Pilot communication

[Lunar Landing]

My A' level studies have led me to prepare and perform a presentation on Pilot communication for a duration of 15 mins, with a 5 min question time. Therefore, i must speak 10 minutes about pilot comm. Could anyone please advise me on:. .. .a) the purpose of pilot communication.... .. .b) how the communication is made more effect.... .. .c) any non-verbal communication and how this is effetcive...NVC such as uniform etc.... .. .d) Perhaps what makes a good PA announcment and how the use of paralanguage (how things are said) makes for a good PA <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="smile.gif" /> . .. .MANY thanks in advanced... .. .Smooth skies. .. .Dan <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="smile.gif" />

[Hand Solo]

To make life really easy, buy a book called 'The Naked Pilot', or any specialist aviation book on Human Factors or CRM. Then plagiarise the whole thing for your A-levels. This is a huge field, and asking for tips here is a bit like asking someone to explain quantum physics in 3 easy sentences! Good luck!

[Lunar Landing]

Ok...thanks for your help. I suppose it is abit like quantum mechanics in 3 steps..lol. Just unaware of things pilots can and cant answer in three easy steps... <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="smile.gif" /> . .. .Smooth skies. .. .Dan <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="smile.gif" />

[twistedenginestarter]

Lunar. .. .You seem to be talking about flight crew announcements to passengers. If this is true, step one is to re-title it so your audience see precision in what you are saying. Pilot Communication to the average pilot will get them thinking about CRM (Crew Resource Management) ie how they relate to each other particularly in times of workload stress and emergencies.. .. .Interestingly there is no requirement for passenger announcements, unlike the briefings that cabin crew have to make. . .. .Airlines in general go through the motions. The cabin crew announcements are as cliched as you can get. The flight crew normally have even less of anything to relate. . .. .The general agenda is to establish a role relationship whereby the passenger is subservient but that the crew are meticulously polite in the use of their superior status.. .. .The passengers see the crew as having two primary functions. 1. They professionally guide the aircraft to the destination terminal lounge without loss of the passnger concerned's life in a context of potential sheer terror. Thus the pilot must sound professional and serious. Nobody likes being driven by a joker. 2. They know what is going on, so when uncertainty arises in the mind of the passenger (delays, turbulence etc) they must deal with this without raising too many potential downsides (eg late arrival) that would spoil the passenger experience.. .. .As regards more subtle forms of communication, these days there is little scope for this as the crew rarely come into contact with passengers unless for example there is a need to fix a problem with the in-flight entertainment wiring. . .. .You may want to compare the airline situation with inter-city trains, where similar communications are handled by the guard (aka customer services manager). In fact the airliner's Cabin Services Director is an important (and well paid) position, so it is interesting why they are not allowed this communication responsibility. . .. .I suppose a notable constraint is that passengers just want nothing to happen. I have been in planes where they are being thrown around so much you can't read the instruments but if I am a passenger and the wing bends by 3 inches I get nervous. A go-around and my past-life is projected in front of me. If I hear an unexpected flight crew announcement (and you seldom can) I immediately think it is bad news. So maybe a key factor of crew communication is to minimise it.

[low n' slow]

A good PA announcement is one that is never made.... . What I mean is that many airlines nowadays concentrate on keeping the pax updated at all times, especially during the most critical phases such as pre takeoff, approach and so on.. .This takes vital capacity from the flightcrew and have in some instances resulted in incidents or even accidents. . . And think of it, how do you react when the capt. or his crew announces on the PA? I stop with everything I'm doing and listen to what they're saying to hear if there is something wrong. The most annoying thing is a crew that have set their mind to keeping pax updated, because all they ever say is basically that everything is allright. Pax expect everything to be allright without the crew having to assure them of that fact. They've payed for it! Announcements should be made to . .1) briefly welcome the pax onboard, and. .2) make pax aware of any changes to routine.. .. .Ofcourse it may be seen as good airmanship to keep the pax updated on things, but in big airliners people generally do not need this information as it is taken for granted that everything is as it should. The situation might be different though on smaller aircraft in which you take your friends on a daytrip. Keep them updated and explain what you're doing at a time when it is safe to spare some of you're capacity, that is: not during takeoff and departure or approach and landing. But of course it all depends on your capacity and situation on hand.. . . . Seems like a cramped space of time you've got to present all the important aspects of your topics, and making people understand how it all works.... .. .cheers/lns