So why is communication so important here — Page 252, Lesson 414

I want to walk you through the opening of the Communication and Cooperation chapter. This is a critical topic because, as the book states, the majority of all civilian aircraft accidents are caused by human error. In fact, back in 1997, over 70% of all civilian aircraft accidents in which fatalities occurred involved a perfectly serviceable aircraft being flown into the ground — that's Controlled Flight Into Terrain, or CFIT. And the book notes there appears to be no significant improvement in recent years. So why is communication so important here? With the tendency for the modern airliner to reduce the flight deck crew complement to just two operating pilots, and with computers increasingly taking over functions that crew members used to do, there is an ever-increasing emphasis on crew cooperation and communication to ensure the safe operation of all flights. Let's start with a simple communications model. The introduction to this model begins with Paul Watzlawick’s first axiom of communication, which states that "one cannot not communicate." That means no matter how you try, you must communicate. Activity or inactivity, words or silence — all have message value. They influence others, who in turn cannot not respond to these communications, and are thus themselves communicating. Mere absence of talking or taking notice is no exception. Let me give you the example the book uses. The man at a crowded lunch counter who looks straight ahead, or the aircraft passenger who sits with their eyes closed — both are communicating that they do not wish to speak to anyone or to be spoken to. Their neighbours normally "get the message" and respond appropriately by leaving them alone. This is just as much an interchange of communication as an animated discussion. Now, the simplest model to represent communication would consist only of a transmitter sending a message to a receiver. But the book says this model would be far too simple to represent the wealth and variety of interhuman communications. So what are the basic requirements for any meaningful information to be passed? There are four key points here. First, the transmitter and receiver must speak the same language. Even the same native language would not necessarily suffice in cases where an expert in one field is attempting to pass information to an individual who has no knowledge of the subject. Second, sentences should be correctly formed and, where possible, unambiguous. Third, gestures and attitudes should duplicate the spoken word and either strengthen or weaken the contents. Fourth, interference or noise levels must be such that clear communication is possible. The message to be decoded by the receiver is the sum of all verbal and non-verbal expressions. With radio communications, the non-verbal aspects are lost — and the book references Metacommunications for more on that, which we'll get to later. Now, let me bring in the diagram that goes with this. This figure is labelled "Figure 14.7 Protected and vulnerable systems" — it's a visual that will help you see how these communication concepts apply in the cockpit environment.