It's another to be in an environment that can be really stressful at times. To reduce that stress, students in aviation human factors are taught to work as a team with other crew members. They face cockpit simulations that include, for example, mechanical problems such as a tire blowing out, an engine failing or the landing gear not going down. Also, flight technology has improved to such a degree that 95 percent of the accidents that occur are due solely to human error, Emanuel said. The focus now has become how to reduce that percentage.
Students earn flight certificates after they complete a two-year flight training program.
If a person wants to fly commercially, they have to have a four-year degree. Before the creation of the aviation human factors program, students who wanted a bachelor's degree had to transfer to a college within the University. Before, I had to declare another major, and I wasn't really interested in most majors offered at the University. Nero said the training he is getting in the program can't be found anywhere else. Koenig said graduates in aviation human factors will be in great demand.