Pilot Error

During the cruise portion of a fairly recent flight, with our destination still an hour and a half away, the Captain and I spoke of how our respective summers were going between fuel checks and periodic radio calls to centre. As it often does, the conversation turned to work. On longer flights where even long conversations will burn themselves down to coals, work is one area where there always seems to be more than enough to talk about. While to some these conversations are simply a way to wile away the miles between point a and b, the lessons I have learned while talking with those more seasoned rival the value of any textbook I have come across to date. The value of these conversations is a testament to the willingness of most captains to pass along hard won lessons that they have picked up over the course of their careers. For all of the good that these work conversations can bring about, they can be equally destructive.

After having talked about our summers and work for sometime on the above-mentioned recent flight, an error made by a coworker a few days prior came up in conversation. The Captain after having finished his story, concluded that the coworker in question was an idiot. In talking about errors made by others, I am hesitant to cast the first stone or really any stone at all, knowing that, being human, I have likely made errors for which I could be considered an idiot. The question remains, if I were to resort to labeling those who have erred while in the cockpit as idiots, what good would this accomplish? At the end of such conversations, those listening could conclude that the error made was largely due to the perpetrator's lack of intelligence and not for other reasons. While this may seem innocent enough, such a statement limits the asking of how this particular mistake was made, and more importantly, what can be done from preventing it from occurring again.

That is not to say that I do not believe the mistakes of others should not be talked about, quite the opposite really. There is a great deal of good that can come of mulling over the mistakes made not only of others, but also those that we ourselves commit if for no other reason than to pass along and learn about how these errors came about. The perceived intelligence or lack there-of and identity of those who have committed the mistake however, is of no concern to me. Including these bits of information accomplishes a number of things, none of which are really productive. In the best case scenario, the next time a crew member flies with someone whose past error has made its way into the rumour mill, they may watch the supposed perpetrator a little more closely. In the worst case scenario, the supposed perpetrator is assigned to the idiot list without any thought as to why they made the mistake that earned them a spot on such a list.