Experiential training and risk management behaviour amongst pilots

General aviation pilots continue to be over represented in aircraft accidents in comparison to their commercial counterparts. Of those general aviation aircraft accidents that occur, a large proportion has been attributed to poor aeronautical decision-making. Previous research suggests that a leading factor that precipitates poor decision-making is an unrealistic assessment of the risks. Contemporary aviation training programmes do not necessarily target risk management as a distinct skill. Rather, it is assumed that risk management skills are acquired through pilots’ interaction with the environment and through the acquisition of factual information relating to the statistical frequency of accidents and/or incidents. The primary aim of this thesis was to examine the utility of various training strategies to improve pilots’ risk management behaviour. Throughout this thesis, it was assumed that pilots’ risk management behaviour would be reflected in their performance during a variety of low-flying activities. Three experiments were conducted, the first of which examined the utility of three different training approaches, where pilots were either cognitively active (i.e., flying a simulated flight and receiving feedback in relation to performance) or cognitively inactive (i.e., reading a newsletter or watching a video) during training. The second experiment examined the impact of cognitive involvement and feedback on individual’s risk management behaviour, while the third examined the extent to which information acquired during a low-flying training flight would generalise to other tasks which differed in terms of cognitive load. The results provided support for a training programme that engaged the pilots cognitively during training. However, the extent to which the information acquired during training will generalise to other tasks appears to be contingent on a number of factors (i.e., memory, experience, and cognitive involvement). The results of this study are discussed in terms of both a theoretical and an applied perspective