doi: 10.5028/jatm.2010.

02038110

Ana Maria Vieira

Technological Institute of Aeronautics
Communication skills: a mandatory
São José dos Campos – Brazil
[email protected] competence for ground and
Isabel Cristina dos Santos* airplane crew to reduce tension in
extreme situations
University of Taubaté
Taubaté- Brazil
[email protected]
Abstract: Communication skills have been considered a strategic asset for
*author for correspondence any kind of organization. However, technical-oriented enterprises usually
emphasize the virtues of a cluster of technical competences and technological
resources availability. So, this paper aimed to discuss communication skills
development beyond technical communication in a high technology and
technical-based operation, such as ground and flight operations. To do so,
this article describes some tragic-ending cases in commercial aviation in
which the poor quality of interpersonal communication was identified as
the one of the most influential causes of the aircraft, or at least that was
seen as a compelling force for creating the perfect backdrop for a disaster
involving civilian aircrafts. Methodological procedures were basically
addressed to a qualitative approach, supported by a documental research
considering some of the most documented cases of aircraft accidents
reported by the Aviation System Safety Report, issued by Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA), USA, as well as reports of accidents provided by The
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), USA, and by the Center for
Aircraft Research and Prevention (Cenipa), Brasil.
Keywords: Airplane operations, Communication skills, Flight safety,
Managing risks.

INTRODUCTION been implicated in up to 80% of aviation accidents in the

last 20 years”.
As estimated by the Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA), human error accounts for 60-80% of accidents
A recent study performed by Kutz (2000) has detected
and incidents of flight (FAA, 2004). And the dysfunctions
a significant deficiency in the aviation community’s
related to human communication appear as substantial
ability to communicate. To overcome this gap, the
part of the causes highlighted by the Aviation Safety
author recommends that communication skills should
Reporting System (ASRS), the FAA system that collects
be developed from the basic writing skills, including
voluntarily submitted aviation safety incident/situation
grammar, spelling and punctuation up to interpersonal
reports from pilots, controllers, and others.
relationship.
According to research conducted by Sexton and
Although the Corporate Resource Management (CRM)
Helmreich (2000), since the creation of ASRS, over
may have both positive and detectable effects on the
70% of these reports have directly or indirectly accused
behavior of the crew, its failures continue to be the cause
problems associated with failures in interpersonal
pointed in almost aviation accidents (Wiegmann and
communications. The authors concluded that an effective
Shappell, 2001).
communication system is not enough to overcome the
lack of technical competence in flight operations. But, on According to Shapell et al. (2006, p. 3), “preconditions
the other hand, they also found that technical competence associated with aircrew were also frequently observed
is not sufficient to prevent the catastrophic effects of poor within the accident record. For instance, crew resource
communication. management failures were identified in nearly one out
of every five air carrier accidents examined. Even more
Krifka, Martens and Schwarz (2003, p. 1) postulate that interesting, the nature of the CRM failure differed between
“factors related to interpersonal communication have the two commercial operations. That is, whileover
60% of the CRM failures associated with air carrier
Received: 03/07/10 accidents involved “inflight” CRM failures (inflight crew
Accepted: 22/08/10 coordination, communication, monitoring of activities,

J. Aerosp.Technol. Manag., São José dos Campos, Vol.2, No.3, pp. 361-370, Sep-Dec., 2010 361
 Vieira, A.M.; Santos, I.C.

etc.), over 80% of the CRM failures observed during although the CRM training is sufficient to adjust
commuter operations involved “preflight” activities (such behaviours and attitudes, according to Helmreich, Hines
as planning and briefing). and Wilhelm (1996, p. 5), “not all of its provisions have
left the classroom to reality”.
CRM training has shown to be efficacious for pilots, flight
attendants and ground staff, but when viewed separately, Due to the problems raised by the referenced authors,
according to Baron (2010). “Unfortunately, in real flight this article aimed to discuss the relevance of training
operations, there are cognitive and physical factors that cause communication as a skill of social interaction to follow the
these disparate groups to work less than efficiently between training of all professionals in aviation field throughout
their groups, particularly when a cohesive environment is the course, identifying the students’ individual skills (not
critical, such as in an emergency”, says Baron. (2010, p. 1). only when they are hired by airline companies and get
CRM training), in order to mitigate these errors related to
What are the possible causes of communication failures? communication skills and thus improve flight safety.
CRM training is provided by airline companies, focusing
on the performance of employees as members of a team.
Professionals of this area believe that any feature of COMMUNICATION SKILLS
management resources, such as CRM training, has strong
Communication is the main tool of relationship
roots in individual performance. For this reason, there
technologies, able to generate best life quality and
is the need to insert the subject “communication skills”
safety in the work environment. According to Harms
in aviation courses, in which the level of individual
(2005), in the Operations Safety Program Manager of
communication skill should be the focus of development.
FAA, communication is a personal responsibility. One
This is because everything starts in the individual and,
of the factors that contribute to error control is effective
if the individual does not possess such skill, previously
communication. Most of us have never received any
developed and assimilated, knowing beforehand his/
formal training on effective communication when we
her own strengths and weaknesses, it will become very
learned how to fly except for radio communication.
difficult for him/her to think and interact in group, as
oriented by the CRM philosophy.
The concept of communication skills expresses social
and interpersonal skills. In literature, these terms tends
If future aviation professionals are not trained and
to be used interchangeably. Some scholars have tried
evaluated on their interpersonal communication and
to differentiate among these terms; however, such
social skills, that is, in the significant involvement with
distinctions have not been widely recognized, according
others, the result will be, very often, that this professional
to Greene and Burleson (2003).
will represent a serious latent failure, when accepted by
an airline company. “Perhaps no other essential activity
Communication skill, according to Wiemann (1977)
is as vulnerable to failure through human error and
is the ability of choosing between different available
performance limitations as spoken communication”.
communicative behaviors, those that successfully fulfill
(Monan, 1988, p. 3).
their own interpersonal goals. Brooks and Heath (1993)
defined the process by what information, meanings and
If the ground staff and air crew have not learned, assimilated
feelings are shared by people through the exchange of
and developed their individual necessary communication
verbal and nonverbal messages.
skills, how will they know to properly use the communication
tools needed in the practice of their profession? It would be
In academic and professional spheres, the term
like building the roof before the house. That is, the air crew
“communication skills” reflects the verbal and nonverbal
needs to master this skill, learned and developed in the course
competence, written and social strategies, used to interact,
they attended, before being hired by an airline company.
influence and solve problems within the group (Dickson
Without this ability, the CRM will not be efficient, because
and Hargie, 2004).
communication is the key tool to use available resources
(human resources, equipment and information) that interact
in this situation. The ability of communication supports The importance of communication skills in aviation
CRM, by providing means to achieve the team’s situational safety
awareness, problem solving, distributing the workload and
many other management functions. “There is a general agreement about the importance
of interpersonal communication in technological
A training program of two or three days does not change environments and the need for training these skills
immediately inappropriate habits that have been acquired (sometimes called non-technical skills) to complement
since the beginning of professional training. Furthermore, the technical education” (Klampfer et al., 2001, p. 5-6).

362 J. Aerosp.Technol. Manag., São José dos Campos, Vol.2, No.3, pp. 361-370, Sep-Dec., 2010
Communication skills: a mandatory competence for ground and airplane crew to reduce tension in extreme situations

Johnston (2003, p. 2), from the Aerospace Psychology of communication skills. Believing that communication
Research Group, said that “emergencies are rare; skills can be taught and improved, aiming at more assertive
however, abnormal situations are common in aviation. future doctors who know how to communicate effectively
An abnormal situation, if not properly addressed, can with patients and colleagues, Lloyd et al. (1996, p. 6)
become an emergency situation”. When operations are no emphasize that this learning process should begin as soon
longer routine, action planning, the process of delegating as the students enter to the medical school, and should
responsibility and monitoring of tasks should be fully continue throughout the course.
explained by an accurate and timely communication.
Failures in interpersonal relationships make the team’s Some studies developed states in which students who
synergy difficult, especially in emergency situations, receive training are better at communicating with patients
affecting the decision-making process and also making than untrained students. Another question must be asked.
the task of delegating functions more difficult. Are the skills which these students acquired through training
retained, or are they lost over a period of time? As part of
A research conducted by Segrin and Flora (2000) showed these studies, the same experimental design was carried out
how communication skills can generate benefits in on both groups, four to six years later. These studies showed
people’s lives. Those with higher levels of skills deal with that the doctors who had received communication training as
stress more easily and are more resistant to the harmful students retained their skills. They were more empathic, more
effects of a risk, while individuals with few skills suffer a self-assured, and had better communication skills, including
worsening of problems when faced with stressors. the use of an open style of questioning and responding to
verbal cues. “The conclusions are that communication skills
The need to start training communicative skills in the can be learned, and doctors who receive training retain the
initial stage of preparatory courses is similar to the training skills” (Lloyd et al., 1996, p. 5).
requirements of football players. We must first determine
what specific needs should be developed to work in teams. Medical students now must demonstrate technical
The abilities of each professional in the field of aviation proficiency, and have a new nationwide test of
are different as in a football team (for example, goalkeeper, communication skills to become a doctor. “The Skills
center forward, forward etc.). Each one has to develop Exam, administered by the National Board of Medical
specific skills and understand his or her importance within Examiners and the Federation of State Medical Boards,
the team to the best performance; otherwise, it may result is the latest addition to the Medical Licensing Exam”
in waste of time teaching skills they already have or will (Fromm, 2004, p. A03).
not be as useful and end up not really developing skills
that are needed or need improvement. This article proposes that the same line of thinking used
in the training of medical professionals should be applied
Hawley, administrator of the U.S. Transportation Safety, in the training of aviation professionals, integrated
believes that the evolution of security at airports currently training of communication skills, consistently, since the
focuses on the social skills training of agents. Part of beginning. In aviation, as well as in hospitals, training of
this training is geared towards maintaining a calm state communication skills are crucial in emergency situations
of mind and the recommendation to ensure an organized where the interaction among the group is essential,
working environment in order to reduce the occurrence especially because it often requires that teams be helped
of aggressive approaches in the way of speaking and by members of several other sections and strategic groups
behaving, mitigating the disruption which may provide of the company, as well as members of external agencies.
answers disproportionately violent, as in the case of
terrorist actions (Sharkey, 2008). There is a clear need to review the position of the flight
schools that, in general, consider the technical content of
In contrast to the industrial operations, where teams their responsibility, not having, however, the same attitude
work with the same people over months or years, the about the formation of non-technical skills, which depend
flying commercial crew works with a different team in on the perception of the student’s need and his/her effort
each flight as well as medical staff who also work with to overcome. In this case, the development of students
different people in stressful environments, such as the will occur within their skills, getting on the margins of
surgical centers. “Therefore, we can make an analogy with the development of subjective character skills, such as
the medical professionals and the flying crew” (Spencer, discernment, decision making and social interaction,
1976, p.1177-1183). which will be critical in circumstances of intense risk.

Recent researches have shown that the overheated Flight Safety Foundation (2009) believes that technical and
atmosphere of an operating room generates enormous non-technical aspects of flight operations are just like two
problems, and almost all of them are the result of lack sides of a coin, and we cannot evaluate them separately.

J. Aerosp.Technol. Manag., São José dos Campos, Vol.2, No.3, pp. 361-370, Sep-Dec., 2010 363
 Vieira, A.M.; Santos, I.C.

So the first rule of this principle is that the technical skills knowing how to interpret what is written and knowing
and techniques should be considered together. That is how to correctly write what should be done.
why it is important to change the traditional teaching and
training for a more holistic assessment of students. Poor instructions normally impose loads on working
memory which are unnecessary to understand the meaning
of the text; in this case, there is the danger of ambiguity,
Written communication skills and its importance to the working memory is challenged to discover the correct
aviation safety meaning of the instructions and run the risk of the message to
be misunderstood, which, in aviation, can mean a disaster.
Taylor and Thomas (2003) highlight the importance
of written communication in airline in all modes of An example of poorly written communication can be seen
communication operating in such a system. The authors in the crash of ValuJet. The manager who prepared the
see the written message at the core. The property of documentation of oxygen cylinders to send to the ValuJet
maintaining security within an airline is directly related to headquarters in Atlanta, USA, wrote “Oxy Canisters” and
how this company is structured to keep the communication then wrote “Empty”. The commander relied on the flight
flows that support the processes of decision-making. manifest, and believed that as the cylinders were empty,
Inadequate or poorly constructed documents could he was not violating FAA regulations prohibiting the
compromise security, create resentment and cause transport of hazardous materials in cargo aircraft.
embarrassment. In an industry with very high risk, such
as aviation, internal communication should be used as a The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)
tool to generate safety and interaction. determined that due to the pressure difference, the oxy
cylinders, which were without the protective cover, have
In aviation schools, writing activities do not represent become true blow-torches, causing a fire and killing all its
the writing form expected by the aviation business, and occupants.
students are not successfully trained to write reports or
other documents that are important to their tasks. Ruiz In his work for an insurance company against fire,
(2004) argues that the writing assignments in flight schools MacNeal (1997) has analyzed hundreds of reports
need to realistically reflect the types of communication involving accidents. At first, he considered only the
these professionals will find when they perform their physical conditions, such as faulty wiring, but it became
functions. clear that the linguistic meaning, residing in the name or
linguistic description commonly applied to the situation
Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) reports, from was affecting people’s behavior. The word “empty”
July 1998 to March 2002, showed that in 1,182 maintenance inevitably suggests a lack of danger. Its default language
incidents and accidents, around 8% had communication as is associated with zero, void, negative, inert. The word
one of their contributing factors. Failures in transmitting “empty”, used in the analysis of physical situations,
information may result in greater errors. does not take into account, for example, steam or traces
scattered in the container.
The work cards depict the work to be done and serve as a
mean of documenting their completion in order to allow a Due to the fact the aircraft is a high-technology product,
release to service (RTS). which requires a very distinctive cluster of human
resources qualification to work in aircraft and in the
The study “Shift Turnover Related Errors in ASRS airport operations, it is difficult to accept the fact that a
Reports”, conducted by Parke, Patankar and Kanki single misunderstood word can result in an air disaster, as
(2003), showed the work cards as a contributing factor previously explained.
in a much higher proportion of incidents involving
turnover communication problems. This fact suggests that Flight schools should offer specific training in risk
increasing the completeness and correctness in writing communication and specific training in improving written
will result in a significant reduction in shift turnover communication included in the curriculum, calling
communication problems. attention to the characteristics of texts, since they influence
the interpretation. In this case, where human lives are at
The aircraft maintenance is an ongoing process carried stake, students should be trained to develop specific skills
out between shifts; thus, asynchronous communication of written communication; they should know with whom
(where there is a lag time between the responses) is used they are communicating, what message they are sending
to a greater extent than synchronous communication (real and through what channels, what are the obstacles and
time). During the professional training, it is important that noises of the process, and what effects it produces in the
one be trained in this specific form of communication, safe operational flight.

364 J. Aerosp.Technol. Manag., São José dos Campos, Vol.2, No.3, pp. 361-370, Sep-Dec., 2010
Communication skills: a mandatory competence for ground and airplane crew to reduce tension in extreme situations

VERBAL COMMUNICATION PROBLEMS behaviors, producing significant improvements in the

preparation of aviation professionals since their training,
The NTSB and the Transportation Safety Board of Canada
and developing the ability to communicate more assertively,
have both found out that inadequate operational control
not based on “what” people say, but “how” they say.
and inadequate collaborative decision making have been
contributing factors in air carrier accidents. The greatest
If the training is carefully planned to mitigate the problems
causes of these accidents happen due to a lack of vision
caused by the negative effects of communication skills
of the joint responsibility of pre-flight planning, necessary
related to strong patterns of cultural behavior (e.g. not to
among all those involved. Many problems encountered
question top decisions, to speak more than necessary, not
by flight crews and aircraft dispatchers have very little
to do with the technical aspects of flight operations. comply with norms and standards etc.) it will certainly
Instead, most problems are associated with ineffective transcend negative regional influences to the profession
communication (FAA, 2005). and compete for the creation of an standardized assertive
behavior. Cultural habits that may negatively influence
In his book Fatal Words: communication clashes and communication skills can be tracked in an attempt to
aircraft crashes, Cushing (1995) raised the main problems transform incongruent behaviors in job performance skills
of communication in aviation: that can contribute to develop a safer flight environment.

Much of what we take for granted about language

and communication in everyday life is simply false. The hearing perceptive development to detection of
The processes through which people communicate red flags
and understand each other are much more complex
than they superficially appear to be. Training should Two important elements in human communication are
include some sophisticated discussion of the social verbal expression, or speech, and non-verbal expression,
and cognitive aspects of these processes and the or body language. We believe it is the power of verbal
ways these aspects can interact to lead the processes persuasion that makes the speaker credible, but actually
themselves awry. (p. 90). what most influences the credibility is body language. In
other words, the best way to listen is through our eyes. And
According to the International Civil Aviation Organization when visualization is not possible, as in the case of radio
(ICAO), between 1976 and 2000, more than 1,100 passengers communication, the ear should play the role of the eyes.
and crew lost their lives in accidents where language issues
played a contributory role (Mathews, 2004). “Speech conveys more than syntactic and semantic
content of the sentence. It also has prosodic cues that are
Eurocontrol (2006) organized in Europe a survey used by speakers and listeners to express and decode the
among pilots and air traffic controllers to evaluate the spoken message” (Mozziconacci, 2002).
communication problems. The survey revealed a large
number of reported occurrences of problems of air-ground The communication skills training must sensitize students
communication in Europe between March 2004 and April to hear beyond the voice. It must instruct them to detect
2005. Problem areas reported included communication speech variations and develop their hearing perceptive
loss (due to change of frequency, sleeping VHF radio capacity to establish the following prosodic aspects: voice
receivers and equipment failure) and readback errors/ quality, pitch, volume, articulation, speech rate, rhythm
hearback (because of call signs similar expectations of and pauses. The ability to detect and interpret these non-
the pilot, changing frequency). Language (accent, speech verbal resources is essential for safety communication,
rate, ambiguous phrasing) was involved in a number and can serve as an efficient method to evaluate the
of communication problems and could generate major emotional variables present in the conversation, and to
problems if not corrected by the crew or controller. increase understanding of these variations in the way
verbal language is used.
It is crucially important to conduct research in each country
in order to provide an effective survey, which allows While it is clear that the intonation, stress and changes in
studying the emotional, cognitive, structural variables, and the rhythm of the pilot and the controller’s voices contain
the components present in the communication process, in valuable information, according to Karlsson (1990), little
order to increase understanding of these variations in the or no training of prosodic analysis is performed in training
way language is used. Through this research, like the place courses. Bolinger (1986) reported that intonation is a
in Europe by Eurocontrol, it would be possible to isolate phenomenon that interests not only linguists, but also all
aspects of effective communication from the negative ones professionals working with communication, for whom the
that present themselves for training aspects and specific emphasis of an utterance is as important as its content.

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 Vieira, A.M.; Santos, I.C.

There are a significant number of voice qualities that are perceptive sensitivity (observation, interpretation and
universal in all human cultures, according to Karlsson action) is a proactive tool and should be developed and
(1990). The training goal of the hearing perceptive is trained in all courses for aviation professionals, for an
to increase sensitivity and create greater awareness in effective risk management.
order to detect the red flags and understand their impact
on security of communication. Developing this ability Associate visual perceptive sensitivity in the first-aid
is particularly important when it comes to facilitate the training may be helpful. It should also be involved in
processes of prevention and/or resolve misunderstandings. illegal acts, emergencies and also for technical training.
The expectation is that the hearing perceptive training For example, when pilots are doing flight simulation
will develop in students a more professional approach, training, they can detect signs of tiredness, nervousness
focused on their security tasks in the future. and anxiety in the other pilot. They can therefore assess
whether he or she is able to perform or not a landing, or
Nevile (2006), in his study entitled “Communication perform any other task.
in context: a conversation analysis tool for examining
recorded voice data in investigations of aviation
occurrences”, shows the importance of analyzing the LACK OF COMMUNICATION SKILLS IN
recorded conversation by the cockpit voice recorder AVIATION: CASE STUDIES
(CVR) for aviation investigations, in order to increase the
level of understanding that researchers can obtain from a For the present article, we have used some excerpts from
voice recording. the CVR, compiled from the NTSB. We have also used
the Aviation Safety Reporting System database, which
Conversation analysis (CA), proposed by Nevile (2006), is the largest repository of voluntary, confidential safety
should be used by investigators after the air crash/incident information of the world provided by officials from the front
during the transcription of CVR. However, our proposal line of aviation, including pilots, controllers, mechanics,
is to develop this sensitivity in aviation professionals flight attendants and dispatchers. Such narratives are rich
through training perceptual evaluation of communication sources of information for policy development, research,
(PEC) that must be developed in schools of aviation for human factors, education and training. In these researched
accident prevention. sources, we have used reports that indicate the occurrence
of communication skills.

Nonverbal communication The case reported below shows a communication problem

between the cockpit and the flight attendants during an
According to McHenry (2008), from Global Jet Services abnormal situation, which, due to a lack of communication
Inc., a U.S. aviation training company, 93% of the content skills, could turn an emergency into a fatality.
of a message is nonverbal, and the words represent only
7%, while body language represents 55%, and tone, 38%. Upon arr acft was met by fire and emer vehicles. It was
not until i deplaned and asked a fireman what was going
The goal of the communication skills training (CST) is on that I was told that our #1 eng was on fire as we
to make certain elements, such as the appropriate choice taxied in. Why, as flt attendant, were we not told? Why
of words and gestures, an unconscious competence. Thus, were we not debriefed? Why did we not stop immediately
we can learn to control what our bodies say as well as and evac? This is poor communication and does not
the messages sent through words. There are common represent the safety professional image we were taught.
occasions when someone may convey a non-consistent The capt spent more time berating the purser as pax
verbal message: the words suggest an interpretation, but deplaned than informing and assuring the pax and flt
body language depicts a different scenario. attendants as to the situation. (ACN 714718).

The understanding of nonverbal signs (anger, fear, The most common examples of problems in communication
anxiousness, suspicion or sickness) is crucial to our during emergencies involve the flight crewmembers
orientation and safe resolution. Reading body language not informing the flight attendants of the nature of the
requires training and practice, so the CST might develop, emergency, the time available to prepare the cabin, and the
in the future, professionals with ability to observe, necessary special instructions, for example, to use only one
interpret and take correct decisions to properly reduce side of the aircraft in the evacuation. “This problem has
tension, conflict and crisis. arisen several times, despite instructions in flight manuals
to relay such information to the flight attendants” (FAA,
The key to understand nonverbal behaviours is to observe 1988, p. 1). The quality and timing of the information
them in the context in which they occur. The visual given to the flight attendants is extremely important in an

366 J. Aerosp.Technol. Manag., São José dos Campos, Vol.2, No.3, pp. 361-370, Sep-Dec., 2010
Communication skills: a mandatory competence for ground and airplane crew to reduce tension in extreme situations

emergency. Communications from the flight crew should The pilot not flying is an aggressive communicator,
be clear, precise, and instructional. A vague description whose goal is to dominate the other. Its main features
of the situation without specific instructions may be are: dominance, coldness, authoritarianism, intolerance,
misinterpreted and result in valuable time being misspent. disregard for the person who is in a dependency position,
The timing of the information transfer is as important as and hostility. Communicators adopt aggressive behaviors
the quality of the information. to defend their rights, downplaying the rights of others.
Pressure obliges viewers to react against their own wills
When there is a break in the communication flow, or downplay the abilities of others.
especially in an extreme situation, this loss can be
interpreted as a failure and lead people to believe they According to Del Prette and Del Prette (2004), a person
are considered inferior in office and, for this reason, not who has low level social skills can cause flaws in the
included in the exchange of information. balance of a positive and mutual communication. The
main consequence would be the onset of aversive behavior
[….] I then wanted the Pilot Not Flying to show me to the others involved.
the plot he made that proved we had passed the ETP.
He did not say a word and stared at the plotting chart. The pilot who was in command, on the other hand, is a
He then threw the chart at me and said ‘You do it.’ passive communicator, whose goal is to please others, order
Perplexed at that, I plotted our location and we were to avoid conflicts. His weaknesses are: difficulty in solving
over an hour before reaching our ETP. At this time the problems, inability to self-assertion, poor self-esteem and
cabin altitude began to fluctuate again, and I told the anxiety. The passive communicators avoid expressing
Pilot Not Flying to ask for a lower altitude again. The opinions, easily submitting themselves to others.
Controller asked if we declare ‘Pan Pan,’ and I said to
say yes and we need time to advise. I decided to offset In CST, students learn how to identify the various styles of
4 miles right off course until we worked out a decision communication effectiveness and even identify their own
and prepared to descend further. I told the Pilot Not style and apply techniques to improve their assertiveness.
Flying to declare an emergency and request a descent
to FL320. He refused to declare an emergency and told Behavior changes according to time and situation. This
me to do that myself as well. The cabin altitude began finding confirms the idea that we can change a behavior
climbing again so I started a descent to FL320. I got if we perceive it is not worth; in other words, it does not
on the radio declared an emergency and descended satisfy our needs.
to FL320. At that altitude we were able to maintain
cabin pressure. I told the Pilot Not Flying to get back CST may help to develop assertive behavior which
on the radio and request clearance to return. The Pilot enables one to deal with the conflict with greater ease and
Not Flying then asked to return to ZZZ2. The Radio satisfaction, feel less stressed, gain greater confidence.
Controller first cleared us direct XXXXX. I knew Then one can act with more tact, improve his/her
XXXXX was too far and told the Pilot Not Flying to ask image and credibility, express his/her disagreement in
for a revised clearance towards ZZZ2. The Controller a convincing way, but without sacrificing relationship,
then re-cleared cleared us direct ZZZ2. In conclusion, besides resist the attempts of manipulation, threats,
before the event occurred, the Pilot Not Flying ‘who is emotional blackmail etc. and make others also act with
also my employer’ had been sitting in the cabin with greater assertiveness.
the Flight Attendant doing nothing to assist me with
the Oceanic crossing and was lost when I needed him CST will develop in students their innate abilities and
most. During this flight I realized the importance of skills to practice effective communication in difficult
CRM and situational awareness of both pilots. If I situations. In these situations, it is important that such
hadn’t plotted our route and maintained situational professionals have already explored their feelings about
awareness I would have listened to the Pilot Not Flying these issues and developed through training a skilled
and continued and possibly run out of fuel with no behaviour for conflict resolutions.
alternate airport for landing. One way to prevent this
in the future is to make sure the Pilot Not Flying has The excerpt below is part of the final report concerning
been trained properly and knows how to assist the Pilot the accident on September 29, 2006, in Brazil, involving a
Flying with important duties. (ACN 818908). regular air transport aircraft and another executive one.

In the case above, we see two different styles of The controller, by having mistakenly understood or not
communication effectiveness, or better, opposed to a having understood, felt himself uncomfortable to ask again
situation of cross communication. and did not respond to the pilot’s question. This initial lack

J. Aerosp.Technol. Manag., São José dos Campos, Vol.2, No.3, pp. 361-370, Sep-Dec., 2010 367
 Vieira, A.M.; Santos, I.C.

of knowledge was the first link of the events chain that Instead of calling the attention of the flight controller for
arose during the flight, which resulted in an accident. the lack of an adequate response, the pilot chose not to
clarify the altitude and went on performing the readback,
PILOT: key, frequency one two six decimal one five, neglecting to mention the lack of information about the
One three three decimal five for alternate. And what altitude to be maintained during takeoff execution.
initial altitude for clearence?
When callers did not seek to resolve such discrepancy,
ATC: ahn..., say again, please? in which there is divergence between the question asked
and answer that did not happen, they are communicating
PILOT: altitude for take-off? without using the skills of critical thinking, which is also
part of the CST.
ATC: eh.... clear taxi to holding point runway one five,
and report ready for take-off. The perceptual evaluation of communication (PEC) aims to
sensitize students to hear beyond the voice. Red-flag words
PILOT: okay, clear taxi to holding point one five, six sometimes cause minor differences or misunderstandings.
zero zero x-ray lima. (Cenipa, 2008, p. 52) When a listener disagrees or feels a reaction of uncertainty
from the transmitter as, for instance, a different tone, a
In the dialogue transcribed above, the pilot asked about his question rather than an assertion, even silence, which may
initial altitude. The controller uses a marker of hesitation mean a hesitation, he/she should immediately clarify the
at the beginning of his response, signalling a red flag situation before too late.
that he had not understood or was in doubt (“ahn...”),
and then makes more general questions indicative of an In the narratives below, the reporters specifically
understanding failure, used in aviation, denoting that referred to deficient communication in the form of work
the listener had not understood the wording of what he cards, maintenance manuals, logbooks, and turnover
was told, and asked the transmitter to repeat (“Say again, documentation. They have better written documentation
please?”). improving communication especially in the work cards,
since it would dramatically reduce communication
The repetition of the phrase (“Say again, please?”), by the problems.
controller, means a request for clarification. It is evident
that there is a difficulty in understanding what was spoken. Synopsis: Callback conversation with rptr revealed
The pilot, therefore, should have repeated the question in the following info: reporter stated the cabin pressure
a clear and paused voice, as follows: “What initial altitude controller on the dhc-100 is also the computer for
for take-off?” When you receive the answer, consider this system. The lack of communication between the
whether this corresponded to what was asked. avionics group and the quality control inspectors,
including the wording used on their maint write-
The ability to process communication means that up form for the pressure controller, contributed to
the information needs of pilot/ATC will be properly inspection not accomplishing the required pitot/static
interpreted. Communication ambiguities can be resolved leak check rii inspection. (ACN 803646).
through a standard routine of active listening, which means
to investigate and ask for clarification when and if it is Synopsis: A B767 was dispatched with an interim
necessary to prevent misunderstanding and fatal errors. repair that required progressive inspections. Inspection
was accomplished but deferred item was not updated
In the above situation, the controller did not answer the in logbook or acft maint history. Communication
question of the pilot. There was a tangential response, between the depts was not adequate and there was no
the controller recognized the other in the communication follow-up between the 2 depts. (ACN 681898).
process, but did not answer the substance of what was
asked. Synopsis: A B737-500 during a ‘b’ chk upper wing
fasteners were found corroded and written up by an
inspector. Engineering wrote up a repair that was in
The pilot, at that very moment, realizing that there
conflict with the inspector’s write-up. (ACN 628475).
was no answer to his question should have called the
attention of the controller for this failure. Pilots and
controllers can avoid misunderstandings by providing
CONCLUSION
timely information to each other in advance and asking
again when they notice a lack of information, besides This paper can be identified as an experience report,
confirmation or correction. whose central objective was to present a proposal to

368 J. Aerosp.Technol. Manag., São José dos Campos, Vol.2, No.3, pp. 361-370, Sep-Dec., 2010
Communication skills: a mandatory competence for ground and airplane crew to reduce tension in extreme situations

integrate communication as a skill of social interaction topic for further training, enabling students to become
in the curriculum of all schools focused on aviation, as proficient in this vital part of their work. Inefficient
a requirement for certification of the student, in order communicators increase the possibility of human error.
to mitigate these errors related to communication skills,
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