The Many Faces of Risk in Aviation Decision Making

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Perception of risk is a critical component of pilot decision making in dynamic flight situations. While we tend to think of risk as pertaining only to physical threat, multiple types of risk exist and may be pitted against each other, creating goal conflicts. Sometimes pilots make risky decisions that place them in unsafe situations, occasionally leading to accidents. Our panel will discuss various perspectives on risk that may influence flight crew decision-making. These include organizational factors, pilots' experience levels, specific job responsibilities, framing of decision problems, social/professional pressures, and affect. How these factors may influence decision making and implications for improving the quality of pilot decisions will be discussed.