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Types of Error

This document defines and categorizes different types of human error that can occur in aviation, including slips, lapses, mistakes, and violations. It discusses how these errors can be caused by failures in execution of actions or planning. The consequences of errors depend on factors like aircraft type, weather conditions, and whether safety systems detect and help recover from the error. Management strategies to address errors include prevention, reduction, detection, recovery, and tolerance. Mistakes can be mitigated through knowledge, attention management, and strategic decision making. Violations are more likely when standard procedures are seen as barriers or when opportunities arise from poor planning. Overall, understanding and addressing the root causes of errors and violations through organizational improvements is key to flight safety

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Latif Santiago Khalid
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65 views34 pages

Types of Error

This document defines and categorizes different types of human error that can occur in aviation, including slips, lapses, mistakes, and violations. It discusses how these errors can be caused by failures in execution of actions or planning. The consequences of errors depend on factors like aircraft type, weather conditions, and whether safety systems detect and help recover from the error. Management strategies to address errors include prevention, reduction, detection, recovery, and tolerance. Mistakes can be mitigated through knowledge, attention management, and strategic decision making. Violations are more likely when standard procedures are seen as barriers or when opportunities arise from poor planning. Overall, understanding and addressing the root causes of errors and violations through organizational improvements is key to flight safety

Uploaded by

Latif Santiago Khalid
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Human error

TYPES OF ERROR AND THEIR KINDS


Introduction

With the high reliability of modern aircraft systems,


human performance has become a key focus for flight
safety. Various types of human error are often cited as
contributing factors to incidents and accidents.
Introduction

Information or training alone cannot immunize a


person or an organization against error. Improvement
is only achieved through concrete improvements that
make errors less probable and their consequences
less severe
Defining Human Error and Violation
Errors
are intentional (in)actions that fail to
achieve their intended outcomes.
Violations
are intentional (in)actions that break
known rules, procedures or norms.
Errors can further be divided into the two
following categories:
Slips and lapses
Mistakes 
Slips and lapses

are failures in the execution of the intended


action.
Mistakes
are failures in the plan of action. Even if execution of
the plan was correct, it would not be possible to
achieve the intended outcome.
Consequences of Errors and Violations
Examples - Consequences of errors

Error (lapse): Setting the flaps correctly for takeoff is


forgotten. Factors influencing the consequences:
Aircraft type and performance
Actual takeoff weight
Runway length and obstructions ahead
Functioning of the takeoff configuration warning.
Error (mistake)

Navigation error. Factors influencing


the consequences:
Other aircraft nearby
High terrain nearby
Functioning of the 
Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS)
Warnings from Air Traffic Control (ATC)
Functioning of the 
Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS).
Some error types tend to have more
serious consequences than others:

Slips are usually easy to detect quickly and do not have immediate serious
consequences due to built-in system protections.
Lapses may be more difficult to detect and therefore may also be more likely to
have consequences.
Mistakes are even more dangerous, because the person committing
the mistake believes that he or she is doing the correct thing and thus
carries on with the action often despite a growing number of signs that
things are not going right.
Violations are similar to mistakes but with an increased potential to
deviate to an abnormal type of operation with an associated increase
in risk.
Error Management

People in management positions often find it difficult to deal


with human errors. Simple reactions such as asking people
to be “more careful” very rarely bring improvement
Error Management Strategies

Error Prevention aims at avoiding the error completely. It is possible


only in some specific cases and, almost without exception, requires
design-based solutions.
Error Reduction aims at minimizing both the likelihood and the
magnitude of the error.
error Detection aims at making errors apparent as fast and as clearly as
possible, thereby enabling recovery. An error can be:Detected by the
person that committed the error (self-monitoring), or
Cued by the environment (e.g., detected by the system hardware and
software), or
Detected by another person.
Error Recovery aims at making it easy to rapidly
recover the system to its safe state after an error has
been committed.
Error Tolerance aims at making the system better able
to sustain itself despite error, i.e. minimizing the
consequences of errors.
Managing Slips and Lapses
Slips and lapses are an unfortunate byproduct of the
useful human capability to perform actions
“automatically,” without full attention. The
mechanisms causing slips and lapses function at an
unconscious level.
Managing Mistakes
as stated, mistakes are deficient solutions or
decisions, often caused by failed situational
diagnosis or poor-quality learned solutions.
If crewmembers find themselves in a knowledge-based
problem-solving situation, their chances of success
depend on their basic knowledge of the key
phenomena, and the use of skills promoted through
crew resource management (
Crew Resource Management) training, such as the
ability to stay calm, communicate and cooperate.
The usable mistake-mitigation strategies are reduction,
detection and recovery. Success in these will be mainly
determined by three elements: knowledge, attention factors
and strategic factors:
Knowledge

 is reflected both in how well situations are diagnosed and


the quality of the chosen solutions. Adequate knowledge
relies on training, experience and availability of updated
situational information, such as weather and runway
conditions.
Attention factors
determine how easily the relevant information is available.
In an ideal case, the attention of the crew is guided to the
contextually most relevant and reliable source of
information, and the presentation of the information
Strategic factors
determine the difficulty of the situation in terms of multiple
goals, some of which are often partly in conflict. Usually,
some goals are obvious and official, while it is possible that
others are hidden, personal or even unconscious. Strategic
factors become most visible in decision-making situations
Violation Management
in simple terms, violation management consists of understanding the
reasons for violations and then trying to eliminate these reasons. In
an ideal situation, the organization facilitates learning from
difficulties in the operations and fixing them before people need to
“fill the gaps” by committing violations.
There are known factors that increase the
probability of violations:
Expectation that rules will have to be bent to get the work done
Powerfulness, Feeling that skills and experience justify deviating from
the standard procedures
Opportunities for short cuts and other ways of doing things in a
seemingly better way
Poor planning and preparation, putting the person in situations where
it is necessary to improvise and solve problems as they arise.
Key Points
Errors and violations are more common in flight operations than one
would expect. They have the potential to affect safety, although
usually the robustness of the aviation system is sufficient to
compensate for errors and violations without significant
consequences.
The first step in error and violation management
is to understand their true causal factors. This
flight operations BN has aimed at providing basic
information on the subject.
Successful management of errors and violations requires
continuous application of systemic improvements at the
organizational level. Ultimately, violation-free operations
should become a natural part of the corporate culture.

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