PRIVATE PILOT JUDGEMENT TRAINING IN FLIGHT SCHOOL SETTINGS

Pilot judgment errors have long been recognized as an important factor in aviation accidents. Previous studies have demonstrated that specialized training procedures can significantly reduce the number of decision errors made by newly certified private pilots during in-flight tests. However, the subjects in these studies were all college-age students enrolled in full-time aviation training programs that were taught by highly motivated instructors. The present study examined the utility of revised judgment training materials with typical private pilot applicants in conventional flight school settings at ten fixed base operations within the Federal Aviation Administration's Eastern Region. The performance of a sample of subjects who received judgment training was compared with that of a control group drawn from the same fixed base operations. The behavioral test of judgment was in the form of an observation flight administered by observers who were uninformed of the details of the experimental design. Students and instructors also completed a critique of the program materials. The results of the study suggest that improvements in pilot decision making skills can be achieved in the less formal instructional climate that characterizes many conventional flight school programs. The revised judgment training program and instructional materials are acceptable to the user community, and most participants found them to be very useful.