Many decades ago, at the beginning of my aviation career, I found myself puzzled by the times I sat speechless in the face of imminent risk. The question of "why didn't I speak up?" haunted me for months.
This question became the focus of a paper I was assigned during my Master's in Aeronautical Science.
The paper I wrote back then helped me understand the psychological dynamics in our flight decks. I believe those dynamics are still present today.
Coming soon:
THE EFFECT OF OBEDIENCE AND POWER ON CREWMEMBERS ABILITIES TO INFLUENCE CAPTAIN’S ACTIONS
INTRODUCTION
"Wait a minute, we don't have an ATC clearance!" said the copilot of KLM's flight 4805 as the Boeing 747 took position for take off. The captain replied, "No, I know that, go ahead, ask."
The copilot proceeded to request the clearance which was immediately issued by ATC. The copilot then read it back finishing his sentence with "we are now at takeoff." A second later, the brakes of KLM 4805 were released while the captain exclaimed, "let's go... Check thrust."
Six seconds later, the controller replied to the copilots readback by saying, "OK... Standby for take off... I will call you.". Twenty seven seconds later KLM flight 4805 collided with PanAm's flight 1736, another Boeing 747 rolling down and intersecting runway in low visibility.
It was the biggest aircraft accident in world’s history, killing 562 people (NTSB, 1977). The joint investigation team, which was composed of accident investigation experts from them Netherlands, Spain and the United States, concluded that "the fundamental cause of the accident was the fact that the KLM captain took off without a clearance, and did not obey the "stand-by for takeoff" from the tower, and did not interrupt the take off on learning that the PanAm was still on the runway."
The investigation team went on to find out why the captain committed a basic error in spite of all the warnings repeatedly addressed to him (NTSB, 1977). However, what the investigation team did not address, nor it is sufficiently addressed today by most investigation teams, is "why did two other crew members, who were sharing the cockpit with the KLM captain and knew what was unfolding, did not intervene to stop this tragedy?" This research attempts to answer this question.
A part of human factors involves environmental conditions. One of those conditions is social environment. How do humans interact in the work setting, and how is their performance is affected by group interaction. This research analyzes the characteristics of human obedience to authority and power to attempt to explain why crewmembers would passively follow their captain into an unsafe condition and possibly,to their own extinction.