Training is an important factor that can significantly affect the outcome of whether the crew successfully respond to an emergency situation, to reach a safe outcome. There are limitations to current training programmes where typically during simulator training (conversion and recurrent), crews do not encounter a scenario for which the checklist procedures (QRH) do not exist or work as expected. The problem is that it is impossible to foresee all potential abnormal or accident scenarios and to have developed checklists in place. The focus of training should be to train against the risk environment effectively and give crews the tools to meet known and novel emergency situations. It follows then that the degree to which training truly reflects real-life emergencies and abnormal situations, with all of their real-world demands, may not be comprehensive. The goal of an operator’s training department should be to develop guidance for Standard Operating Procedures and sound checklist development, supporting crew coordination, and effective situation management. This should be based on effective data collection and analysis of Flight Data, Safety Reporting Systems, Flight Deck Observations, and Industry shared incident/accident data; as well as accounting for human performance capabilities and cognitive limitations under stress and high workload. Thus, it is essential that a detailed Risk Assessment of the mission role and commercial model, in the operating environment, is made, and that flight crew are trained to the risks of operating in that environment.

Evidenced Based Training (EBT) addresses this by moving from pure scenario-based training, to prioritising the development and assessment of defined competencies, leading to better training outcomes. The aim of an EBT programme is to identify, develop and assess the competencies required by pilots in order to operate safely, effectively and efficiently in a commercial air transport environment, by managing the most relevant threats and errors based on evidence collected in operations and training (IATA Evidenced-Based Training Implementation Guide).

Through EBT implementation a number of scenario events based on operational data are used as a means to develop and assess crew performance linked to defined competencies. This will allow a crew to manage previously unseen or novel situations.

Implementation of EBT is designed to result in a more effective and efficient training programme with associated improvements in operational safety performance (EBT approach supporting safety performance and Organisational Resilience).

A ‘resilience engineering’ approach believes that making pilots resilient in the case of unexpected events is essential to increase aviation safety (DOT/FAA/AM-20/01).

Flight crew response to new and novel emergency situations that may have time-critical constraints, high risk and situational complexity, can be strongly influenced through the implementation of an EBT-based approach in the operator’s training programme. The outcome of implementation ensures that flight crews are best placed to respond to emergency events as pilot training is based on real-world operational scenarios, risk analysis of the operating environment, and data-driven decision-making.