How It Goes Off The Rails

According to Dismukes and his researchers in a presentation, The Hidden Complexity of Cockpit Operations, conventional wisdom tells us pilots become accustomed to concurrent task demands, interruptions, distractions and disruptions while the truth is pilots routinely manage multiple, competing, concurrent task demands just fine. At least until theres an interruption. The presentation lists four situations when pilots are vulnerable to omissions when performing routine tasks:

Key Takeaways:

• Pilots are generally skilled at managing multiple, concurrent task demands, but their vulnerability to omissions increases significantly when routine operations are disrupted.
• Key situations that lead to pilot omissions include interruptions (e.g., ATC distractions), performing tasks out of their normal sequence, and encountering new or unanticipated tasks.
• Attempting to interleave or multitask too many activities simultaneously, especially when self-imposed, further heightens the risk of errors and oversights.

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