Team-Based Human Factors Challenges

 The Infamous Tow Crew

    Human Factors in aviation could be described as the study and application of human capabilities and limitations when interfacing with information technology, equipment, aircraft, and other people.  The FAA has a much more complicated definition that can be found at the site referenced below, but it centers around what humans can do and the limitations they have while carrying out their work (FAA, n.d.).

Towing aircraft is a team sport and I would consider it a team-based aviation activity.  It is a process that is repeated so often, that it can become monotonous, boring, and is often viewed as trivial.  Despite aircraft towing being so simple and monotonous, tow mishaps are a leading cause of Class C (accidents that cost between 50k and 500k dollars) mishaps in Naval Aviation (Eckstein, 2018).

Why do we run aircraft into inanimate objects in the military and civilian sector?  For many reasons:

• Failure to maintain situational awareness.
• Lack of tow driver experience.
• Lack of brake rider experience.
• Many tow events take place during the night check.
• Failure to sound alarm ahead of impacts due to inexperience and fear of reprisal.

There are six individuals required to tow most aircraft in Naval Aviation.  They include a tow director, a tug driver, a brake rider, two wing walkers, and someone to watch the tail of the aircraft.  

These are some of the steps that have been taken to ensure tow evolutions are conducted safely and to minimize human factors that can cause mishaps:

• Tow Brief conducted with Maintenance Control and Quality Assurance before all aircraft movements.
• Ensure all people know their job and what is required.
• Ensure qualification and certification of every person before each movement.
• Use more senior maintainers during complex movements.
• Increase supervision during night check towing evolutions.

By understanding the task at hand and briefing all potential challenges and risks in each tow evolution, many of the human factors that could induce risk can be mitigated.

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References:

Airplanes from the desk of Jesse. (2019, August 10). Aircraft Towing. http://www.libyanarabairline.com/aircraft-towing/

Eckstein, M. (2018, June 22). Less experienced maintainers contribute to rise in Naval Aviation mishaps. U. S. Naval Institute News. https://news.usni.org/2018/06/22/less-experienced-maintainers-contribute-rise-naval-aviation-mishaps

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). (n.d). The Role of Human Factors in the FAA. https://www.hf.faa.gov/role.aspx