The following are two case study examples from NASA’s AviationSafety Reporting System (ASRS), in the original text submitted,including grammatical errors. The reader will see traces to thedifferent components of individual human performance,professionalism, and the components of the CRM Pyramid model.Finally, we will consider the case of a solid CRM positive examplein the case of JetBlue Flight 292.a
Ramp Operations: Example of Disregard forAuthority
On gate and time for push back, the push crew said that theywould take the brakes and hold the push waiting for clrnc fromramp. There was an acft behind us, so the wait was extended.Without prior coordination, the forward cargo door opened, and bagswere loaded. I asked the tug driver who had given clrnc for the pitto be opened. He said that we were just sitting there, and he hadtold the rampers to throw the bags into the pit. I reminded himthat the capt was the one who gave permission to open the doorsafter the brakes have been released. This opening the doors withoutcoordination has become common with the rampers. The tug driverthen stated that they could do this if we were waiting for clrnc. Ithen said, ‘not without talking to the crew.’ He then said, ‘sowrite it up.’ I then stated that he should read up on the procs. Atthis point we had been given permission to push and I informed thetug driver. He started the push by pumping the accelerator on thetug and bunching the tow bar against the nose gear several times.At least four times. I then directed him to stop the push, withouta response at first. I had concern for the acft nose gear and forthe flt attendants standing in the aisle doing their demos. Onlyafter the second command to stop the push did the tug driver stop.Not wanting him to continue the bumping of the acft and realizingthat he was mad at me, I directed a return to the gate and thendirected for another push crew. We informed ramp of the problem andinformed coordination ctl. The coordination ctlr was of no help inthe sit and became very unprofessional and abusive to the crewinsisting that the push crew was qualified to do the push and thusshould be allowed to do it. She stated that we were being veryunprofessional for keeping the pax waiting and that we shouldaccept the push crew and go. The coordination ctlr made thesestatements without knowing what was going on. The ramp lead got onthe headset and informed me that I had ‘no right’ to requestanother crew. I informed him that I had every right to protect theacft and the crew and that I would not accept an individual whotakes his irritation out on the acft. He informed me that it wouldbe five to ten minutes before they could get another crew, and Isaid fine. Soon after, the ramp supervisor arrived and had the jetbridge pulled back, and we discussed the sit. He said that he wouldlook into the prob and requested a rpt be filed. I told him I wouldfile the rpt and forward it to him. We pushed back with the newcrew and departed. Ramp personnel opening the cargo doors withoutclrnc from the flt crew, tug drivers not using the properterminology, or improper pushes have become a problem.Intentionally taking frustration out on an acft cannot beaccepted.
Discussion question for the reader: How can an airline encouragethe concept of professionalism known as empowered accountabilityamong employees who are paid minimum wage or close to minimumwage?
