TOWARDS THE ZERO ACCIDENT GOAL: ASSISTING THE FIRST OFFICER MONITOR AND CHALLENGE CAPTAIN ERRORS

Second, a database can be made of the M&C score and the corresponding error
rate (intentional or not) during the rest of the simulation. The expected result would be
a strong correlation of the M&C rate with the unchallenged captain error rate. If this is
proved to be the case, the M&C rate can be used as a predictor of the error rate and a
checklist such as the on in Appendix I could be used, if the economics permit, during an
actual take-off to prevent crews in which the captain can make unchallenged errors from
taking off.

Third, the regular use of M&C optimization will serve to create a norm for what
orders can be given, and to encourage critical evaluations of future orders throughout
the flying organization.

If one accepts the figure of 20% of all airplane accidents as being due to
inadequate M&C of the captain by the first officer, optimizing the authority level of the
captain could lower the total number of serious airplane accidents by as much as 20%.

CONCLUSION

The captain-first officer relationship in the airplane cockpit was related to the
obedience studies of Milgram. It was shown that many of the factors leading to human
errors in the cockpit are similar to ones that were present in the Milgram obedience
experiments including the lack of monitoring and hesitant challenging. In addition, the
organizational context, values from the corporate and military cultures, and regulations
may have created a captain role with too much power.

It was emphasized that the amount of the M&C has an optimal value and that this
value should be sought after. M&C optimization is an application of the Milgram

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