Human factors--a personal look.

Every day, with every flight schedule, we assess the readiness and ability of crew members to fly their missions. We also conduct quarterly human-factor councils (HFCs) that assess each crew member's ability to perform his/her duties. I have served as an aviation-safety officer with three different commands that have included aviators from every Navy and Marine Corps helicopter community; I've also participated in dozens of these councils. All of the HFCs were taken seriously, and a good-faith effort always was made to identify any pertinent human factors.

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