Subject: CREW RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 

TRAINING

Date: 1/22/04

Initiated By: AFS-210

AC No: 120-51E

Change:

1. PURPOSE. This Advisory Circular (AC) presents guidelines for developing, implementing, 

reinforcing, and assessing crew resource management (CRM) training for flight crewmembers and 

other personnel essential to flight safety. CRM training is designed to become an integral part of 

training and operations. These guidelines were originally intended for Title 14 of the Code of

Federal Regulations (14 CFR) part 121 certificate holders who are required by regulation to provide 

CRM training for pilots and flight attendants, and dispatch resource management (DRM) training for 

aircraft dispatchers. Fractional ownership program managers, required by 14 CFR part 91, subpart 

K to provide CRM training to pilots and flight attendants, and those 14 CFR part 135 operators 

electing to train in accordance with part 121 requirements, should also use these guidelines. 

Certificate holders and individuals operating under other operating rules, such as parts 91 (apart 

from 

subpart K), 125, and part 135 operators not electing to train in accordance with part 121, and others, 

should find these guidelines useful in addressing human performance issues. This AC presents one 

way, but not necessarily the only way, that CRM training may be addressed. CRM training focuses 

on situation awareness, communication skills, teamwork, task allocation, and decisionmaking within 

a comprehensive framework of standard operating procedures (SOP). 

2. CANCELLATION. AC 120-51D, Crew Resource Management Training, dated 2/8/01, is 

cancelled. 

3. PRINCIPAL CHANGES. Operators of fractional ownership programs under part 91, subpart K, 

are now required to provide CRM training to pilots and flight attendants, and are mentioned in the 

PURPOSE paragraph, above. Under paragraph 12 of this AC, the subparagraph on Briefings has been 

expanded to address safety and security concerns, including evacuation and hijack. A new 

subparagraph under paragraph 16, entitled Crew Monitoring and Cross-Checking, emphasizes the 

critical role of the pilot-not-flying (PNF) as a monitor. Monitoring is always essential, and 

particularly so during approach and landing when controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) accidents are 

most common. Accordingly, previous references to PNF have been changed to pilot monitoring (PM), 

in accordance with government and industry preference. In appendix 3, attempted hijack has been 

included as the most serious level of passenger interference requiring effective crew response, and has 

been included as an appropriate CRM training topic. Minor editorial changes have also been made in 
AC 120-51E 1/22/04 

this revision. Text that has been changed from AC 120-51D is marked with a vertical bar in the left 

margin. 

4. RELATED REGULATIONS (Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations). Part 91, 

section 91.1073; Part 121, subpart N and O, part 135, subparts E and H; sections 121.400-405, 

121.409-422, 121.424, 121.427, 121.432-433, 121.434, 121.440-443, 135.243-245, 135.293-295 

135.299-301, 135.321-331 and 135.335-351; Special Federal Aviation Regulation (SFAR) No. 

58. 

5. DEFINITIONS. The human factors safety challenge and the CRM training response may be 

defined as follows:

a. Human Factors. The multidisciplinary field of human factors is devoted to optimizing human 

performance and reducing human error. It incorporates the methods and principles of the behavioral 

and social sciences, engineering, and physiology. It is the applied science that studies people working 

together in concert with machines. It embraces variables that influence individual performance and 

variables that influence team or crew performance. It is recognized that inadequate system design or 

inadequate operator training can contribute to individual human error that leads to system performance 

degradation. Further, it is recognized that inadequate design and management of crew tasks can 

contribute to group errors that lead to system performance degradation. 

b. CRM Training. The application of team management concepts in the flight deck 

environment was initially known as cockpit resource management. As CRM training evolved to 

include flight attendants, maintenance personnel and others, the phrase “Crew Resource 

Management” was adopted. 

(1) As used in this AC, CRM refers to the effective use of all available resources: 

human resources, hardware, and information. Other groups routinely working with the cockpit 

crew, who are involved in decisions required to operate a flight safely, are also essential 

participants in an effective CRM process. These groups include but are not limited to: 

(a) Aircraft dispatchers. 

(b) Flight attendants. 

(c) Maintenance personnel. 

(d) Air traffic controllers. 

(2) CRM training is one way of addressing the challenge of optimizing the 

human/machine interface and accompanying interpersonal activities. These activities include 

team building and maintenance, information transfer, problem solving, decisionmaking, 

maintaining situation awareness, and dealing with automated systems. CRM training is 

comprised of three components: initial indoctrination/awareness, recurrent practice and 

feedback, and continual reinforcement. 

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1/22/04 AC 120-51E 

6. RELATED READING MATERIAL.

a. AC 120-35B, Line Operational Simulations: Line-Oriented Flight Training, Special Purpose 

Operational Training, Line Operational Evaluation. 

b. AC 120-48, Communication and Coordination Between Flight Crewmembers and Flight 

Attendants. 

c. AC 120-54, Advanced Qualification Program. 

d. AC 120-71, Standard Operating Procedures for Flightdeck Crewmembers 

e. AC 121-32, Dispatch Resource Management Training. 

NOTE: Many ACs may be downloaded free of charge from the following 

FAA public Web site: 

www.faa.gov

Click on Regulations & Policies 

Click on Advisory Circulars 

Free ACs may be obtained by mail from: 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

Subsequent Distribution Office, SVC-121.23 

Ardmore East Business Center 

3341 Q 75th Ave. 

Landover, MD 20785 

f. Guidelines for Situation Awareness Training, NAWCTSD/FAA/UCF Partnership for Aviation 

Team Training. This document may be viewed, downloaded, or printed at the following Web site: 

http://www.faa.gov/avr/afs/train.htm. 

g. Controlled Flight into Terrain Education and Training Aid, Flight Safety Foundation, 

International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and the FAA. This document may be viewed, 

downloaded, or printed at the following Web site: http://www.faa.gov/avr/afs/train.htm. 

h. International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Annex 13 on Human Factors. This 

document may be obtained from ICAO Document Sales Unit, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 514-954-

8022. 

i. For detailed information on the recommendations made in this AC, the reader is encouraged to 

review Crew Resource Management: An Introductory Handbook published by the Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA) (Document No. DOT/FAA/RD-92/26). Additional background material can 

be found in Cockpit Resource Management Training: Proceedings of a NASA/MAC Workshop, 

1987. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Conference Proceedings (CP) 

number is 2455. The National Plan for Aviation Human Factors defines research issues related to 

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AC 120-51E 1/22/04 

crew coordination and training. Copies of the preceding publications may be purchased from the 

National Technical Information Service, U.S. Department of Commerce, 

5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, Virginia 22161. The telephone numbers for National Technical 

Information Service are: (800) 553-6847 (553-NTIS), and (703) 605-6000; fax: (703) 605-6900. 

j. Descriptions of relevant research findings, methodological issues, and organizational experience 

can be found in Helmreich, R.L., and Wilhelm, J.A., (1991) “Outcomes of CRM Training,” 

International Journal of Aviation Psychology, 1, 287-300; in Helmreich, R.L., and Foushee, H.C., 

“Why Crew Resource Management: Empirical and Theoretical Bases of Human Factors Training in 

Aviation”; in Orasanu, J., “Decisionmaking in the Cockpit”; and in Gregorich, S.E., and Wilhelm,

J.A., “Crew Resource Management Training Assessment.” Each of the preceding appears as a chapter 

in E.L. Wiener, B.G. Kanki, and R.L. Helmreich (Eds.), (1993), Cockpit Resource Management, 

Academic Press, Orlando, FL. For more detail on certain evolving concepts of CRM: 

(1) Error management, see: Human Error, J.T. Reason. New York: Cambridge 

University Press, 1990. Also, Management the Risks of Organizational Accidents, J.T. Reason, 

Brookfield, VT, Ashgate Publishing, 1997. 

(2) Advanced crew resource management (ACRM), see: “Developing Advanced Crew 

Resource Management (ACRM) Training: A Training Manual,” Seamster, Boehm-Davis, Holt, 

Schultz, 8-1-98. http://www.hf.faa.gov/products/dacrmt/dacrmt.html. 

(3) Culture issues, see: “Culture, Error, and Crew Resource Management,” book chapter 

from Applying Resource Management in Organizations: A Guide for Professionals, in press. 

(Helmreich, Wilhelm, Klinect, and Merritt) 

(http://www.psy.utexas.edu/psy/helmreich/nasaut.htm). 

(4) Situation awareness, see: “Cockpit Distractions and Interruptions,” Dismukes, Young, 

Sumwalt, December, 1998. http://asrs.arc.nasa.gov/directline_issues/dl10_distract.htm.

7. BACKGROUND. Investigations into the causes of air carrier accidents have shown that human 

error is a contributing factor in 60 to 80 percent of all air carrier incidents and accidents. Long-term

NASA research has demonstrated that these events share common characteristics. Many problems 

encountered by flightcrews have very little to do with the technical aspects of operating in a 

multi-person cockpit. Instead, problems are associated with poor group decisionmaking, ineffective 

communication, inadequate leadership, and poor task or resource management. Pilot training 

programs historically focused almost exclusively on the technical aspects of flying and on an 

individual pilot’s performance; they did not effectively address crew management issues that are also 

fundamental to safe flight. 

a. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the FAA, and many other parties have 

identified SOPs as a persistent element in these problems, which sometimes have led to accidents. 

SOPs define the shared mental model upon which good crew performance depends. Too often, wellestablished SOPs have been unconsciously ignored by pilots and others; in other cases, they have been 

consciously ignored. In still other cases, SOPs have been inadequately developed by the operator for 

use by its pilots, flight attendants, or aircraft dispatchers, or a significant SOP has been omitted 

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1/22/04 AC 120-51E 

altogether from an operator’s training program. The Commercial Aviation Safety Team (CAST), a 

coalition of industry and government organizations, including the FAA, chartered by the White House 

in 1997, has undertaken to reduce the air carrier accident rate by 80 percent by the year 2007. 

Initiatives to improve SOPs and adherence to those SOPs are among the top-priority safety initiatives 

now being implemented by CAST. 

b. Industry and government have come to the consensus that training programs should place 

emphasis on the factors that influence crew coordination and the management of crew resources. The 

need for additional training in communication between cockpit crewmembers and flight attendants has 

been specifically identified. 

c. Coordinated efforts by representatives from the aviation community have produced valuable 

recommendations for CRM training. This collaborative process has occurred under the auspices of the 

Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee (ARAC). ARAC comprises representatives from a broad 

array of aviation organizations, including pilots’ and flight attendants’ associations, aircraft 

manufacturers, government offices, and others. ARAC is chaired by the Director of the FAA’s Office 

of Rulemaking and is subdivided into working groups. One of those working groups is the Training 

and Qualifications Working Group. This AC is one product that has come from that working group 

and represents the sum of many parts. While compliance with this AC is not mandatory, the 

recommendations it contains provide a useful reference for understanding and applying the critical 

elements of CRM training. 

d. Continuing NASA and FAA measurements of the impact of CRM training show that after 

initial indoctrination, significant improvement in attitudes occurs regarding crew coordination and 

flight deck management. In programs that also provide recurrent training and practice in CRM 

concepts, significant changes have been recorded in flightcrew performance during line-oriented flight 

training (LOFT) and during actual flight. CRM-trained crews operate more effectively as teams and 

cope more effectively with nonroutine situations. 

e. Research also shows that when there is no effective reinforcement of CRM concepts by way of 

recurrent training, improvements in attitudes observed after initial indoctrination tend to disappear, 

and individuals’ attitudes tend to revert to former levels. 

8. THE MISSION OF CRM TRAINING. CRM training has been conceived to prevent aviation 

accidents by improving crew performance through better crew coordination. 

9. BASIC CONCEPTS OF CRM. CRM training is based on an awareness that a high degree of 

technical proficiency is essential for safe and efficient operations. Demonstrated mastery of CRM 

concepts cannot overcome a lack of proficiency. Similarly, high technical proficiency cannot 

guarantee safe operations in the absence of effective crew coordination. 

a. Experience has shown that lasting behavior changes in any environment cannot be achieved in 

a short time, even if the training is well designed. Trainees need awareness, practice and feedback, 

and continuing reinforcement: in brief, time to learn attitudes and behaviors that will endure. To be 

effective, CRM concepts must be permanently integrated into all aspects of training and operations. 

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b. While there are various useful methods in use in CRM training today, certain essentials are 

universal: 

(1) CRM training is most effective within a training program centered on clear, 

comprehensive SOPs. 

(2) CRM training should focus on the functioning of crewmembers as teams, not as a 

collection of technically competent individuals. 

(3) CRM training should instruct crewmembers how to behave in ways that foster crew 

effectiveness. 

(4) CRM training should provide opportunities for crewmembers to practice the skills 

necessary to be effective team leaders and team members. 

(5) CRM training exercises should include all crewmembers functioning in the same roles 

(e.g., captain, first officer, and/or flight engineer, flight attendants) that they normally perform in 

flight. 

(6) CRM training should include effective team behaviors during normal, routine operations. 

c. Good training for routine operations can have a strong positive effect on how well individuals 

function during times of high workload or high stress. During emergency situations, it is highly 

unlikely (and probably undesirable) that any crewmember would take the time to reflect upon his or 

her CRM training in order to choose the appropriate behavior. But practice of desirable behaviors 

during times of low stress increases the likelihood that emergencies will be handled effectively. 

d. Effective CRM has the following characteristics: 

(1) CRM is a comprehensive system of applying human factors concepts to improve crew 

performance. 

(2) CRM embraces all operational personnel. 

(3) CRM can be blended into all forms of aircrew training. 

(4) CRM concentrates on crewmembers’ attitudes and behaviors and their impact on safety. 

(5) CRM uses the crew as the unit of training. 

(6) CRM is training that requires the active participation of all crewmembers. It provides an 

opportunity for individuals and crews to examine their own behavior, and to make decisions on how to 

improve cockpit teamwork. 

(a) LOFT sessions provide an extremely effective means of practicing CRM skills and 

receiving reinforcement (see section 121.409 and part 121, appendix H). 

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1/22/04 AC 120-51E 

(b) Audiovisual (taped) feedback during debriefing of LOFT and other training is an 

excellent way for flight crewmembers to assess their skills as individuals and as team members. Bulk 

erasure of taped sessions is suggested to encourage candor among participants while assuring their 

privacy. 

(c) In cases where simulators are not available, crewmembers can participate in group 

problem-solving activities designed to exercise CRM skills. Through taped feedback during 

debriefing, they can then assess the positive and negative behaviors of all crewmembers. 

(d) Crewmembers may also participate in role-playing exercises. Such exercises permit 

practice in developing strategies for dealing with events or event sets, and enable analysis of behaviors 

shown while dealing with them. Again, taping the role-playing exercises is useful for assessment and 

feedback during debriefing. Crewmembers’ abilities can be clearly observed in such areas as 

adherence to SOPs, decisionmaking, teamwork, and leadership. 

(e) Attitude and/or personality measures can also be used to provide feedback to 

participants, allowing them to assess their own strengths and weaknesses. 

(7) Success of CRM training depends upon check airmen, instructors, and supervisors who are 

highly qualified in the operator’s SOPs and specially trained in CRM. 

10. FUNDAMENTALS OF CRM TRAINING IMPLEMENTATION. Research programs and 

airline operational experience suggest that the greatest benefits are achieved by adhering to the 

following practices: 

a. Assess the Status of the Organization Before Implementation. It is important to know how 

widely CRM concepts are understood and practiced before designing specific training. Surveys of 

crewmembers, management, training, and standards personnel, observation of crews in line 

observations, and analysis of incident/accident reports can provide essential data for program

designers. 

b. Get Commitment from All Managers, Starting with Senior Managers. CRM programs are 

received much more positively by operations personnel when senior managers, flight operations 

managers, and flight standards officers conspicuously support CRM concepts and provide the 

necessary resources for training. Flight operations manuals and training manuals should embrace 

CRM concepts by providing crews with necessary policy and procedures guidance centered on clear, 

comprehensive SOPs. A central CRM concept is communication. It is essential that every level of 

management support a safety culture in which communication is promoted by encouraging appropriate 

questioning. It should be made perfectly clear in pilots’ manuals, and in every phase of pilot training, 

that appropriate questioning is encouraged and that there will be no negative repercussions for 

appropriate questioning of one pilot’s decision or action by another pilot. 

c. Customize the Training to Reflect the Nature and Needs of the Organization. Using 

knowledge of the state of the organization, priorities should be established for topics to be covered, 

including special issues, such as the effects of mergers or the introduction of advanced technology 

aircraft. Other special issues might include topics specific to the particular type of operation, such as 

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AC 120-51E 1/22/04 

the specific characteristics that exist in commuter operations, in long-haul international operations or 

night operations. This approach increases the relevance of training for crewmembers. 

d. Define the Scope of the Program and an Implementation Plan. Institute special CRM 

training for key personnel, including check airmen, supervisors, and instructors. It is highly beneficial 

to provide training for these groups before beginning training for crewmembers. CRM training may be 

expanded to combine pilots, flight attendants, and aircraft dispatchers. It may also be expanded to 

include maintenance personnel and other company team members, as appropriate. It is also helpful to 

develop a long-term strategy for program implementation. 

e. Communicate the Nature and Scope of the Program Before Startup. Training departments 

should provide crews, managers, training, and standards personnel with a preview of what the training 

will involve together with plans for initial and continuing training. These steps can prevent 

misunderstandings about the focus of the training or any aspect of its implementation. 

f. Institute Quality Control Procedures. It has proved helpful to monitor the delivery of 

training and to determine areas where training can be strengthened. Monitoring can be initiated by 

providing special training to program instructors (often called facilitators) in using surveys to collect 

systematic feedback from participants in the training. 

11. COMPONENTS OF CRM TRAINING. The topics outlined below have been identified as 

critical components of effective CRM training. They do not represent a fixed sequence of phases, 

each with a beginning and an end. Ideally, each component is continually renewed at every stage of 

training. 

a. Initial Indoctrination/Awareness. 

(1) Indoctrination/awareness typically consists of classroom presentations and focuses on 

communications and decisionmaking, interpersonal relations, crew coordination, leadership, and 

adherence to SOPs, among others. In this component of CRM training, the concepts are developed, 

defined, and related to the safety of line operations. This component also provides a common 

conceptual framework and a common vocabulary for identifying crew coordination problems. 

(2) Indoctrination/awareness can be accomplished by a combination of training methods. 

Lectures, audiovisual presentations, discussion groups, role-playing exercises, computer-based 

instruction, and videotaped examples of good and poor team behavior are commonly used methods. 

(3) Initiating indoctrination/awareness training requires the development of a curriculum that 

addresses CRM skills that have been demonstrated to influence crew performance. To be most 

effective, the curriculum should define the concepts involved and relate them directly to operational 

issues that crews encounter. Many organizations have found it useful to survey crewmembers. 

Survey data have helped identify embedded attitudes regarding crew coordination and cockpit 

management. The data have also helped to identify operational problems and to prioritize training 

issues. 

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1/22/04 AC 120-51E 

(4) Effective indoctrination/awareness training increases understanding of CRM concepts. 

That understanding, in turn, often influences individual attitudes favorably regarding human factors 

issues. Often the training also suggests more effective communication practices. 

(5) It is important to recognize that classroom instruction alone does not fundamentally alter 

crewmember attitudes over the long term. The indoctrination/awareness training should be regarded 

as a necessary first step towards effective crew performance training. 

b. Recurrent Practice and Feedback. 

(1) CRM training must be included as a regular part of the recurrent training requirement. 

Recurrent CRM training should include classroom or briefing room refresher training to review and 

amplify CRM components, followed by practice and feedback exercises, such as LOFT, preferably 

with taped feedback; or a suitable substitute, such as role-playing in a flight training device and taped 

feedback. It is recommended that these recurrent CRM exercises take place with a full crew, each 

member operating in his or her normal crew position. A complete crew should always be scheduled, 

and every attempt should be made to maintain crew integrity. Recurrent training LOFT, which 

includes CRM, should be conducted with current line crews, and preferably not with instructors or 

check airmen as stand-ins. 

(2) Recurrent training with performance feedback allows participants to practice newly 

improved CRM skills and to receive feedback on their effectiveness. Feedback has its greatest impact 

when it comes from self-critique and from peers, together with guidance from a facilitator with special 

training in assessment and debriefing techniques. 

(3) The most effective feedback refers to the coordination concepts identified in Indoctrination/ 

Awareness training or in recurrent training. Effective feedback relates to specific behaviors. Practice 

and feedback are best accomplished through the use of simulators or training devices and videotape. 

Taped feedback, with the guidance of a facilitator, is particularly effective because it allows 

participants to view themselves from a third-person perspective. This view is especially compelling in 

that strengths and weaknesses are captured on tape and vividly displayed. Stop action, replay, and slow 

motion are some of the playback features available during debriefing. Behavioral patterns and 

individual work styles are easily seen, and appropriate adjustments are often self-evident. 

c. Continuing Reinforcement.

(1) No matter how effective each curriculum segment is (the classroom, the role-playing 

exercises, the LOFT, or the feedback), one-time exposures are simply not sufficient. The attitudes and 

norms that contribute to ineffective crew coordination may have developed over a crewmember’s 

lifetime. It is unrealistic to expect a short training program to reverse years of habits. To be 

maximally effective, CRM should be embedded in every stage of training, and CRM concepts should 

be stressed in line operations as well. 

(2) CRM should become an inseparable part of the organization’s culture. 

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(3) There is a common tendency to think of CRM as training only for captains. This notion 

misses the essence of the CRM training mission: the prevention of crew-related accidents. CRM 

training works best in the context of the entire crew. Training exercises are most effective if all 

crewmembers work together and learn together. In the past, much of the flightcrew training has 

been segmented by crew position. This segmentation has been effective for meeting certain training 

needs such as seat dependent technical training and upgrade training, but segmentation is not 

appropriate for most CRM training. 

(4) Reinforcement can be accomplished in many areas. Training such as joint cabin and 

cockpit crew training in security can deal with many human factors issues. Joint training with aircraft 

dispatchers, maintenance personnel, and gate agents can also reinforce CRM concepts, and is 

recommended.

12. SUGGESTED CURRICULUM TOPICS. The topics outlined below have been included in 

many current CRM programs. Specific content of training and organization of topics should reflect an 

organization’s unique culture and specific needs. Appendix 1 offers a set of behavioral markers fitting 

subtopics within each topic cluster. Sometimes overlapping, these markers may be helpful in 

curriculum development and in LOFT design. Appendix 3 gives additional CRM training topics. 

a. Communications Processes and Decision Behavior. This topic includes internal and external 

influences on interpersonal communications. External factors include communication barriers such as 

rank, age, gender, and organizational culture, including the identification of inadequate SOPs. 

Internal factors include speaking skills, listening skills and decisionmaking skills, conflict resolution 

techniques, and the use of appropriate assertiveness and advocacy. The importance of clear and 

unambiguous communication must be stressed in all training activities involving pilots, flight 

attendants, and aircraft dispatchers. The greater one’s concern in flight-related matters, the greater is 

the need for clear communication. More specific subtopics include the following: 

(1) Briefings. Training in addressing both operational and interpersonal issues, and training 

in establishing and maintaining open communications. A captain’s briefings should reaffirm

established SOPs and should address the most threatening safety and security situations. 

(a) Safety. A captain’s briefing should address emergencies that might require an airplane 

evacuation (e.g., cabin fire or engine fire) and should highlight the functions of flightcrew and flight 

attendants during an evacuation. A captain’s briefing should stress to flight attendants the importance 

of identifying able-bodied passengers and briefing them, in turn. Passengers in exit rows are 

particularly important resources, and flight attendants should brief them on what to do during an 

evacuation. 

(b) Security. A captain’s briefing should address general security topics, especially 

hijack, and any known or suspected specific threat pertaining to the flight. Flight attendants should 

identify able-bodied passengers, including exit row seat occupants, and may enroll them as resources 

who might be called upon to help contain a disruption caused by a passenger(s). 

(2) Inquiry/Advocacy/Assertion. Training in the potential benefits of crewmembers 

advocating the course of action that they feel is best, even though it may involve conflict with others. 

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(3) Crew Self-Critique (Decisions and Actions). Illustrating the value of review, feedback, 

and critique focusing on the process and the people involved. One of the best techniques for 

reinforcing effective human factors practices is careful debriefing of activities, highlighting the 

processes that were followed. Additionally, it is essential that each crewmember be able to recognize 

good and bad communications, and effective and ineffective team behavior. 

(4) Conflict Resolution. Demonstrating effective techniques of resolving disagreements 

among crewmembers in interpreting information or in proposing courses of action. Demonstrating 

effective techniques for maintaining open communication while dealing with conflict. 

(5) Communications and Decisionmaking. Demonstrating effective techniques of seeking 

and evaluating information. Showing the influence of biases and other cognitive factors on decision 

quality. There are benefits in providing crews with operational models of this group decision 

process. Crews may refer to these models to make good choices in situations when information is 

incomplete or contradictory. 

b. Team Building and Maintenance. This topic includes interpersonal relationships and 

practices. Effective leadership/followership and interpersonal relationships are key concepts to be 

stressed. Curricula can also include recognizing and dealing with diverse personalities and operating 

styles. Subtopics include: 

(1) Leadership/Followership/Concern for Task. Showing the benefits of the practice of 

effective leadership through coordinating activities and maintaining proper balance between 

respecting authority and practicing assertiveness. Staying centered on the goals of safe and efficient 

operations. 

(2) Interpersonal Relationships/Group Climate. Demonstrating the usefulness of showing 

sensitivity to other crewmembers’ personalities and styles. Emphasizing the value of maintaining a 

friendly, relaxed, and supportive yet task-oriented tone in the cockpit and aircraft cabin. The 

importance of recognizing symptoms of fatigue and stress, and taking appropriate action. 

(3) Workload Management and Situation Awareness. Stressing the importance of 

maintaining awareness of the operational environment and anticipating contingencies. Instruction 

may address practices (e.g., vigilance, planning and time management, prioritizing tasks, and avoiding 

distractions) that result in higher levels of situation awareness. The following operational practices 

may be included: 

(a) Preparation/Planning/Vigilance. Issues include methods to improve monitoring and 

accomplishing required tasks, asking for and responding to new information, and preparing in advance 

for required activities. 

(b) Workload Distribution/Distraction Avoidance. Issues involve proper allocation of 

tasks to individuals, avoidance of work overloads in self and in others, prioritization of tasks during 

periods of high workload, and preventing nonessential factors from distracting attention from

adherence to SOPs, particularly those relating to critical tasks. 

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(4) Individual Factors/Stress Reduction. Training in this area may include describing and 

demonstrating individual characteristics that can influence crew effectiveness. Research has shown 

that many crewmembers are unfamiliar with the negative effects of stress and fatigue on individual 

cognitive functions and team performance. Training may include a review of scientific evidence on 

fatigue and stress and their effects on performance. The content may include specific effects of 

fatigue and stress in potential emergency situations. The effects of personal and interpersonal 

problems and the increased importance of effective interpersonal communications under stressful 

conditions may also be addressed. Training may also include familiarization with various 

countermeasures for coping with stressors. Additional curriculum topics may include examination of 

personality and motivation characteristics, self-assessment of personal style, and identifying cognitive 

factors that influence perception and decisionmaking. 

13. SPECIALIZED TRAINING IN CRM CONCEPTS. As CRM programs have matured, some

organizations have found it beneficial to develop and implement additional courses dealing with issues 

specific to their operations. 

a. After all current crewmembers have completed the Initial Indoctrination/Awareness component 

of CRM training, arrangements are needed to provide newly hired crewmembers with the same

material. A number of organizations have modified their CRM initial courses for inclusion as part of

the initial training and qualification for new hire crewmembers. 

b. Training for upgrading to captain provides an opportunity for specialized training that deals 

with the human factors aspects of command. Such training can be incorporated in the upgrade 

process. 

 c. Training involving communications and the use of automation can be developed for crews 

operating aircraft with advanced technology cockpits, or for crews transitioning into them. 

14. ASSESSMENT OF CRM TRAINING. It is vital that each training program be assessed to 

determine if CRM training is achieving its goals. Each organization should have a systematic 

assessment process. Assessment should track the effects of the training program so that critical topics 

for recurrent training may be identified and continuous improvements may be made in all other 

respects. Assessment of the training program should include observation and feedback by program

administrators and self-reports by participants using standard survey methods. 

a. The emphasis in this assessment process should be on crew performance. The essential areas of 

CRM-related assessment include communications, decisionmaking, team building and maintenance, 

workload management, and situation awareness, always in balance with traditional technical 

proficiency. An additional function of such assessment is to determine the impact of CRM training 

and organization-wide trends in crew performance. 

b. For optimal assessment, data on crewmembers’ attitudes and behavior should be collected 

before CRM indoctrination and again at intervals after the last component of CRM training, to 

determine both initial and enduring effects of the program. The goal should be to obtain an accurate 

picture of the organization’s significant corporate personality traits before formal adoption of CRM 

training, and to continue to monitor those traits after implementation. 

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1/22/04 AC 120-51E 

c. Reinforcement and feedback are essential to effective CRM training. Crewmembers must 

receive continual reinforcement to sustain CRM concepts. Effective reinforcement depends upon 

usable feedback to crewmembers on their CRM practices and on their technical performance. 

d. Usable feedback requires consistent assessment. Crewmembers and those involved in training 

and evaluation should be able to recognize effective and ineffective CRM behaviors. CRM concepts 

should be critiqued during briefing/debriefing phases of all training and checking events. 

e. To summarize, the assessment process should: 

(1) Measure and track the organization’s corporate culture as it is reflected in attitudes and 

norms. 

(2) Identify topics needing emphasis within the CRM program. 

(3) Ensure that all check airmen, supervisors, and instructors are well prepared and 

standardized. 

15. THE CRITICAL ROLE OF CHECK AIRMEN AND INSTRUCTORS. 

a. The success of any CRM training ultimately depends on the skills of the people who administer 

the training and measure its effects. CRM instructors, check pilots, supervisors, and course designers 

must be skilled in all areas related to the practice and assessment of CRM. These skills comprise an 

additional level to those associated with traditional flight instruction and checking. 

b. Gaining proficiency and confidence in CRM instruction, observation, and measurement requires 

special training for instructors, supervisors, and check pilots in many CRM training processes. Among 

those processes are role-playing simulations, systematic crew-centered observation, administering 

LOFT, and providing usable feedback to crews. 

c. Instructors, supervisors, and check pilots also require special training in order to calibrate and 

standardize their own skills. 

d. Instructors, supervisors, and check airmen should use every available opportunity to emphasize 

the importance of crew coordination skills. The best results occur when the crews examine their own 

behavior with the assistance of a trained instructor who can point out positive and negative CRM 

performance. Whenever highly effective examples of crew coordination are observed, it is vital that 

these positive behaviors be discussed and reinforced. Debriefing and critiquing skills are important 

tools for instructors, supervisors, and check pilots. (Behavioral markers of effective LOFT debriefings 

are shown in appendix 2.) 

e. Feedback from instructors, supervisors, and check airmen is most effective when it refers to the 

concepts that are covered in the initial indoctrination/awareness training. The best feedback refers to 

instances of specific behavior, rather than behavior in general. 

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16. EVOLVING CONCEPTS OF CRM.

a. Crew Monitoring and Cross-Checking. Several studies of crew performance, incidents, and 

accidents have identified inadequate flightcrew monitoring and cross-checking as a problem for 

aviation safety. Therefore, to ensure the highest levels of safety, each flight crewmember must 

carefully monitor the aircraft’s flight path and systems and actively cross-check the actions of other 

crewmembers. Effective monitoring and cross-checking can be the last line of defense that prevents an 

accident because detecting an error or unsafe situation may break the chain of events leading to an 

accident. This monitoring function is always essential, and particularly so during approach and 

landing when controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) accidents are most common. (For more information 

on SOPs that promote effective monitoring, see AC 120-71, as revised, appendix 19.) 

b. Joint CRM Training. More carriers are discovering the value of expanding CRM training to 

reach various employee groups beyond flightcrew and flight attendants. Dissimilar groups are being 

brought together in CRM training and in other activities. The objective is to improve the effectiveness 

and safety of the entire operations team as a working system. 

(1) The attacks of September 11, 2001, have caused many restrictions on flightdeck access. 

Among those affected are air traffic controllers, for whom revised access procedures are being studied. 

Pilots may observe operations in air traffic facilities under certain conditions, and are encouraged to 

do so. Using real air traffic controllers during LOFT sessions has also proven beneficial to pilots and 

participating controllers. 

(2) Aircraft dispatchers have functioned jointly with flight captains for years. They have been 

allowed, indeed required to observe cockpit operations from the cockpit jumpseat as part of their 

initial and recurrent qualification under part 121. Some carriers have included day trips to their 

aircraft dispatchers’ offices to provide the pilot insight into the other side of the joint function scheme. 

 Those trips have commonly been part of the special training offered to first-time captains. Now, reallife aircraft dispatchers are increasingly being used in LOFT sessions. The training experience gained 

by 

the pilot and the dispatcher during LOFT is considered the logical extension of earlier training 

methods, providing interactivity where CRM (and DRM) principles are applied and discussed. 

(3) Under certain conditions, maintenance personnel have had access to the cockpit jumpseat 

in air carrier operations under part 121; but that access has come under scrutiny because of security 

concerns following the attacks of 9/11. Training of first-time captains has often included day trips to a 

carrier’s operations control center where a pilot and a maintenance supervisor can meet face to face 

and discuss issues of mutual interest in a thrumming, real-life setting. Some carriers have included 

maintenance personnel in LOFT sessions. Dedicated CRM training courses for maintenance 

personnel have been operating since 1991. 

(4) Even broader cross-pollination of CRM concepts has been considered, using other groups 

such as passenger service agents, mid- and upper-level managers, and special crisis teams like hijack 

and bomb-threat teams. 

Page 14 Par 16 
1/22/04 AC 120-51E 

(5) Flight attendants are probably the most obvious of the groups other than pilots who may 

profit from CRM training. Joint CRM training for pilots and flight attendants is not required by FAA 

regulations, but it is encouraged and has been practiced effectively at some air carriers for years. One 

fruitful activity in joint training has been that each group learns of the other group’s training in shared 

issues. The joint training has revealed inconsistencies between training for one group and training on 

the same topic for another group. Examples of shared issues include delays, the use of personal 

electronic devices in the cabin, evacuation and ditching, and hijack response. When inconsistencies 

are identified between the contents of pilots’ manuals and flight attendants’ manuals, for instance, or 

between widely-held ideas or attitudes in those two populations, those inconsistencies are brought out 

into the open and often resolved. Other specific topics for joint training include: 

(a) Pre-flight briefings; 

(b) Post incident/accident procedures; 

(c) Sterile cockpit procedures; 

(d) Notification procedures (pre-takeoff and pre-landing); 

(e) Procedures for turbulence and other weather; 

(f) Security procedures; 

(g) Passenger-handling procedures; 

(h) In-flight medical problems; 

(i) Smoke/fire procedures; 

(j) Passenger-related regulations such as those relating to smoking (section 121.571), exit 

row seating (section 121.585), and carry-on baggage (section 121.589); and 

(k) Authority of the pilot in command. 

(6) CRM principles are made more relevant for pilots, flight attendants, and other groups by 

treating those principles in a familiar job-related context. Furthermore, each group should benefit 

from concurrent training in CRM that is complemented by usable knowledge of the other’s job. 

(7) Communication and coordination problems between cockpit crewmembers and flight 

attendants continue to challenge air carriers and the FAA. Other measures with positive CRM training 

value for flightcrews are being considered, such as: 

(a) Including flight attendants as participants during LOFT; 

(b) Scheduling month-long pairings of pilots and flight attendants; and 

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AC 120-51E 1/22/04 

(c) Providing experienced flight crewmembers to teach new-hire flight attendant 

orientation classes. 

c. Error Management. It is now understood that pilot errors cannot be entirely eliminated. It is 

important, therefore, that pilots develop appropriate error management skills and procedures. It is 

certainly desirable to prevent as many errors as possible, but since they cannot all be prevented, 

detection and recovery from errors should be addressed in training. Evaluation of pilots should also 

consider error management (error prevention, detection, and recovery). Evaluation should recognize 

that since not all errors can be prevented, it is important that errors be managed properly. 

d. Advanced CRM. CRM performance requirements or procedures are being integrated into the 

SOPs of certain air carriers. Specific callouts, checks, and guidance have been included in normal 

checklists, the quick-reference handbook (QRH), abnormal/emergency procedures, manuals, and job 

aids. This integration captures CRM principles into explicit procedures used by flightcrews. 

e. Culture issues. While individuals and even teams of individuals may perform well 

under many conditions, they are subject to the influence of at least three cultures – the 

professional cultures of the individuals themselves, the cultures of their organizations, and the 

national cultures surrounding the individuals and their organizations. If not recognized and 

addressed, factors related to culture may degrade crew performance. Hence, effective CRM 

training must address culture issues, as appropriate in each training population. 

17. SUMMARY. Effective CRM begins in initial training; it is strengthened by recurrent practice 

and feedback; and it is sustained by continuing reinforcement that is part of the corporate culture and 

embedded in every stage of training. 

/s/ James J. Ballough 

Director, Flight Standards Service 

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1/22/04 AC 120-51E 

Appendix 1 

APPENDIX 1. CREW PERFORMANCE MARKER CLUSTERS 

Italicized Markers apply to Advanced Technology Flight Decks. These behavioral markers are 

provided to assist organizations in program and curriculum development and to serve as guidelines for 

feedback. They are not presented as a checklist for evaluating individual crewmembers. 

1. COMMUNICATIONS PROCESSES AND DECISION BEHAVIOR CLUSTER. 

a. Briefings. An effective briefing is interesting and thorough. It addresses coordination, 

planning, and problems. Although briefings are primarily a captain’s responsibility, other 

crewmembers may add significantly to planning and should be encouraged to do so. 

Behavioral Markers. 

(1) The captain’s briefing establishes an environment for open/interactive communications 

(e.g., the captain calls for questions or comments, answers questions directly, listens with patience, 

does not interrupt or “talk over,” does not rush through the briefing, and makes eye contact as 

appropriate). 

(2) The briefing is interactive and emphasizes the importance of questions, critique, and the 

offering of information. 

(3) The briefing establishes a “team concept” (e.g., the captain uses “we” language, 

encourages all to participate and to help with the flight). 

(4) The captain’s briefing covers pertinent safety and security issues. 

(5) The briefing identifies potential problems such as weather, delays, and abnormal system

operations. 

(6) The briefing provides guidelines for crew actions centered on standard operating 

procedures (SOP); division of labor and crew workload is addressed. 

(7) The briefing includes the cabin crew as part of the team. 

(8) The briefing sets expectations for handling deviations from SOPs. 

(9) The briefing establishes guidelines for the operation of automated systems (e.g., when 

systems will be disabled; which programming actions must be verbalized and acknowledged). 

(10) The briefing specifies duties and responsibilities with regard to automated systems, for 

the pilot flying (PF) and the pilot monitoring (PM). 

b. Inquiry/Advocacy/Assertion. These behaviors relate to crewmembers promoting the course 

of action that they feel is best, even when it involves conflict with others. 

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Appendix 1 

Behavioral Markers. 

(1) Crewmembers speak up and state their information with appropriate persistence until there 

is some clear resolution. 

(2) “Challenge and response” environment is developed. 

(3) Questions are encouraged and are answered openly and nondefensively. 

(4) Crewmembers are encouraged to question the actions and decisions of others. 

(5) Crewmembers seek help from others when necessary. 

(6) Crewmembers question status and programming of automated systems to confirm situation 

awareness. 

c. Crew Self-Critique Regarding Decisions and Actions. These behaviors relate to the 

effectiveness of a group and/or an individual crewmember in critique and debriefing. Areas covered 

should include the product, the process, and the people involved. Critique may occur during an 

activity, and/or after completing it. 

Behavioral Markers. 

(1) Critique occurs at appropriate times, which may be times of low or high workload. 

(2) Critique deals with positive as well as negative aspects of crew performance. 

(3) Critique involves the whole crew interactively. 

(4) Critique makes a positive learning experience. Feedback is specific, objective, usable, and 

constructively given. 

(5) Critique is accepted objectively and nondefensively. 

d. Communications/Decisions. These behaviors relate to free and open communication. They 

reflect the extent to which crewmembers provide necessary information at the appropriate time (e.g., 

initiating checklists and alerting others to developing problems). Active participation in the 

decisionmaking process is encouraged. Decisions are clearly communicated and acknowledged. 

Questioning of actions and decisions is considered routine. 

Behavioral Markers. 

(1) Operational decisions are clearly stated to other crewmembers. 

(2) Crewmembers acknowledge their understanding of decisions. 

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Appendix 1 

(3) “Bottom lines” for safety are established and communicated. 

(4) The “big picture” and the game plan are shared within the team, including flight attendants 

and others as appropriate. 

(5) Crewmembers are encouraged to state their own ideas, opinions, and 

recommendations. 

(6) Efforts are made to provide an atmosphere that invites open and free communications. 

(7) Initial entries and changed entries to automated systems are verbalized and acknowledged. 

2. TEAM BUILDING AND MAINTENANCE CLUSTER. 

a. Leadership Followership/Concern for Tasks. These behaviors relate to appropriate 

leadership and followership. They reflect the extent to which the crew is concerned with the effective 

accomplishment of tasks. 

Behavioral Markers. 

(1) All available resources are used to accomplish the job at hand. 

(2) Flight deck activities are coordinated to establish an acceptable balance between respect 

for authority and the appropriate practice of assertiveness. 

(3) Actions are decisive when the situation requires. 

(4) A desire to achieve the most effective operation possible is clearly demonstrated. 

(5) The need to adhere to SOPs is recognized. 

(6) Group climate appropriate to the operational situation is continually monitored and 

adjusted (e.g., social conversation may occur during low workload, but not high). 

(7) Effects of stress and fatigue on performance are recognized. 

(8) Time available for the task is well managed. 

(9) Demands on resources posed by operation of automated systems are recognized and 

managed. 

(10) When programming demands could reduce situation awareness or create work overloads, 

levels of automation are reduced appropriately. 

b. Interpersonal Relationships/Group Climate. These behaviors relate to the quality of

interpersonal relationships and the pervasive climate of the flight deck. 

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Appendix 1 

Behavioral Markers. 

(1) Crewmembers remain calm under stressful conditions. 

(2) Crewmembers show sensitivity and ability to adapt to the personalities of others. 

(3) Crewmembers recognize symptoms of psychological stress and fatigue in self and in others 

(e.g., recognizes when he/she is experiencing “tunnel vision” and seeks help from the team; or notes 

when a crewmember is not communicating and draws him/her back into the team). 

(4) “Tone” in the cockpit is friendly, relaxed, and supportive. 

(5) During times of low communication, crewmembers check in with others to see how they 

are doing. 

3. WORKLOAD MANAGEMENT AND SITUATION AWARENESS CLUSTER. 

a. Preparation/Planning/Vigilance. These behaviors relate to crews anticipating contingencies 

and the various actions that may be required. Excellent crews are always “ahead of the curve” and 

generally seem relaxed. They devote appropriate attention to required tasks and respond without 

undue delay to new developments. (They may engage in casual social conversation during periods of 

low workload and not necessarily diminish their vigilance.) 

Behavioral Markers. 

(1) Demonstrating and expressing situation awareness (e.g., the “model” of what is happening 

is shared within the crew). 

(2) Active monitoring of all instruments and communications and sharing relevant information 

with the rest of the crew. 

(3) Monitoring weather and traffic and sharing relevant information with the rest of the 

crew. 

(4) Avoiding “tunnel vision” caused by stress (e.g., stating or asking for the “big picture”). 

(5) Being aware of factors such as stress that can degrade vigilance, and watching for 

performance degradation in other crewmembers. 

(6) Staying “ahead of the curve” in preparing for planned situations or contingencies, so 

that situation awareness and adherence to SOPs is assured. 

(7) Ensuring that cockpit and cabin crewmembers are aware of plans. 

(8) Including all appropriate crewmembers in the planning process. 

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Appendix 1 

(9) Allowing enough time before maneuvers for programming of the flight management 

computer. 

(10) Ensuring that all crewmembers are aware of initial entries and changed entries in the 

flight management system. 

b. Workload Distributed/Distractions Avoided. These behaviors relate to time and workload 

management. They reflect how well the crew manages to prioritize tasks, share the workload, and 

avoid being distracted from essential activities. 

Behavioral Markers. 

(1) Crewmembers speak up when they recognize work overloads in themselves or in others. 

(2) Tasks are distributed in ways that maximize efficiency. 

(3) Workload distribution is clearly communicated and acknowledged. 

(4) Nonoperational factors such as social interaction are not allowed to interfere with duties. 

(5) Task priorities are clearly communicated. 

(6) Secondary operational tasks (e.g., dealing with passenger needs and communications with 

the company) are prioritized so as to allow sufficient resources for primary flight duties. 

(7) Potential distractions posed by automated systems are anticipated, and appropriate 

preventive action is taken, including reducing or disengaging automated features as appropriate. 

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1/22/04 AC 120-51E 

Appendix 2 

APPENDIX 2. LOFT DEBRIEFING PERFORMANCE INDICATORS 

The effective line-oriented flight training (LOFT) facilitator leads the flightcrew through a selfcritique of their own behavior and of their crew performance during the simulation. The debriefing 

and crew analysis include both technical and crew resource management (CRM) discussion topics. 

Positive points of crew performance are discussed as well as those needing improvement. At the 

conclusion of the session, key learning points are summarized covering all participants, including the 

instructor. A strong sense of training accomplishment and learning is taken away from the session. 

The following performance markers may be used to evaluate the LOFT facilitator’s performance in the 

debrief/critique phase of LOFT. 

a. Actively states the debriefing and critique agenda and solicits topics from the crew on items

that they would like to cover; sets time limits. 

b. Asks the crew for their appraisal of the mission overall. 

c. States his/her own perceptions of the LOFT while guarding against making the crew defensive. 

 Comments are as objective as possible and focus on performance. 

d. Shows appropriate incidents using videotape of the LOFT session, including examples of 

technical and CRM performance, and selects tape segments for discussion illustrating behaviors that 

feature the crew performance markers. 

e. Effectively blends technical and CRM feedback in the debriefing; does not preach to the crew, 

but does not omit items worthy of crew discussion. 

f. Is patient, and is constructive in probing into key areas where improvement is needed. 

g. Ensures that all crewmembers participate in the discussion, and effectively draws out quiet or 

hostile crewmembers. 

h. Provides a clear summary of key learning points. 

i. Asks the crew for specific feedback on his/her performance. 

j. Is effective in both technical and CRM debriefing. 

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Appendix 3 

APPENDIX 3. APPROPRIATE CRM TRAINING TOPICS 

1. BACKGROUND INFORMATION. 

a. Findings coming from accident investigations have consistently pointed to the fact that human 

errors contribute to most aviation accidents. 

b. Research findings suggest that crew resource management (CRM) training can result in 

significant improvements in flightcrew performance. CRM training is seen as an effective approach to 

reducing human errors and increasing aviation safety. 

c. Aviation safety information is readily available on the Internet. Many Web sites contain 

valuable source materials and reference materials that may be helpful in developing CRM training. 

Web sites commonly link to other Web sites containing related material. Aviation-related Web sites 

maintained by U.S. Government agencies include the following: 

(1) National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), http://www.nasa.gov. 

(2) National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), http://www.ntsb.gov. 

(3) Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), http://www.faa.gov. 

2. TRAINING TOPICS, PRINCIPLES, AND TECHNIQUES. It is recommended that CRM 

training include the curriculum topics described in paragraph 12 of the Advisory Circular (AC) and the 

following topics, principles, and techniques: 

a. Theory and practice in using communication, decisionmaking, and team building techniques 

and skills. 

b. Theory and practice in using proper supervision techniques (i.e., captains working with first 

officers). 

c. Theory and practice in selecting and using interventions needed to correct flying errors made by 

either pilot, especially during critical phases of flight. These interventions may include, but not be 

limited to, communication, assertion, decisionmaking, risk assessment, and situation awareness skills. 

d. During Line Operational Simulation training, information, and practice of nonflying pilot 

functions (i.e., monitoring and challenging pilot functions, and monitoring and challenging errors 

made by other crewmembers for flight engineers, first officers, and captains). Training will alert 

flightcrews of hazards caused by tactical decision errors, which are actually errors of omission. 

Practice in monitoring, challenging, and mitigating errors, especially during taxi operations, should be 

included. These skills are important to minimize procedural errors that may occur as a result of

inadequately performed checklists. 

e. Training for check airmen in methods that can be used to enhance the monitoring and 

challenging functions of both captains and first officers. The check airmen training should include the 

Page 1
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Appendix 3 

message that appropriate questioning among pilots is a desirable CRM behavior and part of the 

corporate safety culture; further, that such questioning is encouraged, and that there will be no 

negative repercussions for appropriate questioning of one pilot’s decision or action by another pilot. 

f. Training for new first officers in performing the role of the pilot monitoring (PM) to establish a 

positive attitude toward monitoring and challenging errors made by the pilot flying (PF). Training 

should stress that appropriate questioning is encouraged as a desirable CRM behavior, and that there 

will be no negative repercussions for appropriate questioning of one pilot’s decision or action by 

another pilot. 

g. Training for captains in giving and receiving challenges of errors. Training should stress that 

appropriate questioning is encouraged as a desirable CRM behavior, and that there will be no negative 

repercussions for appropriate questioning of one pilot’s decision or action by another pilot. 

h. Factual information about the detrimental effects of fatigue and strategies for avoiding and 

countering its effects. 

i. Training for crewmembers that identifies conditions in which additional vigilance is required, 

such as holding in icing or near convective activity. Training should emphasize the need for 

maximum situation awareness and the appropriateness of sterile cockpit discipline, regardless of 

altitude. Scenario-based flight simulator training in ground taxi operations should emphasize 

flightcrew vigilance in avoiding runway incursions. 

j. Training that identifies appropriate levels of automation to promote situation awareness and 

effective management of workload. 

k. Use of autopilot in inflight icing. All flightcrew members should clearly understand their 

aircraft’s susceptibility to inflight icing and should monitor inflight ice accretion by all means 

available. One effective means of monitoring ice accretion might be to disconnect the autopilot at 

intervals, if doing so is consistent with the approved procedures contained in the airplane flight 

manual. 

l. Training for crewmembers in appropriate responses when passengers intimidate, abuse, or 

interfere with crewmember performance of safety duties. Training should address crew coordination 

and actions, which might defuse the situation. See AC 120-65, Interference with Crewmembers in the 

Performance of their Duties, dated October 18, 1996. Training should include specific communication 

topics, such as conflict resolution, with particular attention to the most serious passenger interference, 

attempted hijack. 

m. Line-oriented flight training (LOFT) or special purpose operational training (SPOT) for 

cockpit crewmembers, which addresses appropriate responses to the effects of pitot-static system

anomalies, such as a blocked pitot tube. Emphasis should be on situation awareness, 

inquiry/advocacy/ assertion, and crew coordination, when flight instruments act abnormally. 

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Appendix 3 

n. LOFT or SPOT for cockpit crewmembers that contain a controlled flight into terrain scenario. 

Emphasis should be on prevention through effective communication and decision behavior. The 

importance of immediate, decisive, and correct response to a ground proximity warning should also be 

addressed. 

o. Training for pilots in recognizing cues that indicate lack or loss of situation awareness in 

themselves and in others, and training in countermeasures to restore that awareness. Training should 

emphasize the importance of recognizing each pilot’s relative experience level, experience in specific 

duty positions, preparation level, planning level, normal communication style and level, overload 

state, and fatigue state. Pilots should assess these characteristics actively and continuously, in their 

fellow crewmembers and in themselves. Training should also emphasize the importance that improper 

procedures, adverse weather, and abnormal or malfunctioning equipment may have in reducing 

situation awareness. “Guidelines for Situation Awareness Training” contains expanded guidance on 

cues and countermeasures, and may by viewed or downloaded from the FAA Web site at: 

http://faa.gov/avr/afs/train.htm. 

p. Training in communication of time management information among flightcrew and cabin 

crewmembers during an emergency. Training should stress that the senior or lead flight attendant can 

effectively brief other flight attendants and passengers and prepare the cabin only if the time available 

in the emergency is clearly communicated by the flightcrew. Other information elements that are vital 

in effective time management are the nature of the emergency and any special instructions relating to 

the planned course of action. 

3. APPROPRIATE TRAINING INTERVENTIONS. 

a. The most effective CRM training involves active participation of all crewmembers. LOFT 

sessions give each crewmember opportunities to practice CRM skills through interactions with other 

crewmembers. If the training is videotaped, feedback based on crewmembers’ actual behavior, during 

the LOFT, provides valuable documentation for the LOFT debrief. 

b. CRM training can be presented using a combination of the following training interventions: 

(1) Operator in-house courses. 

(2) Training center courses. 

(3) SPOT. 

(4) LOFT sessions. 

(5) Computer-based training courses. 

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