Pilot/Air-Traffic Controller in Emergency Situations: Literature Review
Krieger, J. (2005). "Shared mindfulness in cockpit crisis situations: an exploratory analysis." The journal of business communication.
Communication is key in any industry, but in the airline industry -- especially during emergency situations -- aircraft pilots and air traffic controllers must act and respond to each other in a completely error-free manner to ensure the safety of passengers and people on the ground (Krieger, 2005). The communication between these two operators is vital even in the best of situations; the air traffic controller is much more able to focus on a wide array of data and information, while the pilot must focus on the practical realities of flying a plane. Up to date communication between the two is the only way to ensure safety, yet such communication does not always occur.
A large part of the issue regarding miscommunication comes down to personal bias in the appraisal of information (Krieger, 2005). For instance, when situations are viewed as carrying different levels fo risk, communication might be affected in a way that leads to misunderstandings; the tendency to downplay risk can lead to an incomprehension of the physical details of a given situation (Krieger, 2005). This can be seen as a deep-rooted linguistic and psychological phenomenon, and simple fixes for it that do not require new nomenclature are not forth coming.
Another key to effective communication even giving the added time it takes in crisis situations, is acknowledgement of the receipt of communication (Krieger, 2005). This is most effective when information is repeated back to demonstrate full understanding and acceptance of the communication, "otherwise, the information [is] "put out there" but remained unrecognized as input by both parties" (Krieger, 2005). Though this step complicates communication in the short run, it is enormously beneficial in making communication more effective in the long run, and can help save lives because of this fact. Though communication is key to success in most ventures, it is absolutely essential in the realm of aircraft communications.
