Human Systems Integration Division @ NASA Ames

The aviation industry is recognizing that flight crews routinely contribute to system
safety in ways that go beyond adherence to standard operating procedures (SOPs). Our
research goals were to explore a) whether a survey could shed light on pilots'
contributions to adaptation and resilience in everyday flights and b) relevant assessment
methods. The survey focused on challenges faced by pilots in normal operations, and on
the ways that pilots anticipate and monitor those challenges. We collected responses
concerning revenue flights from two pilot groups; one group also provided responses
concerning a simulated scenario. The results indicated that relatively few flights
proceeded exactly as in the original flight plan. Pilots routinely anticipated and adapted to
changing circumstances. We discuss some design and assessment challenges encountered
for a survey on this topic, we provide 5 approaches to assessment, and we present
example findings as illustrations. We hope assessment methods such as these will lead to
useful surveys of resilience in flight.