Does Specific Flight Experience Matter? The Relations Between Flight Experience of Commercial Aviation Aircrews and Missed Approach Incidents

ABSTRACT Objectives: This study examined the relations between flight experience of commercial aviation aircrews consisted of a captain (CAP) and a first officer (FO) and their relative representation in unsafe missed approach incidents. Background: This study follows an earlier study where 59 official safety reports of unsafe missed approach procedure (MAP) events were analyzed. Method: The current study utilized these reports to explore the relations between the aircrew’s specific flight experience (SFE) on the aircraft’s type rating that was involved in the incident and the aircrews’ performance during MAP safety incident. Results: There were significantly more incidents involving CAPs with intermediate level of SFE than incidents involving CAPs with high or low SFE. Furthermore, the interrelation between the SFEs of the CAP and the FO of the same aircrew showed that the number of incidents involving FOs with low SFE was significantly higher than that involving FOs with higher SFE. Furthermore, there were significantly more MAP events when the FO took the role of pilot monitoring compared to pilot flying. Discussion: It is suggested that CAPs with an intermediate SFE might feel that they have sufficient skills to operate the airplane, but in fact, they are not yet skilled enough. We further discuss the possibility that issues of authority and hierarchy inside the cockpit play a role and affect the aircrew’s performance.