Exploring the role of pilot attributes and skills in response to in-flight emergencies

• Humans provide incredible adaptation in response to emergencies. • This study aimed to uncover factors that support overcoming unfolding emergencies. • This study interviewed pilots who had faced an emergency situation in-flight. • Findings showed support for several factors (e.g., emotional stability & improvisation) • Understanding the factors at play could improve recruitment and training for pilots. Despite constant advancements in technology, humans remain a central component of many systems. While they are more prone to error than computers, humans possess remarkable adaptability in responding to emergencies – this can sometimes even outperform pre-set systems in critical situations. However, less is understood about the specific factors that contribute to this ability to recover from an emergency. This study aimed to corroborate the currently proposed factors that support successfully overcoming an emergency situation that is already unfolding, and to identify additional themes that naturally emerge from interviews with pilots who have successfully navigated an emergency or incident. A qualitative approach was used for this study to understand what sort of emergencies the pilot had faced and which individual factors had helped resolve the situation. Eighteen pilots from different domains of aviation were recruited. Participant ages ranged from 33 to 65 years, with a gender split of 14 males and 4 females. NVivo software was used for coding and thematic analysis. This study found support for previously proposed factors, including training, skill, experience, emotional stability, decision-making, confidence, improvisation, leadership, professionalism, situation awareness, reaction time, and creative thinking being important for successfully navigating an emergency. This study also found three additional factors: mental preparedness, system knowledge, and resilience. The findings also supported several interrelationships between different factors. These findings provide experiences that underscore the multifaceted nature of pilot emergency response and the need for a comprehensive understanding of the factors at play to improve recruitment and training for pilots.