating pilot hierarchy is therefore not an appropriate solution. Instead, it would be more effective to focus on pilot training. The first priority is to better educate pilots about the issues associated with hierarchy. Secondly, more research is necessary to better understand and deal with these complex phenomena. In the medium to long term, this should allow us to come up with innovative solutions to these problems.</p>
<p>Above all, it is vital to develop procedures that would allow:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Optimal communication between pilots. It can be adversely affected by the hierarchical power imbalance.</p></li>
<li><p>First-officer assertiveness. Problems arise when they are passive or when their work has been undermined or neglected.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>This is particularly relevant as the boom in air traffic has led passengers to fly with airlines from countries where the culture of hierarchy is strong and therefore the risks higher. Furthermore, societies are evolving and the aviation industry is opening up to previously excluded groups such as women and people from lower casts, which may in some cases heighten problems linked to hierarchy. A detailed study of the impact of social factors on the way crews operate would be a boon to aviation safety.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/202296/original/file-20180117-53314-hzk3rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/202296/original/file-20180117-53314-hzk3rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=121&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202296/original/file-20180117-53314-hzk3rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=121&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202296/original/file-20180117-53314-hzk3rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=121&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202296/original/file-20180117-53314-hzk3rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=152&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202296/original/file-20180117-53314-hzk3rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=152&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202296/original/file-20180117-53314-hzk3rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=152&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em>Created in 2007, the Axa Research Fund supports more than 500 projects around the world, conducted by researchers from 51 countries. To learn more about Eve Fabre’s research, visit our dedicated site</em>.</p>
<p><em>Translated from the French by Alice Heathwood for <a href="http://www.fastforword.fr/en/">Fast for Word</a></em>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/94630/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eve Fabre has received funding from the European Union, the DGA and the AXA Research Fund.</span></em></p>In the cockpit of an aircraft, the hierarchy between captain and co-pilot is strictly respected. At the risk, sometimes, of poor decision-making.Eve Fabre, Chercheure en Facteur Humain & Neurosciences Sociales, ISAE-SUPAEROLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/893262017-12-18T14:49:53Z2017-12-18T14:49:53ZWhat Ryanair’s recognition of unions means for the future of the airline<p>Having once threatened to “cut off his own hands” rather than sign a deal with a trade union, Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary’s decision <a href="https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/banter/trending/did-oleary-get-christmas-carolled-everyone-is-having-the-same-reaction-to-ryanair-recognising-pilot-unions-36410818.html">to recognise pilot unions</a> on December 15 is a massive U-turn. But it was deemed necessary to stop the threat of pilot strikes over the busy Christmas period.</p>
<p>There are two different ways of seeing this change to a policy held dear for more than 30 years. On the one hand, it could be seen as a general shift to be an all-round nicer company. On the other it is a marker of the external pressures Ryanair is facing at a time of turbulence for the airline, as well as bigger changes that could be afoot for the company.</p>
<p>From Ryanair’s viewpoint, the decision to recognise pilot unions can be seen as a continuation of its “Always Getting Better” programme <a href="https://theconversation.com/ryanair-no-longer-the-nasty-airline-40016">launched in March 2014</a>. This heralded – <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/michael-o-leary-launches-ryanairs-always-getting-better-plan-9217455.html">in the words of O’Leary</a> – “a revolutionary change”. After years of <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/transport/11201992/Ryanairs-Michael-OLeary-I-was-wrong-the-customer-is-always-right.html">famously disrespecting customers</a>, the company put a new emphasis on keeping them happy. It introduced new services like a more user-friendly booking procedure, allocated seating, and better cabin baggage allowances. The new outlook was <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/transport/11839609/Being-nice-pays-off-for-Ryanair-as-passenger-numbers-soar.html">explained by the company</a> as previously spending so much effort building the airline for 30 years, it only now had time to listen to customers. </p>
<p>The handling of its <a href="https://theconversation.com/ryanairs-red-hot-growth-may-have-left-its-pilots-in-the-cold-84381">pilot rostering fiasco</a> in September in which hundreds of flights were cancelled also showed a softening in Ryanair’s attitude. It gave in to demands by the UK Civil Aviation Authority to advise and remunerate affected customers, when in the past it has fought back against the regulator <a href="https://www.caa.co.uk/News/CAA-response-to-Ryanair-consumer-commitments/">on numerous occasions</a>. With pressure increasing from pilots in Germany, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain, O’Leary <a href="https://corporate.ryanair.com/news/ryanair-agrees-to-recognise-pilot-unions-to-avoid-widespread-customer-disruptions-over-christmas-period/">explained</a> that recognising trade unions was part of “putting the needs of our customers first and avoiding disruption to their Christmas flights”. </p>
<p>It is not unusual for low-fare carriers to recognise trade unions. Both <a href="http://corporate.easyjet.com/corporate-responsibility/our-people">EasyJet</a> and Southwest Airlines – the model that Ryanair’s low-cost strategy <a href="https://www.independent.ie/business/irish/meet-the-legend-who-inspired-ryanair-to-fly-so-high-26887594.html">is based on</a> – have <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/story/14238377/1/transport-workers-union-leader-decries-termination-rate-at-southwest-airlines.html">long negotiated directly with unions</a>. In a radio interview on the morning of the announcement, Ryanair’s chief people officer simply said, “it’s the right thing to do”.</p>
<p>A more cynical take on Ryanair’s motives would view the timing of the “Always Getting Better” programme with several consecutive sets of disappointing quarterly results (including two profit warnings); at a time when its arch-rival Easyjet <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/6be7cd32-df1a-11e3-86a4-00144feabdc0">exceeded financial expectations</a>. Similarly, the pilot rostering issue could be related both to <a href="http://www.thejournal.ie/ryanair-cancellations-3602946-Sep2017/">Norwegian Air poaching its staff</a> and by management being distracted by an <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ryanair-hldgs-cancellations/grounded-ryanair-cancels-flights-of-another-400000-customers-idUSKCN1C21NU">attempted Alitalia takeover</a>. </p>
<p>So the decision – and its timing – to recognise trade unions could also be interpreted as a result of external pressures. The Christmas rush would be one of the worst moments <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/ryanair-pilots-suspend-pre-christmas-strike-after-oleary-union-offer-11176035">for a strike to take place</a> and this could be seen as a holding strategy to take the fight into the quieter months of January and February 2018. Christmas is also the time when lots of people make advanced bookings for their summer holidays. This is critically important as flight uncertainty <a href="https://www.rte.ie/radio/utils/radioplayer/rteradioweb.html#!rii=b9%5F21286225%5F48%5F13%2D12%2D2017%5F">tends to hurt these</a>, making the timing all the more crucial to smooth things over with pilots.</p>
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<h2>Turbulence ahead</h2>
<p>The immediate impact of Ryanair’s announcement could be seen in its share price. It fell by over 8%, wiping more than €1 billion off the company’s value as investors associate unions <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-15/ryanair-offers-to-recognize-unions-as-first-ever-strikes-loom">with increased costs</a>. As unions representing cabin crew, ground handlers and other categories of staff also seek negotiating rights, much management time will be taken up in agreeing deals. </p>
<p>In this regard, the newly-appointed chief operations officer, Peter Bellew, <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/d36ef784-b4da-11e7-aa26-bb002965bce8">should prove particularly useful</a> as he has now gained valuable experience of working with airline unions in his previous post at Malaysian Airlines. Free collective bargaining agreements can be expected to push up costs, especially in the context of a looming pilot shortage, with <a href="https://theconversation.com/ryanair-crisis-aviation-industry-expert-warns-600-000-new-pilots-needed-in-next-20-years-84852">some estimates</a> warning that 600,000 new pilots are needed in the next 20 years to keep up with demand. </p>
<p>While Ryanair enjoys a healthy gap in cost per seat figures compared to its rivals, competition is set to be fierce – not least because EasyJet has <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-10/easyjet-names-former-tui-executive-lundgren-to-become-ceo">a new CEO</a> with a lot to prove.</p>
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<p>Longer term, the fundamentals of Ryanair’s low-cost, high-volume business model <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/7c5d666c-5cef-37d1-a5df-617ea3f520c8">continue to look solid</a> and its aircraft acquisition orders are on course <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/business/transport-and-tourism/ryanair-plans-to-carry-200m-passengers-annually-by-2024-1.2857501">to carry 200m passengers by 2024</a>. </p>
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<p>Ryanair is also looking to expand its offering. Market development in the form of transatlantic services (long-haul being another area that the incoming COO Bellew now has experience of) would further add to its ambitious forecast, as current fleet orders relate only to Boeing 737 aircraft, which lack the range required for non-stop flights.</p>
<p>But perhaps the most intriguing question arising from the last four months of upheaval in Ryanair lies in the repercussions for long-time boss O’Leary. O'Leary <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/sep/30/michael-oleary-ryanair-cancelled-flights-observer-profile">reportedly</a> “just survived moves to push him off his pedestal” at the company’s September AGM – after 23 years at the helm. So there’s lots to look out for in 2018 when it comes to Ryanair’s future. With the aforementioned Bellew seemingly playing a central role in directing the company, we could even witness a changing of the guard.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/89326/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Padraic Regan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>To stop pilots strikes this Christmas, Ryanair made a massive U-turn on previous policy on recognising unions.Padraic Regan, Lecturer in Strategy; Researcher in Aviation, Trinity College DublinLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/848582017-10-02T12:39:50Z2017-10-02T12:39:50ZWhy having two pilots on commercial flights is vital for passenger safety<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188155/original/file-20170929-18267-v6wjd3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/flight-deck-modern-passenger-aircraft-cockpit-503024809?src=8zvSTsexwskP8jZ1F5ZsCQ-1-15">Alexey Y. Petrov/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>These days, we don’t normally see much of the person flying the plane we are travelling on. On most flights, all we know of the pilots who fly us from A to B is what we learn from a voice intermittently coming over the speaker.</p>
<p>We defer our safety in the sky to commercial pilots who work in pairs, both having trained for years to be able to fly in any condition. Technically a pilot could fly a plane by themselves, but having two pilots is absolutely vital. In recent years proposals have been put forward to have a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/2010/sep/08/ryanair-axe-unnecessary-co-pilots">single pilot on the flight deck</a> – to save money or potentially cover <a href="https://theconversation.com/ryanair-crisis-aviation-industry-expert-warns-600-000-new-pilots-needed-in-next-20-years-84852">staff shortages</a> – but this is simply not realistic in an industry where safety is paramount. </p>
<p>Though having two crew members in the cockpit at all times is an imposed requirement by the Federal Aviation Authority among US airlines, it is still not standard practice across the world. Following the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-32072218">Germanwings crash of March 2015</a>, airlines in Europe and Canada implemented a “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/26/germanwings-crash-prompts-airlines-to-introduce-cockpit-rule-of-two">rule of two</a>”, though as of this year several lifted the requirement after governing bodies relaxed the rule – with German airlines citing <a href="http://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFKBN17U1GG">other potential security issues</a> for no longer requiring it.</p>
<p>Should the worst happen, however, having a second pilot on board can be the difference between disaster and smooth sailing. </p>
<p>An <a href="http://avherald.com/h?article=4aef1ff3&opt=0">Etihad Airways captain</a> was recently taken unwell while flying, for example, and became progressively worse until he was pronounced dead on arrival at a nearby airport. This may conjure up images from the movies, where an inexperienced staff member is forced to take over the controls, possibly guided by an eager air traffic controller on how to fly and land the plane. But in reality you really wouldn’t want this to happen. In the case of Ethiad, the fully trained second pilot, known onboard as the first officer, was able to take over full control of the aeroplane and land at the nearest airport. The passengers and crew were safe on the Ethiad flight throughout, and no harm occurred other than the unfortunate death of the captain.</p>
<p>It would be unpleasant to speculate on what may have happened should there have been a single pilot on board.</p>
<h2>Safety and health</h2>
<p>Pilots and flights attendants are trained to handle numerous safety situations, regardless of if they ever happen to experience them. On a normal day, one of the pilots – regardless of who is the captain or first officer – acts as “pilot flying” and they’re in charge of flying the plane. They handle the controls, programme the autopilot, and steer the aeroplane along its route. The other pilot acts as “pilot monitoring”, they support the pilot flying with communicating with air traffic control, monitor the engines and other parameters, and crosscheck all the actions of the pilot flying. </p>
<p>The workload is shared between the two pilots, and each one’s duties are well defined. While the captain is more senior and is ultimately responsible for the safety of the flight, both pilots are trained to handle all emergency situations equally professionally.</p>
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<p>If either pilot is unable to continue their duties for whatever reason, the other pilot is fully trained to continue the flight safely, even in challenging and busy situations such as takeoff and landing. </p>
<p>Even though commercial planes have autopilot systems which are <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/does-using-an-autopilot-dull-the-skills-of-us-commercial-pilots/2016/01/13/00e458fe-ba13-11e5-829c-26ffb874a18d_story.html?utm_term=.4d60e6f0e29c">used quite heavily</a> during flight, landing and takeoff are still manual tasks that need a pilot at the helm. Automatic landing does exist – and it is in fact a very impressive technology – but it is usually used only in very low visibility conditions.</p>
<h2>A rare occurrence</h2>
<p>Pilots’ health is closely monitored. Each commercial pilot must be certified as healthy at an aeromedical centre. Doctors at these centres test blood, heart function and lung capacity, as well as psychological well-being, eyesight and hearing. These tests have to be repeated every year, or every six months for pilots over 60-years-old. But despite these thorough checks, sometimes illnesses can be sudden and unpredictable. </p>
<p>If a pilot does become unable to continue flying while on route, flight attendants can help remove him or her from the controls, and they are trained to administer oxygen and first aid. Air traffic control is informed too so that medical assistance can meet the aeroplane as it lands.</p>
<p>However, the incapacitation of a pilot, where a pilot becomes too unwell to continue his duties, is infrequent. A study by the <a href="https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/2015/ar-2015-096/">Australian Transport Safety Board</a> found that on average there were only 23 such occurrences reported a year (about one in every 34,000 flights) between 2010 and 2014. Of these, half were related to gastrointestinal illness, followed by laser pointer incidents (13%) – where a pilot’s vision is impaired by a laser pointed at the cockpit from a person on the ground. Between January and September 2017, The Aviation Herald reported <a href="http://avherald.com/h?search_term=incapacitated&opt=1&dosearch=1&search.x=0&search.y=0">16 pilot incapacitations</a> for various reasons on worldwide commercial air transport.</p>
<p>Pilot deaths happen more frequently than one would wish, although they seem to be much less frequent than deaths due to <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15389588.2012.695827">illness while driving a car</a>. In March 2017, for example, a <a href="http://avherald.com/h?article=4a6ee9f9&opt=1">first officer died</a> despite medical assistance after the captain landed the plane at the nearest airport. In 2016, a Saudi Arabian Airlines pilot <a href="http://avherald.com/h?article=494cf3b7&opt=1">suffered a heart attack</a> while flying. The first officer took control of the aircraft and landed safely, but doctors on the ground could not resuscitate the captain.</p>
<p>There are no records of both commercial pilots becoming ill and being unable to continue, except from tragic cases such as the <a href="https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/failure-to-recognise-non-pressurisation-led-to-august-2005-helios-737-crash-209909/">Helios Airways Flight 522</a> – which was due to pressurisation failure, rather than illness.</p>
<p>Having two trained pilots on the cockpit is not a waste of money, nor an outdated practice. Even with the sophisticated technology that commercial aeroplanes are fitted with, still nothing can currently compare to having a trained human who can react to and manage a potentially dangerous situation on board.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/84858/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Davide Crivelli does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Pilots are carefully trained to handle any crisis – but what happens when they are no longer fit mid-flight?Davide Crivelli, Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering, Cardiff UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/848522017-09-28T15:28:18Z2017-09-28T15:28:18ZRyanair crisis: aviation industry expert warns 600,000 new pilots needed in next 20 years<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187985/original/file-20170928-1476-gpwd5e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pilots are in high demand.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alexey Y. Petrov / shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ryanair’s <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41414414">announcement</a> that it is cancelling 18,000 flights between November and March has understandably evoked the ire of the 400,000 customers affected. And, hot on the heels of <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41298931">news</a> that it was cancelling up to 50 flights a day from mid-September to the end of October, it is facing a PR nightmare and trouble with regulators.</p>
<p>Amid the outrage, the reason for the cancellations has been largely lost. The airline <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ryanair/posts/1654355014595652">said</a> it “messed up in the planning of pilot holidays”. But this is part of a major industry-wide problem. Ryanair might be one of the first to feel the pinch in Europe, but there is a global pilot shortage which has been a long time in the making.</p>
<p>The industry currently employs 500,000 professional pilots worldwide and reportedly <a href="http://www.cae.com/uploadedFiles/Content/BusinessUnit/Civil_Aviation/CAE-Airline-Pilot-Demand-Outlook-Spread.pdf">needs</a> another 600,000 in the next 20 years to cover the retirement of pilots and the 6% growth of another 35,000 airliners entering the global market. Shortfalls of pilots have already hit US airlines <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2017/07/27/news/companies/pilot-shortage-figures/index.html">this year</a>, starting with small regional ones, and have been visible in <a href="http://www.rediff.com/business/report/why-india-is-running-short-of-pilots/20161227.htm">India</a> and <a href="https://skift.com/2016/12/07/boeing-says-china-must-hire-more-than-100000-pilots-over-next-20-years/">China</a> for a while now. Ryanair is the first European airline to be hit.</p>
<p>The food chain of aircraft type, airline, salary, benefits and personal lifestyle preferences for pilots determines where they look to work. Long gone are the times where pilots were employed for life by one airline. Like employees in most industries these days, pilots are choosing and managing their careers. </p>
<h2>The pilot shortfall spiral</h2>
<p>Low-cost carriers such as Ryanair actually do a superior job in training new pilots into their first airline job, training far more <a href="http://www.fta-global.com/fta-news/ryanair-is-recruiting/">than most other airlines</a>. But the task for Ryanair is never ending, as many pilots will leave after three years – at the end of their initial commitment – when they have gained enough experience. Pilots tend to move on to airlines which give them better pay or working conditions, or offer a more suiting lifestyle such as long-haul flying or different home bases. As Ryanair expands, the demand for pilots is continually growing.</p>
<p>Airlines can manage occasional shortfalls with vacation embargoes – where crew are not allowed to take their holiday over a certain period. Sometimes, pilots have accrued several years of vacation and the airline can pay some of it off. But labour laws in Europe provide strong support for employees who want to take their holiday. Plus, when a pilot resigns for a new job, they often leave the next day as they have so many vacation days left, which can cause unforeseen gaps in scheduling. </p>
<p>This is a spiral which is hard for an airline to get out of when things get tough. It is a problem clearly forecast but often ignored, resulting in the need for airlines to apply quick and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/sep/19/ryanair-offers-pilots-12000-bonus-to-tackle-cancelled-flights-fiasco">costly solutions</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187992/original/file-20170928-1483-11afh45.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187992/original/file-20170928-1483-11afh45.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187992/original/file-20170928-1483-11afh45.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=645&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187992/original/file-20170928-1483-11afh45.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=645&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187992/original/file-20170928-1483-11afh45.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=645&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187992/original/file-20170928-1483-11afh45.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=811&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187992/original/file-20170928-1483-11afh45.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=811&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187992/original/file-20170928-1483-11afh45.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=811&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Pilot numbers do not look good for airlines.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.cae.com/uploadedFiles/Content/BusinessUnit/Civil_Aviation/CAE-Airline-Pilot-Demand-Outlook-Spread.pdf">CAE</a></span>
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<p>An industry which is producing US$5.6 trillion worth of aircraft <a href="http://www.boeing.co.uk/news-media-room/news-releases/2015/june/boeing-forecasts-demand-for-38050-new-airplanes-valued-at-$5.6-trillion.page">in the next 20 years</a> will have to get serious about tackling this shortfall as a combined and global challenge. Immediate bonus payments after a certain commitment time are already common practice. So the salary structure and the benefits of a pilot will need to quickly improve. </p>
<h2>The costs of training</h2>
<p>Pilots take a long time to train. Next to finding a large number of interested students for the recruitment and assessment, each student has to currently bring £100,000 to the flight school for the 18-24 month training programme, which they pay for themselves. They then have to undergo specific type-training (each aircraft type needs a specific license) and gain 1,500 hours in a multi-crew environment to earn a full professional Airline Transport Pilot license. Typically, this takes two to three years, where the airline pays a reduced salary, covers the initial type rating costs of £30,000 and commits the pilot to the airline that pays for it.</p>
<p>The cost for the initial training is prohibitive for many students who would like to get into the pilot profession. Solutions such as sponsorship and bank credits could be explored. In the past this career choice was left completely to the interested student. </p>
<p>But not enough pilots are being trained this way, for example new professional licenses declined from <a href="https://www.caa.co.uk/uploadedFiles/CAA/Content/Standard_Content/Data_and_analysis/Datasets/Licence_transactions_by_type,_rating_and_year/Pilots%20licences%20transactions%202015%20-%202016.pdf">2015 to 2016 by 9%</a> in the UK. Then there’s a further issue that not all students go on to get jobs immediately, as airline assessments happen only after pilot training is completed and a proportion of students fail. </p>
<p>It’s clear that training schools, airlines and other related institutions must work together to find sustainable solutions to this crisis. The attractiveness of careers as an airline pilot as well as job opportunities and mentoring for new pilots must be addressed.</p>
<p>Young people have a range of opportunities for interesting careers. So it must remain attractive from a regional and global perspective. The salaries and benefits from airlines are part of this, as is support for training costs, either direct or via industry-based funding institutions.</p>
<p>Otherwise airlines will pay for the shortfall in the long run. An aircraft which is parked due to a shortfall of pilots is costly. The monthly lease rate of US$200,000 to US$700,000 per aircraft still has to be paid, which, together with the lost revenues and other provisional costs, easily amounts to a few million dollars per parked aircraft each month. Not to mention the PR nightmare from flight cancellations.</p>
<p>Ryanair must develop a strategy which secures a regular intake of pilots, acknowledging that these employees are key to its operations and need to be looked after and mentored. The fact that its main competitor EasyJet has no pilot problems at this time is a clear sign that a well-treated pilot workforce is proof of success.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/84852/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tilmann Gabriel is Executive Chairman and President of the International Pilot Training Association. </span></em></p>There is a global pilot shortage which could soon affect all airlines.Tilmann Gabriel, Senior Lecturer, City, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/843812017-09-22T08:33:51Z2017-09-22T08:33:51ZRyanair’s red hot growth may have left its pilots in the cold<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186825/original/file-20170920-16425-w300ts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=14%2C0%2C3285%2C2055&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">There may be trouble ahead.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/santiago-de-compostela-spain-may-19-693560806?src=9i82xbTMgkXJKFolybuLnA-2-3">JGA/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ryanair has had the week from hell. The budget airline has <a href="http://corporate.ryanair.com/news/ryanair-to-cancel-less-than-2-of-flights-over-next-6-weeks-to-improve-punctuality/">cancelled around 2,000 flights</a>, affecting up to 400,000 passengers, and unleashing a wave of terrible headlines and <a href="http://www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/15545086.Rosemary_Goring__Well_done__Ryanair__for_reviving_the_concept_of_disgrace/">withering commentary</a>. But how did such an unexpected, unprecedented drama come seemingly out of the blue for one of the <a href="https://www.oag.com/top-10-fastest-growing-airlines-among-the-worlds-top-50">world’s fastest-growing</a> and most profitable airlines?</p>
<p>It must be salt in the wound for Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary that this has come in the fourth year of his flagship <a href="https://www.ryanair.com/gb/en/useful-info/about-ryanair/always-getting-better">“Always Getting Better”</a> programme which promised revolutionary change to fix “the things our customers don’t like”. Mass cancellations may well be on that list now.</p>
<p>Customer service improvements included allocated seating, a new website and app, new crew uniforms, and a range of family products which, within the first three years, <a href="https://www.ryanair.com/gb/en/useful-info/about-ryanair/always-getting-better">have been credited</a> with delivering a 50% increase in passenger numbers and positioning the carrier as Europe’s biggest, carrying 120m passengers. The share price <a href="https://investor.ryanair.com/share-price/">improved by two thirds</a> over the same period. </p>
<h2>A wing and a prayer</h2>
<p>Backing up this commitment to customer service and explosive growth, the airline ordered 175 Boeing 737-800 aircraft in 2013 at a <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidewalt/2013/03/19/boeing-lands-a-15-6-billion-737-order-from-ryanair/#2040e41152e5">cost of some US$16 billion</a>. A year later, it placed a US$22 billion order for up to 200 <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidewalt/2013/03/19/boeing-lands-a-15-6-billion-737-order-from-ryanair/#2040e41152e5">new Boeing 737 Max 200 aircraft</a>. This so-called “gamechanger” plane fitted an eight extra seats per aircraft, an innovation seemingly valued at US$1m per plane per year in revenue. All told, it was a massive investment that will result in a fleet of 520 by 2024 with an annual capacity of 150m passengers.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187030/original/file-20170921-8185-1o2t6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187030/original/file-20170921-8185-1o2t6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187030/original/file-20170921-8185-1o2t6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187030/original/file-20170921-8185-1o2t6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187030/original/file-20170921-8185-1o2t6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187030/original/file-20170921-8185-1o2t6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187030/original/file-20170921-8185-1o2t6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187030/original/file-20170921-8185-1o2t6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ramping up the numbers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://investorryanair.azureedge.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Ryanair-FY2017-Annual-Report.pdf">Ryanair Annual Report FY2017</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>O'Leary announced record annual profits of €1.3 billion at the end of May <a href="https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ryanair-results/ryanair-looks-to-cut-fares-and-expand-after-record-profit-idUKKBN18Q0AO">and proclaimed</a> at the time: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>We have seen profitability double … over a three-year period and frankly I see no reason why that trend won’t continue.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But there has always been some turbulence in the air.</p>
<h2>Apology accepted?</h2>
<p>Earlier this month, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that Ryanair could no longer handle all employee dispute resolution through the Irish courts, regardless of where staff were employed. Ryanair <a href="https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2017/0914/904616-ryanair-employment-ruling/">attempted to calm investor nerves</a> about the impact of that, but <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/business/transport-and-tourism/european-court-ruling-could-cost-ryanair-100m-and-swell-costs-5-1.3220922">analysts predicted</a> the ruling could increase the carrier’s cost base by 5% (the equivalent of about €100m by 2019). </p>
<p>This news was quickly overshadowed by the announcement of the flight cancellations, but certainly contributed to the market reaction, which saw some €1.4 billion <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/business/transport-and-tourism/ryanair-makes-a-mockery-of-crisis-communications-1.3227033">wiped off the company value</a> within a few days. </p>
<p>Ryanair’s mea culpa was (eventually) full and frank. The firm accepted that it had “messed up”. It attributed the cancellations to a regulatory change in pilot and cabin crew annual leave arrangements <a href="http://corporate.ryanair.com/news/ryanair-to-cancel-less-than-2-of-flights-over-next-6-weeks-to-improve-punctuality/">requiring a transition</a> from an April-to-March year, to a calendar year system. However, competitors pointed to an <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ryanair-cancellation-norweg-air-shut/norwegian-air-says-has-recruited-more-than-140-pilots-from-ryanair-idUSKCN1BT14T">exodus of Ryanair pilots</a> to fellow budget airline Norwegian Air Shuttle. A brief war of words between the two firms <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/business/technology/ryanair-ends-talks-with-norwegian-air-shuttle-on-transfers-1.3225733">highlighted the tension of the last few days</a> and added an intriguing look at how competitive the industry has become. </p>
<p>Relations between O'Leary and his pilots have not been all sweetness and light, least of all when he <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgUldGXfRSg">described pilots in general as “glorified taxi drivers”</a>. On September 21, he announced at the firm’s AGM he could <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/sep/21/ryanair-boss-holiday-plans-michael-oleary-flight-cancellations">reclaim one week of pilots’ annual leave</a> in order to reduce further flight cancellations. The pilots have yet to respond, but it is unlikely to improve a deteriorating relationship.</p>
<p>Whatever the issues which forced Ryanair’s hand, there is little doubting the huge impact on customers. A failure to publish the list of cancelled flights at the same time as the cancellation announcement led to considerable anger and inconvenience. One Irish Member of the European Parliament <a href="https://brianhayes.ie/2017/09/18/ryanair-likely-to-be-in-breach-of-eu-unfair-commercial-practices-directive-hayes/">even wondered if Ryanair was in breach</a> of the EU’s Unfair Commercial Practices Directive. </p>
<p>Booked customers were left not knowing if their flight would operate and prospective customers unsure if they should make a booking at all. O'Leary, at least, is used to putting out fires, and was soon back to apologise again, acknowledge the reputational damage and accept the affair would cost some €25m. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LU1L9obN09M?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>He also claimed that there would be no recurrence; a claim which he could not stand by <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/09/21/ryanair-chief-michael-oleary-fails-rule-flight-cancellations/">just a few days later</a>. The frustration here for many is that the resourcing issues described by the airline could have been identified some time ago. One analyst described Ryanair’s explanation as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/nils-pratley-on-finance/2017/sep/18/ryanair-is-unnecessarily-pissing-people-off">“football manager excuses”</a>. </p>
<p>All this makes the company’s response to the ECJ ruling all the more difficult to accept, particularly given <a href="https://investor.ryanair.com/share-price/">its effect on the share price</a>. The Irish Travel Agents Association <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfE8u8X-QFY">said on RTE radio</a> that the resourcing issue has been known about for years and should have been addressed sooner. UK Aviation Minister Martin Callanan, has weighed in to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/sep/17/ryanair-publishes-list-150-flights-cancelled-three-days-angry-passengers">demand full compensation</a> for passengers.</p>
<p>There has been no word yet from the Irish Aviation Authority, which is responsible for issuing Air Operator Certificates. It also <a href="https://www.iaa.ie/commercial-aviation">audits operators</a> on a regular basis for “competence and adequacy of resources in areas such as management and organisational structure, crew training, aircraft maintenance, flight planning and support”. What it makes of Ryanair will make for interesting reading.</p>
<p>One thing is clear in this fast-moving story. The pilots are not laying down for the boss. Pilots at 30 of the company’s 80 European bases <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41342309">rejected a £12,000 bonus</a> to work extra days. Instead, they want an answer to concerns over working conditions. It may be that Ryanair was blinkered as it rode the crest of a wave of eye-catching plane orders and passenger growth. It should be a warning to other airlines that if you are chasing rapid expansion, the people in the cockpit need to be taken along for the ride.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/84381/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Padraic Regan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Did pride come before the fall for Ireland’s budget airline?Padraic Regan, Lecturer in Strategy; Researcher in Aviation, Trinity College DublinLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/765532017-08-10T07:52:46Z2017-08-10T07:52:46ZThe heartbreaking story of the flying mathematicians of World War I<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181434/original/file-20170808-29416-l7992m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Edward Teshmaker Busk</span> </figcaption></figure><p><em>Listen to the audio version of this article on The Conversation’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/in-depth-out-loud-podcast-46082">In Depth Out Loud podcast</a></em>:</p>
<iframe src="https://player.acast.com/5e29c8205aa745a456af58c8/episodes/5e29c8365aa745a456af58d0?theme=default&cover=1&latest=1" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="110px" allow="autoplay"></iframe>
<hr>
<p>Keith Lucas was <a href="http://blogs.royalsociety.org/history-of-science/2014/03/08/airborne-pioneer/">killed instantly</a> when his BE2 biplane collided with that of a colleague over Salisbury Plain on October 5, 1916. As a captain in the Royal Flying Corps, Lucas would have known that his death was a very real risk of the work he was doing in support of Britain’s war effort.</p>
<p>But Lucas wasn’t a career pilot, he was a physiologist, and a rather good one at that, having been elected a fellow of the prestigious scientific organisation the <a href="https://royalsociety.org/">Royal Society</a> in 1913. So what had enticed him from the relative safety of his laboratory in Cambridge into the air and, eventually, to his untimely end?</p>
<p>My attempt to fully understand the motivation and circumstances that conspired to put Lucas in that cockpit came as part of an ongoing study of an extraordinary set of aviation pioneers. Just over 100 years ago, a group of mathematicians and scientists were drawn to the <a href="http://www.airsciences.org.uk/FAST_Briefings_09_RoyalAircraftFactory.pdf">Royal Aircraft Factory</a> in Farnborough, Hampshire.</p>
<p>There, they plied their trade at the very heart of British attempts to drive forward fixed-wing, powered aeronautics during its genesis. But they soon realised that if they were to complete their mission they would need to learn how to fly themselves.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181436/original/file-20170808-26610-1de7jsj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181436/original/file-20170808-26610-1de7jsj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181436/original/file-20170808-26610-1de7jsj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181436/original/file-20170808-26610-1de7jsj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181436/original/file-20170808-26610-1de7jsj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181436/original/file-20170808-26610-1de7jsj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181436/original/file-20170808-26610-1de7jsj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181436/original/file-20170808-26610-1de7jsj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Keith Lucas’s untimely end.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mary Benjamin</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Theirs is a tale of technical achievement, flexibility and ingenuity in the context of a new field of engineering, driven apace by the necessities and incentives of conflict. It is also a story punctuated by bravery, commitment, persistence and tragedy.</p>
<p>In 2017, using mathematics to predict the success or failure of an aircraft structure mostly involves tapping keys on a computer while sat in a comfortable office. But 100 years ago, things were very different. Lucas and his colleagues endured freezing cockpits and engaged in aerial versions of Russian roulette in order to significantly expand our understanding. Many of them paid the ultimate price.</p>
<h2>Tracking down Lucas</h2>
<p>After six months on the trail of these adventurous innovators, I was finding information on Lucas to be particularly elusive. I knew he had been commandeered to work on compass design at Farnborough, but details of his exact involvement in the war effort were sketchy. After I had exhausted all conventional lines of investigation, serendipity intervened.</p>
<p>I happened to be watching a BBC weather forecast when I realised a potential lead was literally staring me in the face. The presenter was Sarah Keith-Lucas. I already knew from my research that the Lucas family had changed their surname to “Keith-Lucas” as a mark of respect after the tragic crash. So was there a connection? </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181438/original/file-20170808-28656-1t9a19f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181438/original/file-20170808-28656-1t9a19f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181438/original/file-20170808-28656-1t9a19f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181438/original/file-20170808-28656-1t9a19f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181438/original/file-20170808-28656-1t9a19f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181438/original/file-20170808-28656-1t9a19f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181438/original/file-20170808-28656-1t9a19f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181438/original/file-20170808-28656-1t9a19f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Lucas’s compass.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tony Royle</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I was thrilled when Sarah replied to my tentative e-mail enquiry and revealed that she was one of Lucas’s great grandchildren. It also transpired that her aunt, Mary Benjamin, was the family archivist and held a stash of potentially interesting material that she was willing to share with me. What’s more, Sarah’s father, Chris, was in possession of an original Lucas compass or two. The trail was suddenly hot again.</p>
<p>I arrived at Mary’s beautiful home to find a horde of Lucas-related treasures laid out for my perusal, from books and articles to personal photographs and letters. Chris had even arranged to have Lucas’s compasses there for me to drool over. After a few hours of reading, note making, and delightful conversation, I had learned a huge amount about Lucas. But still much of his work at Farnborough remained a mystery and only one filing box remained unopened.</p>
<p>Mary thought it only contained material relating to physiology so would likely be of little interest to me, but we decided to have a quick look through anyway. Sure enough, it was full of Lucas’s detailed academic musings concerning muscles and nerves. At the very bottom, however, lay a thick, unmarked brown envelope. I quickly opened it expecting more of the same but, to my delight, it was the aeronautical mother lode: reams of blueprints and associated experimental expositions that documented Lucas’s entire work at Farnborough.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181520/original/file-20170809-26001-g09vj7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181520/original/file-20170809-26001-g09vj7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181520/original/file-20170809-26001-g09vj7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=898&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181520/original/file-20170809-26001-g09vj7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=898&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181520/original/file-20170809-26001-g09vj7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=898&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181520/original/file-20170809-26001-g09vj7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1128&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181520/original/file-20170809-26001-g09vj7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1128&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181520/original/file-20170809-26001-g09vj7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1128&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Keith Lucas.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The experience was a unique illustration of how an unexpected archival resource can suddenly appear and help move research forward. Before my adieu, I spent a contemplative moment with one particular item, Lucas’s flying logbook, lovingly kept by Mary, and detailing her grandfather’s fleeting adventures over Salisbury Plain. I have a number of similar books myself, each entry representing a short story in my own life as a pilot. It made me appreciate how lucky I had been. Lucas’s record was brief, so very brief in comparison to mine.</p>
<p>I am still absorbing this wonderful archive of material, but it is already clear that Lucas was instrumental in designing and testing a reliable aviation compass. He was also a key player in the evolution of more accurate bomb-aiming equipment.</p>
<p>The first generation of crude bombsights had been rather unreliable if the aircraft happened to be pitching up and down due to some disturbance in the air. To help develop a more accurate targeting device it was necessary to find a way to record the nature and duration of such pitch oscillations. Lucas’s custom invention, the “photokymograph”, was a piece of analytical equipment that fulfilled this requirement perfectly, and would certainly have made <a href="http://www.wired.co.uk/article/heath-robinson-deserves-a-museum">W Heath Robinson</a> proud.</p>
<h2>Unsung hero</h2>
<p>Yet Lucas was following in the wake of another man, one who is perhaps most deserving of the title “unsung hero” among the mathematicians of the Royal Aircraft Factory, <a href="http://www.airsciences.org.uk/FAST_Briefings_10_EdwardTeshmakerBusk.pdf">Edward Teshmaker Busk</a>. Unlike those pioneering aviation industrialists of that era who became household names, such as <a href="http://www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/de_havilland.html">Geoffrey de Havilland</a> and <a href="https://www.flightglobal.com/FlightPDFArchive/1962/1962%2520-%25200717.PDF">Frederick Handley Page</a>, few people have ever heard of Busk. But if it weren’t for him, the pilots of the Royal Flying Corps may have been obliged to enter the war in machines bereft of intrinsic stability.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181442/original/file-20170808-28656-1mhcndx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181442/original/file-20170808-28656-1mhcndx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181442/original/file-20170808-28656-1mhcndx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=817&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181442/original/file-20170808-28656-1mhcndx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=817&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181442/original/file-20170808-28656-1mhcndx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=817&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181442/original/file-20170808-28656-1mhcndx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1027&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181442/original/file-20170808-28656-1mhcndx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1027&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181442/original/file-20170808-28656-1mhcndx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1027&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Edward Busk.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>After graduating from King’s College, Cambridge, Busk was handpicked to join the Royal Aircraft Factory in 1912 to address an embarrassing hole in the contemporary understanding of aircraft flight performance. Designers couldn’t work out why aircraft only sometimes returned to their original flight path after being knocked off by a disturbance.</p>
<p>The fundamental question was what determined the nature of the oscillations that an aircraft experienced after, for example, it was hit by a strong gust of wind. How could an aircraft be designed so that these oscillations always decayed naturally, without adjustments from the pilot to stabilise them? As fixed-wing aircraft at the time were primarily seen as reconnaissance tools, providing a stable platform for observations was considered an essential. </p>
<p>How solid objects rotate in space and move through a fluid such as water or air were relatively well understood principles at that time. What was missing in relation to an aircraft was a comprehensive understanding of how the lift created by its aerofoil–shaped wings modified the motion. In particular, designers needed to know how the interrelationship between aircraft roll (rotation about the longitudinal axis) and aircraft yaw (rotation about the vertical axis) affected stability following a disturbance. </p>
<p><a href="https://archive.org/details/stabilityinaviat00bryarich">The theory</a> was laid down in 1911 by George Bryan, professor of mathematics at Bangor University in north Wales. He was able to encapsulate in a pair of equations the design features and conditions necessary to keep an aircraft stable. The problem was these equations couldn’t be solved without knowing certain parameters that depended on how initial forces acting on the aircraft’s surfaces altered its motion about its three axes.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, such data was only available via either rudimentary wind tunnel experiments with models, or by conducting the more dangerous but far more reliable and representative flight tests on full-scale aircraft. This is where Busk’s unique combination of talents became invaluable. He was not only a trained pilot but could also fully understand the implications and argument of Bryan’s rather protracted and exacting mathematics.</p>
<p>Busk designed a raft of bespoke instruments and conducted numerous flight trials to capture values needed to define the unknowns in Bryan’s equations. These so-called “resistance derivatives” that quantified the way the aircraft rolled, pitched and yawed in response to disturbances in the air were the final, vital pieces needed to complete the mathematical jigsaw. As a result, Busk was able to unravel the mysteries of stability, an endeavour that led in 1913 to the production of arguably the first inherently stable aircraft, the <a href="http://ewhurstfallen.co.uk/Men%20WW1/Busk%20Edward%20T/Edward%20Teshmaker%20Busk.htm">RE1</a> </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181440/original/file-20170808-26610-1qpi28c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181440/original/file-20170808-26610-1qpi28c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181440/original/file-20170808-26610-1qpi28c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=277&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181440/original/file-20170808-26610-1qpi28c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=277&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181440/original/file-20170808-26610-1qpi28c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=277&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181440/original/file-20170808-26610-1qpi28c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=348&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181440/original/file-20170808-26610-1qpi28c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=348&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181440/original/file-20170808-26610-1qpi28c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=348&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Busk’s aircraft wreckage.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sadly, Busk would not see the significant contribution his work made to the war effort. During a test flight on November 5, 1914, a stray spark from the engine ignited a pool of fuel that had leaked into his cockpit. This caused an explosion and fireball that engulfed and completely destroyed the aircraft.</p>
<p>News of his death reverberated throughout the world of aviation. But it also threatened to halt the work of the Royal Aircraft Factory mathematicians before it had really begun. Unwilling to risk the lives of their talented and much-needed researchers, the factory’s superior officers suspended any further notion of allowing them to fly and conduct their own airborne experiments.</p>
<h2>Back in the air</h2>
<p>That could have been the end of the story had it not been for the continuing war. As the conflict dragged on, the demand for stronger, faster, more manoeuvrable and versatile aircraft grew rapidly. The moratorium designed to protect Farnborough academics, which meant experimental tasks were delegated to army test pilots, started to have serious operational ramifications. Crucial information was being missed or overlooked, resulting in frustrating delays in progress.</p>
<p>By the spring of 1915, one researcher had had enough. In order to circumvent the no-fly diktat, <a href="http://trinitycollegechapel.com/about/memorials/brasses/taylor-gi/">Geoffrey Ingram Taylor</a> cunningly arranged to be sacked from his academic post, enabling him to join the Royal Flying Corps. He quickly learned to fly, only to then immediately reapply and be reappointed to his old position at Farnborough.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181444/original/file-20170808-29416-9nyjbp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181444/original/file-20170808-29416-9nyjbp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181444/original/file-20170808-29416-9nyjbp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=730&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181444/original/file-20170808-29416-9nyjbp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=730&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181444/original/file-20170808-29416-9nyjbp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=730&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181444/original/file-20170808-29416-9nyjbp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=917&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181444/original/file-20170808-29416-9nyjbp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=917&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181444/original/file-20170808-29416-9nyjbp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=917&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Geoffrey Taylor.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">G I Taylor archive, Trinity College, Cambridge</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The erstwhile meteorologist and Trinity College, Cambridge, graduate could perhaps best be described as the cerebral odd-job man of early aerodynamic research. He investigated exactly how the pressure changes as air flows across the upper and lower surfaces of a wing in flight.</p>
<p>But he also formalised the maths describing the action <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521066105">of a parachute</a> (having learned to use one himself). He would go on to forge a very influential career in applied science and mathematics, eventually becoming one of the Britons seconded to the US to participate in the Manhattan Project to develop the first atomic bomb.</p>
<p>After Taylor’s ploy, the academic rebellion against being grounded gained momentum. The unofficial shop steward of the movement was physicist Frederick Lindemann, who eventually negotiated a deal to allow him and three others (Keith Lucas, <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1937/thomson-bio.html">George Thomson</a> and <a href="http://rsbm.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/roybiogmem/17/215.full.pdf">William Farren</a>) to attend flight school.</p>
<p>He would later go on to star as <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-most-powerful-scientist-ever/">Churchill’s senior scientific adviser</a> during World War II, and eventually became a peer of the realm. But Lindemann’s immediate preoccupation after his flight training was to tackle the uncertainty surrounding a problem responsible for scores of deaths and the loss of as many airframes, that of spinning.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181447/original/file-20170808-29416-cy0u8l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181447/original/file-20170808-29416-cy0u8l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181447/original/file-20170808-29416-cy0u8l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181447/original/file-20170808-29416-cy0u8l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181447/original/file-20170808-29416-cy0u8l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181447/original/file-20170808-29416-cy0u8l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181447/original/file-20170808-29416-cy0u8l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181447/original/file-20170808-29416-cy0u8l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Royal Aircraft Factory at Farnborough.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Aircraft were entering spins generally due to mishandling at slow speed, and the actions needed for a safe recovery were poorly understood. No one had yet determined the mathematical description of the spiral associated with an aircraft’s path through the air during a spin, or the exact state of its flying and control surfaces.</p>
<p>It took Lindemann’s courage in conducting the necessary flight tests, combined with the deeper insight of British mathematician Hermann Glauert, to produce the full theoretical analysis needed. The practical spin recovery actions this work inferred would subsequently save the lives of countless pilots – including my own – who have had the misfortune to be caught in a spin.</p>
<p>What was so remarkable about Lindemann’s willingness to expose himself to such a life-threatening manoeuvre was his complete lack of piloting experience. His mathematical calculations indicated that the way to arrest the spin was to initially stop the rotation using rudder and then counterintuitively push the nose down rather than pull it up. </p>
<p>The key point was that any stalled sections of wing had to be returned to normal flight. Once in a vertical dive rather than in a spin, an aircraft can be eased out of the predicament using normal control inputs – assuming the ground doesn’t intervene first, of course. During those initial test flights, Lindemann must have been treading a very fine line between extreme bravery and complete insanity. Clearly his long career after Farnborough shows he trod it extremely well. </p>
<h2>Further breakthroughs – and tragedy</h2>
<p>Not all of the Farnborough set were as fortunate as Lindemann. <a href="http://www.oxfordhistory.org.uk/war/sunningwell/pinsent_david.html">David Hume Pinsent</a> is perhaps more famous for his relationship with philosopher <a href="https://europeancollections.wordpress.com/2016/09/16/ludwig-wittgenstein-and-cambridge/">Ludwig Wittgenstein</a> than for his academic prowess. But he was one of Cambridge’s top mathematicians among the cohort that graduated in 1913 and his work in aeronautics should not be ignored. His aspiration to become a pilot was never realised, but he spent many hours in the air as an observer conducting experiments, notably on aircraft tail loading.</p>
<p>He was a popular choice for this role due to his slight frame, which allowed a plethora of technical equipment to be stashed in the cockpit alongside him. He kept a diary throughout his life that offers personal insight into the nature of his school, university and professional environments and relationships.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181445/original/file-20170808-17173-1aiuvj9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181445/original/file-20170808-17173-1aiuvj9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181445/original/file-20170808-17173-1aiuvj9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181445/original/file-20170808-17173-1aiuvj9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181445/original/file-20170808-17173-1aiuvj9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181445/original/file-20170808-17173-1aiuvj9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181445/original/file-20170808-17173-1aiuvj9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">William Farren and David Pinsent.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pinsent family archive</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I have also held and read the heartbreaking letters in which he reassures his concerned mother about the safety of his airborne exploits. He would die on May 8, 1918, when his DH4 aircraft suffered structural failure during a routine air test.</p>
<p>In August of the same year, the name of <a href="http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?action=printpage;topic=10075.0">Hugh Archibald Renwick</a> was added to the growing list of academic casualties. Renwick had survived a bullet that went clean through his chest while he was in action at the front during the early phase of the war.</p>
<p>The Pembroke College, Cambridge, graduate’s talents in mathematics and engineering were thought too valuable to risk losing by returning him to active duty following his recovery. How ironic that his life would end in a similar fashion to that of Pinsent, when a wing of his RE8 failed at 2,000 feet during a similar air test.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181449/original/file-20170808-20582-6650t3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181449/original/file-20170808-20582-6650t3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181449/original/file-20170808-20582-6650t3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181449/original/file-20170808-20582-6650t3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181449/original/file-20170808-20582-6650t3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181449/original/file-20170808-20582-6650t3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=578&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181449/original/file-20170808-20582-6650t3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=578&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181449/original/file-20170808-20582-6650t3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=578&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Clockwise from top right: Hugh Renwick, F W Aston, Ronald McKinnon Wood, David Pinsent, Herman Glauert, George Thompson, F A Lindemann, Harold Grinsted, William Farren.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There are many other academics I could mention, all of whom contributed in some way to the advancement of British aeronautics. It was certainly an exciting field to work in, but also one fraught with danger, particularly for those who ventured skyward.</p>
<p>As a humble modern-day pilot and mathematician I feel nothing but respect for the contributions and sacrifices of these amazing pioneers of fixed-wing aeronautics. Though they mostly came from civilian backgrounds, the motto of the Royal Air Force applies as much to them as their battling counterparts. <em>Per ardua ad astra</em> – through adversity to the stars.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/76553/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tony Royle does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>On the trail of the men of Britain’s Royal Aircraft Factory, who gave their lives to help create the world’s first air force.Tony Royle, PhD Candidate in History of Mathematics, The Open UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.