DISTRACTIONS & INTERRUPTIONS IN COCKPIT

Why do they occur??

As per Airbus Briefing notes, the following

are the main reasons identified:

·      Communications

·      Head down activity

·      Abnormal condition or unanticipated situation

When do they occur??

They occur during high workload times, such as during pre-flight preparation, taxi for takeoff, approach  preparation, during briefing prior to descent, descent, during approach, and landing phase.

How can it be addressed??

It can be addressed by robust procedures and policies and adherence to them.

During pre-flight, there is a lot of activity around the cockpit and this is the crucial time that the  interruptions due ground personnel, load and trim sheet, fuelling and techlog  activity, cabin crew coordination, passenger boarding,and so on tend to throw the crew away from the task at hand. Thrust should be on regaining the thread effectively from where it was left and pick it up. Most airline procedures advocate going back to the beginning of the checklist to resume, once the checklist is interrupted.
Crew have made errors in entering wrong load sheet data, due to distraction or interruptions, which in some cases have lead to incidents/accidents.

                     

Also, noted is the case of Eastern L1011 crash at Everglades, which was due to distraction of crew from primary task due to landing gear light bulb malfunction.

What are industry line of defense to counter this??

• ·     Company SOP
• ·     Company policy
• ·     Effective communication
• ·     Sterile cockpit below 10,000ft AAL in flight, and during ground operations
• ·     CRM