Culture and Flight Deck Operations

Culture is widely believed to play an important role in the international aviation system. Given the many factors, including the infrastructure of aviation, that affect aviation safety, the role of culture remains uncertain. It is accepted that culture must exert some influence on the patterns of behavior enacted by flight crews on the flight deck, but different views of culture produce different hypotheses about the role of culture in the organization of behavior. We review the history of ideas about culture and describe a recently developed concept of culture that is based in contemporary cognitive science. We then use this modern theory of culture to evaluate recent attempts to understand the role of culture on the flight deck. Finally, we sketch a methodology for the study of culture on the flight deck.