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Stress
From SKYbrary Wiki
| Article Information | ||
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| Category: | Human Behaviour | 
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| Content source: | SKYbrary | 
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| Content control: | SKYbrary |
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Contents
Description
Stress is a bodily response to a stimulus that disturbs or interferes with the “normal” physiological equilibrium of a person and, in the context of aviation, refers to a state of physical, mental or emotional strain due to some external or internal stimulus.
Understanding the factors that lead to stress, as well as how to cope with stressful situations, can greatly improve a individual's performance. Also, understanding that colleagues may react differently to the same stressor is important and can help you control a situation that can quickly get out of hand if an individual is having a negative reaction.
Accidents & Incidents
Events on the SKYbrary database which list stress as a significant contributory factor:
- B735, Jos Nigeria, 2010 (On 24 August 2010, a Boeing 737-500 made an uncontrolled touchdown on a wet runway at Jos in daylight after the approach was continued despite not being stabilised. A lateral runway excursion onto the grass occurred before the aircraft regained the runway centreline and stopped two-thirds of the way along the 3000 metre-long runway. Substantial damage was caused to the aircraft but none of the occupants were injured. The aircraft commander was the Operator's 737 Fleet Captain and the Investigation concluded that the length of time he had been on duty had led to fatigue which had impaired his performance.)
- AT45, vicinity Esbjerg Denmark, 2016 (On 27 March 2016 an ATR 42-500 had just departed Esbjerg when the right engine flamed out. It was decided to complete the planned short flight to Billund but on the night IMC approach there, the remaining engine malfunctioned and lost power. The approach was completed and the aircraft evacuated after landing. The Investigation found the left engine failed due to fuel starvation resulting from a faulty fuel quantity indication probably present since recent heavy maintenance and that the right engine had emitted flames during multiple compressor stalls to which it was vulnerable due to in-service deterioration and hot section damage.)
- B738, Rostov-on-Don Russia, 2016 (On 19 March 2016, a Boeing 737-800 making a second night ILS approach to Rostov-on-Don failed to complete a go around commenced after becoming unstable in turbulent conditions and crashed at high speed within the airport perimeter killing all 62 people on board. The Investigation concluded that the Captain had lost spatial awareness and then failed to configure the aircraft correctly or control its flightpath as intended and that although the First Officer had recognised this, he had tried to coach the Captain rather than take over. It was noted that the flight up to this point had been conducted normally.)
- A320, vicinity Sochi Russia, 2006 (On 3 May 2006, an Airbus 320 crew failed to correctly fly a night IMC go around at Sochi and the aircraft crashed into the sea and was destroyed. The Investigation found that the crew failed to reconfigure the aircraft for the go around and, after having difficulties with the performance of an auto go-around, had disconnected the autopilot. Inappropriate control inputs, including simultaneous (summed) sidestick inputs by both pilots were followed by an EGPWS PULL UP Warning. There was no recovery and about a minute into the go around, a steep descent into the sea at 285 knots occurred.)
- A310, vicinity Moroni Comoros, 2009 (On 29 June 2009, an Airbus A310-300 making a dark-night visual circling approach to Moroni crashed into the sea and was destroyed. The Investigation found that the final impact had occurred with the aircraft stalled and in the absence of appropriate prior recovery actions and that this had been immediately preceded by two separate GWPS 'PULL UP' events. It was concluded that the attempted circling procedure had been highly unstable with the crew's inappropriate actions and inactions probably attributable to their becoming progressively overwhelmed by successive warnings and alerts caused by their poor management of the aircraft's flight path.)
Related Articles
Related OGHFA Situational Examples
| Situational Example | Flight Phase |
| De-icing and Latent Organisational Factors (OGHFA SE) | Take Off |
| Disorientation During Vectored Go-Around (OGHFA SE) | Missed Approach |
| Fuel Leak and Confirmation Bias (OGHFA SE) | Climb, Cruise, Descent |
| Fuel Starvation, Stress, Fatigue and Nonstandard Phraseology (OGHFA SE) | Cruise, Descent |
| Landing Gear Failure (OGHFA SE) | Landing |
| Takeoff Weight Entry Error and Fatigue (OGHFA SE) | Take Off |
| Unidentified Fire On Board (OGHFA SE) | Cruise, Descent, Landing |
Related OGHFA Material
Further Reading
EUROCONTROL
- Human Factors Module: Stress
- Managing Stress in ATM, EUROCONTROL, March 2020
Others
- Flight Safety Australia: Fit to Fly?
- Fighting Pilot Fatigue, video by Boeing’s Fatigue Risk Management team in partnership with Delta airlines to portray the effects of fatigue on pilots. It describes technologies in the flight deck that can monitor and prevent fatigue-related events.
- Safety Behaviours: Human Factors Resource Guide for Engineers, CASA (Australia), 2013. Chapter 6 deals with stress for maintenance personnel.