Avionics News April 2018 - 12

In this monthly column, Ric Peri of the AEA's Washington, D.C., office, informs members of the latest regulatory updates.

B Y

R I C

P E R I
A EA V I C E P R ES I D E N T O F G OV E R N M E N T & I N D U ST RY A F FA I RS

What were
you thinking?
W

hat were you thinking? Growing up, I heard
that expression on a regular basis, whether it
was after one of my failed attempts to imitate
Evil Knievel with a bicycle jump across a few milk cartons,
staying out too late on a school night, or failing a test in high
school. My mother would routinely ask me: What were you
thinking?
Some 50 years after my daredevil career, I am reminded of
that phrase every time there is an accident or incident. We are
trained, capable and competent, and yet we make mistakes.
Why? Why does a competent person make the mistakes necessary to cause an accident? I think it comes down to what you
were thinking, and where your mind and thoughts were. Most
likely, not on the task at hand.
Sometimes, the question is in response to not being adequately prepared for the task at hand. How many times have
we felt compelled to do something and yet failed to adequately
prepare? While we possess the general capabilities, we lack the
specific knowledge, skills or abilities for the task, and yet we
feel internal or external pressure to continue. What pressures us
to take the risk? Is it internal or external? Do we assume others expect it of us and therefore feel compelled to push though,
wing it, get the job done at all cost?
Or is the pressure real? Pressure from our boss, supervisor, co-workers? Time pressures, cost pressures, leadership
pressures, career pressures? What work pressures lead us to
take risk?
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avionics news

april

2018

It is nearly impossible to completely ignore the work pressures, whether real or imagined. The current task is running
long, has had a few unexpected setbacks, and the promised
delivery date is now in the rear-view mirror. The owner was
expecting the aircraft yesterday and you have a new task to
finish. You have been assigned to complete a task that you are
only slightly familiar with but don't feel like you can take the
time to self-train or refresh yourself on the nuances of this task,
so you go from memory - and hopefully, it's good enough.

Why does a competent person
make the mistakes necessary to
cause an accident?
Sometimes, we choose the tool at hand rather than the correct tool. What we have in our toolbox is "good enough" for
what we need to do. It would take too long to go get the correct
tool. Maybe it's secured and we don't have the access necessary to get it, so we improvise, adjust and overcome. Maybe
the test set that is easily accessible tests the most-common
parameters even though the maintenance manual might call out
a more-complete test. Experience tells you that the manufacturer's instructions are overkill, so you use your expertise to do
just enough.
What were you thinking?

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News April 2018