situational awareness how to gain and maintain it

Situational AwarenessSituational Awareness Situational AwarenessSituational Awareness

How to gain and maintain it How to gain and maintain it

Gaining and Maintaining Situational AwarenessGaining and Maintaining Situational Awareness 1.HP_02_Vis_SA1.HP_02_Vis_SAPage 2

Gaining and Maintaining Situational AwarenessGaining and Maintaining Situational Awareness

1. What is Situational Awareness ?

2. Gaining Situational Awareness

• Gathering data

• Understanding

• Thinking ahead

3. Maintaining your Situational Awareness

4. Improving your Situational Awareness


Good airmanship requires pilots to have good situational Good airmanship requires pilots to have good situational

awareness; it is the basis for decision making and action.awareness; it is the basis for decision making and action.

The most frequent causal factor of all accidents (41 percent) was The most frequent causal factor of all accidents (41 percent) was

lack of positional awareness in the air.lack of positional awareness in the air. UK CAA Global Fatal Accident Review 1980 -1996

The second most common primary causal factor was “lack of The second most common primary causal factor was “lack of

positional awareness in the air,” generally resulting in controlled positional awareness in the air,” generally resulting in controlled

flight into terrain (CFIT).flight into terrain (CFIT). Flight Safety Digest November 1998–February 1999. Special FSF Report: Killers in Aviation:

Why Situational Awareness ? Why Situational Awareness ?




• Gathering data

• Understanding

• Thinking ahead





What is Situational Awareness ?What is Situational Awareness ?

The perception of elements in the environment, within a volume of time and space,

The comprehension of their meaning

and

The projection of their status in the near future

What happened ?What happened ?

Where am I ?Where am I ?

What is happening ?What is happening ?

What could happen ? What could happen ?


Elements of Situational Awareness Elements of Situational Awareness

Source : Aircrew Incident Reporting Scheme (AIRS) Model

InformationalInfluences

PersonalInfluences

EnvironmentalInfluences

OrganizationalInfluences

Crew Actions &

Behaviours

Environmental Awareness

Mode Awareness

Spatial Orientation

Time Horizon

System Awareness


Three Levels of Situational Awareness

Understanding the situation Understanding the situation

triggers decision making, triggers decision making,

action and reviewaction and review

Feedback, check, monitorFeedback, check, monitor

We have to see and sense : PERCEIVE1

Scanning Scanning

Gathering dataGathering data

1

UnderstandingUnderstanding

Comparison with Comparison with

mental modelsmental models

2

Thinking aheadThinking ahead

Updating the modelUpdating the model

3

2 We need to understand what was actually seen: COMPREHEND

3 We have to use what we have understood to think ahead : PROJECT

Seek and gather data (sensing)

Combine data into meaningful information (perception)

Understand what the information means (comprehension)

Use your understanding to think ahead and reconsider the plan (projection)

Situational awareness describes the pilot’s knowledge of what Situational awareness describes the pilot’s knowledge of what

is going on around him — where he is, his orientation, what is going on around him — where he is, his orientation, what

mode the aircraft is in and what other people are doingmode the aircraft is in and what other people are doing

Where do we want to go?

Where Are We NowHow Can We Improve Our Situational

Awareness ?Where have we been?

Assessment of your Situational Awareness




• Gathering data

• Understanding

• Thinking ahead





Build the mental model by :- scanning the important aspects of our surroundings - comparing them with experiences and knowledge in memory

Plane – Control

Path – Navigation

People – Self and Others

Manage – System and Situation

Gathering data : What to look for and when

People

Path

Plane

FutureNowSituational

Awareness

SCAN

EVALUATEANTICIPATE

CONSIDER

Evaluate all aspects …Evaluate all aspects … Plane, Path, People Plane, Path, People


Gathering data : Learning what to ‘see’What to search for – driven by the need for the information

When to look at specific information, phase of flight or event timing

Where the information can be found, source and reliability

Why the information is relevant to the circumstances

Know what’s important and why Having more data doesn’t mean more information Manage the task of scanning Balance scan time with quality of information Use procedure-based scans Avoid interruptions Don’t rush

Some Tips …

Some Tips …


Gathering data : Failing to ‘see’

Actively seek new data, use alternative sources where data are not available or difficult to detect

Scanning and observing require discipline

Be aware of visual illusions (senses to pick-up g’s - !!??)

Do not ‘expect’ to see something

Sometimes you see only half of the pictureSometimes you see only half of the picture

but need all of it to understand the situationbut need all of it to understand the situation


Understanding - Creating the mental model

Mental models are formed by :

The combination of knowledge and experience recalled

from memory, and

The perceived information from the real world

Memory Recall

Training

Knowledge

Experiences


Real World Searching

Plane, Path, People

What, When, Where,

Why

Understanding - Creating the mental model

Mental models are formed by :

The combination of knowledge and experience recalled

from memory and

The perceived information from the real world


Compare and update our mental models with the real world

When matching, understanding of the situation is achieved

UnderstandingUnderstanding

of the situationof the situation

External attentionInternal attention

Memory MentalRecall Model

Training

Knowledge

Experiences

Real World Searching

Plane, Path, People

What, When, Where,

Why

Understanding – Comparison and Analysis


Understanding improves with experience :

more memory situations (patterns and associations) developed for comparisons

Check all aspects of the mental model

How does the situation compare with “the plan”

How does the situation compare with previous situations

WhenWhen Understanding : Organize! Control your Understanding : Organize! Control your thinking!thinking!

WATCH IT !WATCH IT !

Most frequent Situational Awareness errors Most frequent Situational Awareness errors

(1/3)(1/3) occur in situations where the information existed occur in situations where the information existed

but was left unattended, usually but was left unattended, usually

because of distractionbecause of distraction


Information may be misinterpreted : Poor mental model

Failure to recognize the mental model needs to change

Control thinking process

Question yourself, monitor yourself, be aware of your own situationQuestion yourself, monitor yourself, be aware of your own situation

Do Not Assume. CHECK !Do Not Assume. CHECK !

When NOT When NOT Understanding : Watch Out !


An accurate understanding of the situation is essential for planning ahead

Thinking ahead prepares for decision makingThinking ahead prepares for decision making

Thinking Ahead – Projection

Stay ahead of the airplane :

Anticipating is projecting the current

situation into the future

Standard procedures allow you to

anticipate what other crew members will do

in a given situation

Planning :

All crew members build their situation

awareness on common planning


ActionGoal Result

PlannedAction

AnticipatedResult

Feedback

Perceive

Understand

Think Ahead

Situational

Awareness

Situational Awareness & Decision Making

Decision Making Loop


Set time or place markers for rechecking the situation

Confirm that the future situation agrees with the plan

Set priorities regarding the current situation

Rules

Standard Procedures

Set priorities for thinking

Workload

Attention Task

500 ft: Speed < Vref + 20

Check height, flight path

Next: Threshold, < Vref +15

1000 ft: Speed < Vref + 20

Check height, flight path, configuration

Next: 500 ft, wind / tailwind check

Threshold: < Vref + 15, height 50 ft

Next: touchdown speed

and position

Thinking Ahead – in practice


Consider contingencies

Manage awareness of other crewmembers

Recognize typical threat scenarios:Recognize typical threat scenarios: Rushed briefings and checklistsRushed briefings and checklists Rapidly changing weatherRapidly changing weather Last leg of the day Last leg of the day Runway changeRunway change Unstable approach Unstable approach

Failing to Think Ahead – “What If ?”




• Gathering data

• Understanding

• Thinking ahead





Maintaining Situational Awareness

Monitor, Focus and Direct your AttentionScan: Plane, Path, People = 3Ps

Anticipate, Stay Ahead of the AirplaneConsider ‘what if’

What don't we know that we need to knowWhat don't we know that we need to know

What do they know that I need to knowWhat do they know that I need to know

What do I know that they need to know What do I know that they need to know

What are we not paying attention toWhat are we not paying attention to

Focus on the right information at the right time

Keeping the priorities straight is a constant challenge


Fly the aircraft:

Take over

Change automation level

Go back to the last stable situation

Check navigation, speed, height

Plane, Path, People

Clues to the loss of awareness

Losses in Situational Awareness may occur during

DODO

Ask questions:

of your self

of others

of the situation

Periods of high workload

Periods of multi-tasking

Preoccupation with other tasks

Inadequate feedback from crewmembers

Periods of stress

Interactions with automated systems


Go to the nearest safe, simple and stable situation; follow procedures

Assess the current situation with different data

Go back to the last thing you were sure of

Avoid fixation on a past problem

Take time to think

MAX SPD VLE =200 KTS

3

S F

FLYFLY NAVIGATENAVIGATE COMMUNICATECOMMUNICATE

MSG-/-

EMERG

RECALL

Active CTL: OAKLAND KZAK

REQUEST

TAT 51 °C

SAT 36 °C

GWCG

GW

37.5 %

370 000 KG

ISA +5 FOB 30 000 KG

23 H 56

FUEL

CRUISE

AIR

LDG ELEV AUTO 510 FT

CAB V/S FT/MIN

50

21 TO 24

21 TO 23

22

22

TOTAL 138 200

F. USED

45 400 42 200 45 300 45 300 KGx1000

KG/HFF

203020302030 2030

CAB ALT 3500 FT

P 10.5 PSI

OVHT

MANAGEMANAGE

Recovering Situational Awareness

The Golden Rules:


Mental effortto stay in control of the aircraft

Mental resourcesto control actionsactions

Mental resources

to control Situational AwarenessSituational Awareness

Pay attention to mode transitions Monitor and learn from them

Recovering Situational Awareness




• Gathering data

• Understanding

• Thinking ahead





Improving your Situational Awareness Control your thinking

Preparation Anticipation

Know your boundaries – how close to the edge of safety do you operate ?Know your boundaries – how close to the edge of safety do you operate ?

Prepare and review

Notice and perceive

Understand and interpret

Project and think ahead

Communicate

Manage stress and workload

Gathering and Checking

Knowledge Behavior


Improving your Situational Awareness

Preflight planning is more than fuel and flight path. Visualize actions, consider all

threats, know tasks required for each flight phase, distribute your workload evenlyPlan Plan

Actively seek information from available reliable sources

Clarify anything that seems ambiguousScanScan

Develop a systematic scanning pattern shifting your attention from the aircraft,

to the flight path, to the people around you, then back to the aircraftPay AttentionPay Attention

Take time to consider the possibility of something going wrong

Constantly ask yourself “what if,” and develop contingency plans Anticipate Anticipate

Manage interruptions and distractions

Set yourself reminders for tasks that may become either forgotten or interrupted Remind Remind

Has your awareness become vague?

Communicate, refresh and confirm the information you’ve gathered CommunicateCommunicate

During and after flight, honestly assess your performance based on preflight

planning, identify areas where you felt uncertain or confused EvaluateEvaluate


SituationAwarenes

s

ThreatManagement

Perceive

Comprehend

Project

Trap

Mitigate

Avoid

Relating theory to operation, the legacy of ESSAI:

Enhanced Safety through Situation Awareness Integration

in training


Scan to seek informationScan to seek information

Know what is important, when, and where to find it

Plane, Path, People 3Ps

Check understandingCheck understanding

Real world

Memory

Plan aheadPlan ahead

What if

Cross Check

Manage your attentionManage your attention

Summary : Gain and Maintain Situational Awareness

Fly, Navigate, Communicate, Manage the situationFly, Navigate, Communicate, Manage the situation

… …then decide !then decide !

situational awareness how to gain and maintain it

Documents

situational awareness1

situational awarenessgaining

good situational awareness

situational awarenesswhat

lack of positional awareness

comprehension q

data sensing q

specific information