Decision making on the flight deck

Decision making research has traditionally focused on normative models of the decision process, using controlled environments to study decision making. However, this does not translate very well to operating environments such as the flight deck, and therefore the models do not account for many of the characteristics of real decision making. Naturalistic decision making (NDM) research studies decision making in operational settings with experienced operators and so it is suited to the civil flight deck. However, there are certain aspects of pilot decision making which do not seem to be covered by existing NDM models and theories. This paper outlines an integrated decision model (IDM) which draws on other theories but is more descriptive of pilot behaviour and applicable to supporting pilot decisions. This IDM highlights areas of weakness in decision making and the types of errors that can be made. The model may also be used to point to areas where these errors may be detected, and where decision support may intervene to correct them