The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued a proposed rule that would require all certificate holders conducting operations under Part 135 to include in their flight training programs crew resource management (CRM) for crewmembers, including pilots and flight attendants.
The proposed rule would affect operators of both single and dual pilot fixed-wing airplanes and helicopters The notice of proposed rulemaking continues a precedent established by the 1995 CRM mandate for Part 121 airlines. The NPRM is open for comment through July 30.
‘This proposal is needed to ensure that crewmembers in Part 135 operations receive training and practice in the use of crew resource management principles, as appropriate for their operation,” the NPRM states. The proposed rule responds to National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommendations, address a recommendation from the Part125/135 Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC), and would codify current FAA guidance.
“The intended effect of this proposal is to reduce the frequency and severity of errors that are crew based, which will reduce the frequency of accidents and incidents within the scope of Part 135 operations,” the NPRM continued.
The FAA studied 268 accidents from 1997 through 2008 and found that 24 were “directly related to ineffective CRM,” accounting for 83 fatalities and 12 serious injuries. Of those, 14 involved single-pilot operations and 10 were two-pilot crews, and the histories of these accidents “signify the critical need to require CRM training in both single- and dual-pilot Part 135 operations.
The NPRM cited three specific accidents, “all the result of poor decision making, a loss of situational awareness, a lack of communication between multiple pilots or between pilots and other key operational personnel and inadequate leadership. “
Crew Resource Management (CRM) training incorporates team management concepts in flight operations. Such training focuses on communication and interactions among pilots, flight attendants, operations personnel, maintenance personnel, air traffic controllers, flight service stations, and others. CRM also focuses on single pilot communications, decision making, and situational awareness.
CRM activities include team building, transfer of information, problem solving, decision making, maintaining situational awareness, and using automated systems. Training in these areas helps to prevent errors such as runway incursions, misinterpreting information from tower controllers, crewmembers’ loss of situational awareness, and crewmembers failing to fully prepare for takeoff or landing.
“The FAA, NTSB, and industry stakeholders have consistently recognized the problems associated with poor decision making, ineffective communication, inadequate leadership, and poor task or resource management as major contributors to accidents and incidents within the aviation industry.
“Effective CRM training for crewmembers is a critical element in reducing accidents and incidents resulting from these problems. This proposed rule would require all certificate holders conducting Part 135 operations that are required to have a training program under 14 CFR 135.341 to implement CRM training for crewmembers in Part 135 dual and single-pilot operations,” the NPRM stated.
The proposal does not establish required program hours. In evaluating and approving Part 135 CRM training programs, the FAA would consider instructional techniques, the number of students in a class, the use of performance-based scenarios, new training technology, the use of student feedback, the measurement of training outcomes, as well as the number of hours of training time.
For initial CRM training, the FAA is proposing a compliance date two years after the effective date of the final rule. After the compliance date, a certificate holder conducting Part 135 operations would be prohibited from using a crewmember unless that person has completed approved initial CRM training.
The FAA may credit some CRM training received by crewmembers before the compliance date.