A4.B.1 EBT Introduction

#EBT history

It should be quite clear to all stakeholders that commercial aviation is a safety-critical industry. Safety is of paramount importance for the protection of passengers and crew members as well as for the health of this multi-billion dollar sector of the world's economy. Despite this level of awareness, airline training has changed relatively little over recent decades.

Various research programs have demonstrated that these types of occurrences have many common characteristics. One of the most compelling observations of these programs is that often the problems encountered by flight crews are associated with poor group decision-making, ineffective communication, inadequate leadership, and poor flight deck management. Most traditional training programs emphasize the technical aspects of flying almost exclusively, and do not deal effectively with various types of crew management strategies, techniques and broader human factors that are also essential for safe flight path management.

Crew resource management (CRM) training is often cited as a milestone in airline training progress. Although it was a watershed at the time, it is just one example of a practical application of human factors. Early CRM training set it apart as something discreet from technical training, but lessons learned over several generations of development of CRM have produced some conventional wisdom in terms of training integration. Although training can be approached in many different ways, there are some essential features:

• The training should focus on the functioning of the flight crew as an efficient team, not simply as a collection of technically competent individuals.
• It should provide opportunities for crew members to practice their skills together in the roles they normally perform in flight.
• Programs should teach crew members how to use their own personal and leadership styles in ways that foster crew effectiveness.
• A program should also teach crew members that their behavior during normal, routine circumstances could have a powerful impact on how well the crew as a whole functions during high-workload, stressful situations.
• During critical emergency situations, rather basic skills and knowledge often become paramount. Similar situations experienced in training increase the probability that a crew will handle actual stressful situations more competently.

Line oriented flight training (LOFT) has been a stepping-stone in this process where FSTD-based exercises are designed specifically to put knowledge, skills and attitudes into practice and improve pilot performance. Many operators now have CRM and LOFT programs to supplement technical training. Data from the Data Report for Evidence-based Training suggest that CRM has improved, probably as a result of some of these activities.

Despite inroads made in certain countries, on a worldwide basis the selection and training of instructors of CRM and LOFT is also a significant variable. Variations in the breadth and depth of training knowledge and skill indicate a strong need for standardization of the instructor team, with the provision of unambiguous guidelines for the conduct of assessments.

#Recurrent EBT programmes

At present, a typical recurrent training period currently comprises 2 or possibly 3 sessions of training in an FSTD qualified for the purpose, every 4 to 6 months. Typically the first session involves the practice of various scripted manoeuvres by each pilot. Repeats of these or similar manoeuvres are then assessed during a formal "check" during the next session, usually the following day, and involves license or rating renewal. If an individual does not meet the performance standard for one or more of the mandatory manoeuvres, he or she is usually permitted to repeat the item. This session may or may not follow a LOE format; in some cases a LOFT or LOE session will follow as a third session.

Whilst the airline usually collects and stores results of the assessment sessions, this is usually done at an individual level rather than a company or fleet level. Also the performance of the individual is not indicative of "line" performance, but is performance after practice in the previous session. Therefore it is not really possible for the airline to extract data on areas which may be more generally problematic, in terms of performance across crews.

The FAA's Advanced Qualification Program (AQP) and EASA's Alternative Training and Qualification Program (ATQP) have attempted to address issues at both individual and broader levels within an airline but are still limited by existing mandatory items to be met. EBT takes the concepts of these programs further by structuring recurrent assessment and training according to evidence-based priorities based on a comprehensive analysis of safety and training data from a wide variety of sources.

#Evaluation phase

The evaluation phase is conducted as the first session. This way baseline performance is measured, i.e., actual crew performance is captured in terms of day-to-day competence. This phase consists of scenarios developed to be representative of the operator's environment. If a crew member does not meet the predetermined standard in a particular area, then a manoeuvre may be repeated or if necessary re-trained in this or the subsequent session(s). Importantly, any common problem areas will become apparent to airline management, which will allow further refinement of training in these areas.

#Manoeuvres training phase

The subsequent phase in a module of EBT recurrent training will comprise a manoeuvre proficiency training session where the emphasis will be on technique. This phase consists of manoeuvres which place significant demand on a proficient flight crew. Manoeuvres in this context mean a sequence of deliberate actions to achieve a prescribed flight path or to perform a prescribed event to a specific outcome. Flight path control may be accomplished by a variety of means including manual aircraft control and the use of auto flight systems.

Lists of manoeuvres will be specified, according to aircraft generation with indications of the required frequency of the manoeuvre in an EBT program. Instructors will assist individuals in achieving competence and developing proficiency in challenging areas as well as in those areas where their performance in the evaluation session indicated that further practice was desirable.

#Scenario-based training phase

Either separately or combined with the manoeuvre proficiency session, scenario-based training for event management will also be conducted in the scenario-based training phase. This will be conducted through a number of un-briefed scenarios. This phase forms the largest phase in the EBT program and is designed to focus on the development of competency, whilst training to mitigate the most critical risks identified for the aircraft generation. The phase will include the management of specific threats and errors in a real-time line orientated environment. The scenarios will include critical systemic and environmental threats, in addition to building effective crew interaction to identify and correct errors. A portion of the phase will also be directed towards the management of critical aircraft system malfunctions.

This phase requires flight crew members to effectively apply their knowledge, skills and attitudes in a process of guided self-discovery in solving problems that may only be partially reliant on standard operating procedures (SOPs), as opposed to merely training the SOPs themselves. They must understand both the learning objectives and the process under which these objectives are most likely to be achieved, insofar as these are different from other forms of training.

Overall, during the period of EBT recurrent training, the appropriate knowledge, skills and attitudes will be reinforced. The crew members will be challenged and emerge confident in their abilities to deal with known as well as previously unknown issues.

#Connections

• A4.B.2 Overview. Continues the background brief with the EBT rationale (hull-loss reduction strategy, complexity-and-reliability era) and the aircraft-generations table.
• A4.B.3 Human Factors Model. Reproduces the layered Performance-Influences model that the EBT instructor uses as a thinking aid for root-cause analysis.
• EBT. The methodology this reference is the operational handbook for.
• CRM. The watershed precedent EBT extends; the 70-to-80 percent statistic is the through-line.
• LOFT. The line-oriented flight training format whose evolution into LOE seeded the EBT scenario-based phase.
• Threat and error management. The frame the scenario-based training phase operates within.
• Core competencies. The framework EBT recurrent training assesses crew performance against.
• Advanced Qualification Programme. The FAA precursor whose competency-based ambitions EBT extends.
• FSTD. The training device in which the three EBT phases are conducted.
• A4.2.6 Guidance for Using Electronic Lesson Plans. The preceding section, which closes the operational chapter on conduct of EBT modules.