Behaviour and Motivation — Page 176, Lesson 280

I want to walk you through a critical topic in aviation psychology: situational awareness. This builds directly on the idea we just discussed — that our perceptions don't always match reality, and that we have a strong tendency to interpret events in a way that fits our hopes and desires. Let me start with that powerful example from Malaysia. A Boeing 747 on approach flew through the tops of rubber trees. The pilots heard the noise of the strike, but they interpreted it as an engine surge. Now, why would they do that? Because an engine surge is a mechanical event — something that happens to the aircraft, not something the pilots did wrong. A low approach that hits trees is a pilot error, a blameworthy event. So their minds chose the explanation that was less threatening, the one that matched their wishes. It took physical evidence — foliage found in the undercarriage — to convince them they had actually been too low. That's a perfect illustration of how powerfully our hopes and desires can distort our perception. Now, let's define situational awareness properly. It's the process of maintaining an accurate mental model of your environment — where perception matches reality. In other words, you are aware of what is actually happening, not what you hope or assume is happening. The degree of situational awareness depends on several factors: your vigilance, your alertness, the quality of communications, your overall comprehension of the situation, and the briefing the crew has conducted. Here's a crucial point I want you to remember: situational awareness is not just about being aware of what's happening outside the aircraft and inside the cockpit. It also includes being alert to your own personal performance state — how well you yourself are functioning at that moment. Are you tired? Distracted? Overconfident? That self-awareness is part of situational awareness. Perception is incredibly powerful, whether it's correct or flawed. There are documented cases where a pilot's situational awareness was completely wrong, but the perception was so overwhelming, so convincing, that the pilot actually ignored aircraft warnings telling them their actions were wrong. The warning system was correct, but the pilot's flawed perception overrode it. That's how dangerous a false mental model can be. Let's look at the factors that can interfere with situational awareness. The most important ones are: - Stress — any source of pressure or anxiety. - Interruptions to the thought process — being pulled away from a task before you finish it. - Fatigue — physical or mental tiredness. - Hopes, wishes and desires — exactly what we saw in the Malaysia example. - Poor communications — unclear, incomplete, or misunderstood exchanges between crew members. - Boredom — under-stimulation that reduces alertness. Now, how do you know when you or a crew member is losing situational awareness? There are clear cues. Let me list them: - Confusion — a general sense of not being sure what's going on. - Fixed concentration on a single item or factor — tunnel vision, where you focus on one thing and ignore everything else. - Hurried speech or actions — rushing because you feel behind or pressured. - Rushing checks or procedures — skipping steps or doing them too fast. - Straying from approved procedures — deviating from the standard way of doing things. - Taking short cuts — trying to save time by omitting steps. - Abnormal impatience or mood swings — unusual irritability or emotional changes. - Sudden decline in flying skills — a noticeable drop in the quality of your aircraft handling. - Tendency to ask leading questions of other crew members — questions that suggest the answer you want, rather than asking openly for information. - Unexplained discrepancies between instruments — two instruments showing different readings and you can't figure out why. - Unusual timing — for example, being 20 minutes ahead of a waypoint when you shouldn't be. - Unexpected results to actions — you do something and the aircraft doesn't respond the way you expected. - Small and unexplainable events seem to be incomprehensible — minor things that normally wouldn't bother you suddenly feel impossible to understand. - A sensation that "something feels strange" — a sense of unexplained concern or disquiet, that gut feeling that something isn't right. Any one of these cues should be a red flag. If you notice them in yourself or in another crew member, it's time to stop, reassess, and actively work to rebuild accurate situational awareness.