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The purpose of this paper is to present a literature review on human factors in aircraft maintenance and to analyze and synthesize the findings in the literature on human factors engineering in aircraft maintenance.

The review adopts a threefold approach: searching and collecting the scientific literature; sorting them on the basis of relevance and applications; and review of the scientific evidences. Broad areas of aircraft maintenance regulations are identified and each area was explored to study the level of scientific growth and publications. Notable theories, models and concepts are being summarized.

Application of human factor principles in aviation spread beyond the technical arena of man-machine interface. The discipline has created a great impact on aircraft design, operations and maintenance. Its applications have percolated into design of aircraft maintenance facilities, task cards and equipment. Human factor concepts are being used for maintenance resource management. The principles are applied to shape the safety behavior and culture in aviation maintenance workplace. Nevertheless, the review unfolds immense potential for future research.

Research outcomes of non-aviation studies are also reviewed and consolidated to extend the applications to the aviation industry.

This review would be a consolidated source of information confining to the physical aspect of human factors engineering in aircraft maintenance. It is intended to serve as a quick reference guide to the researchers and maintenance practitioners.

It brought out the benefits of adopting the principles of human factor engineering in aircraft maintenance. Application of human factor philosophy ensures enhanced safety in air transport, personal safety and well-being of maintenance personnel.

This is a unique review based on aircraft maintenance regulations that are baseline performance standards made mandatory by regulatory authorities. Therefore, the review has been considered to be made on aircraft maintenance regulatory requirements that surpass corporate or competitive strategies in aviation maintenance organization.

Flight, even under the most routine conditions, sets high standards of quality for all materials employed. Specifications for aviation fuels have never been obtainable without careful compromise between conflicting requirements, and present developments towards flight at higher altitudes and higher speeds accentuate existing problems and reveal new ones. This article attempts to review the known major problems arising with aviation fuels under these conditions of severity, and to indicate a number of practicable solutions.

Team management and teamwork are critical in the cockpit of a jet aircraft. The crew manage a complex set of interactions on which numerous people depend for their safety. Airlines worldwide have now recognised the need to train aircrew in team management principles. Until recently attention to the management side of flight operations has limited itself to the rostering arrangements and backroom office systems and procedures that support aircrew. The Aircrew Team Management Programme (ATM) designed by the authors for Trans Australia Airlines consists of a three‐day workshop with follow‐up sessions and simulator training. The prevailing culture in airlines is examined. An action research approach to gathering data for the management programme, its educational design and development, its key elements and implementation and tuition are discussed. It has been accepted by the crew as a valid and relevant form of training.

This study aims to find out the means used for individual, group and organizational learning at work at one air navigation service provider after the initial training period. The study also aims to find out what practices need to be improved to enhance learning at work.

The data for the study were collected over four years from several air traffic control (ATC) units of the organisation using different methods. In total, 155 subjects (operative personnel, supervisors) answered a reporting system questionnaire, 20 supervisors participated in interviews and 142 subjects (operative personnel, supervisors) responded to a safety culture questionnaire.

Several learning methods were used in ATC. Some of them were organisation‐wide and mandatory, but others were dependent on the activity of the unit or a single person. Individuals reported problem areas in operative work and learned from them. Group level learning was not actualized in all units of the organisation. Learning was insufficient at the organisational level.

A reporting system is a useful way of learning for individuals working in complex systems such as ATC. To use it for communicative and organisational learning, however, demands the formation of an integrated learning system for the different parts of the organisation and its stakeholders. This system could support conscious analysis of learning material arising from everyday work. These improvements would contribute to securing safety in the field of aviation during major changes.

The paper provides information on the strengths and weaknesses of learning in one complex, high reliability, work area. The study shows that the latest knowledge regarding learning at work was not utilized effectively.

The purpose of this paper is to identify potential helicopter pilots’ errors during their interaction with the flight deck in the process of starting a helicopter in night-time conditions.

Systematic Human Error Reduction and Prediction Approach is used for the analysis of the pilot–flight deck interaction. This methodology was used for the identification of errors for 30 pilots during a period of 10 years. In total, 55 errors were identified, and most common errors noted are: error of omission, caused by pilots’ lack of attention or longer periods of no flying, and error of wrong execution, caused by misunderstanding a situation.

Hierarchical task analysis and classification of pilot’s tasks were used for the analysis of consequences, probability of occurrence, criticality and remedial strategies for the identified pilot error.

This paper does not give an ergonomic analysis of the flight deck, as that is not its subject. However, results of the research presented in this paper, together with results presented in references, clearly show that there are disadvantages in the ergonomic design of flight decks.

Based on the identified pilot errors and with respect of existing ergonomic solution, it is possible to begin with the reconstruction of flight decks.

Higher quality of pilot–flight deck interaction must be ensured for both pilots’ and passengers’ safety, as even a slightest error can lead to catastrophic consequences.

The value of this paper lies in the fact that it points to the need for synergy of ergonomic design and human reliability methods.

Previous research has demonstrated that communication failure and interpersonal conflicts are significant impediments among health care teams to assess complex information and engage in the meaningful collaboration necessary for optimizing patient care. Despite the prolific research on the role of effective teamwork in accomplishing complex tasks, such findings have been traditionally applied to business organizations and not medical contexts. This chapter, therefore, reviews and applies four theories from the fields of organizational behavior (OB) and organization development (OD) as potential means for improving team interaction in health care contexts. This study is unique in its approach as it addresses the long-standing problems that exist in team communication and cooperation in health care teams by applying well-established theories from the organizational literature. The utilization and application of the theoretical constructs discussed in this work offer valuable means by which the efficacy of team work can be greatly improved in health care organizations.

With this number the Library Review enters on its ninth year, and we send greetings to readers at home and abroad. Though the magazine was started just about the time when the depression struck the world, its success was immediate, and we are glad to say that its circulation has increased steadily every year. This is an eminently satisfactory claim to be able to make considering the times through which we have passed.

LIBRARIANS in Britain stand at the threshold of great possibilities. Having passed through the ages of the ecclesiastical library, the rich collector's private library, the academic institutional library, and the rate‐supported public library—all general libraries —they have reached the age of the special library. The next will be that of the co‐ordinated, co‐operative library service.