Studies of cockpit task management errors

Cockpit task management (CTM) is the management level activity pilots perform as they initiate, monitor, prioritize, and terminate cockpit tasks. To better understand the nature and significance of this process, we conducted 3 empirical studies: a review of National Transportation Safety Board aircraft accident reports, a review of Aviation Safety Reporting System aircraft incident reports, and a simulator experiment. In the accident report study, we determined that CTM errors occurred in 76 (23%) of the 324 accidents we reviewed. We found CTM errors in 231 (49%) of the 470 incident reports we reviewed. In the simulator study, we found that CTM performance was inversely related to workload. We conclude that CTM is significant to flight safety and recommend that this realization be reflected in pilot training, in cockpit procedures, and in research to develop pilot aiding systems.