PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Border between being assertive or arrogant/rude
Old 13th October 2008 | 09:40
  #50 (permalink)  
mikehammer
 
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 387
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From: Scotland mainly, rather than at home.
I understood CRM was an attempt to rule out the situation where, as for example in the case of the Tenerife collision, the PNF does not feel unable to speak up when they feel something is dangerous.

In the above example of weather avoidance and the subsequent insolence from the FO, my opinion is that he had no business interfering: there is no danger in a 30 mile avoidance, and certainly no grounds for disobeying a direct order from the Captain. As I recall from lectures, there remains a gradient of authority in the flightdeck, and, whilst it is not supposed to be so steep as to lead to danger in the rare circumstance such as Tenerife where the Captain made the wrong decision, it remains nevertheless a gradient. Authority still of course is in place, that's why there is a commander and a FO.

If the FO in question was puzzled, then explaining (after first following the order) something along the lines of it probably being due to his own inexperience, but would 15 miles have been enough, would most likely result in a good explanation and even the FO may have learned something.

Most, if not all of the time a polite discussion will nomally put something straight in the head of a less experienced pilot. Nobody minds sensible questions, how else will we learn? However taking unilateral decisions usurping the authority of the commander, unless he is about to kill you - and you better be sure of that, is not acceptable and is not the aim of CRM.

As has already been stated, this is not an area of CRM. The M stands for management, there was no management in this example: only conflict.
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