FAA Airline Transport Pilot (ATM)Human Factors and CRMMedium
At a regional airline, ground crews have gradually stopped performing a required visual inspection step before pushback because no incident has ever resulted from skipping it. Supervisors are aware but have not corrected the practice, and it is now considered routine among line personnel. This gradual acceptance of an unsafe shortcut as standard practice is best described as:
- AConfirmation bias
- BThreat and error management
- CNormalization of deviance
- DJust culture
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: C. Normalization of deviance
Normalization of deviance occurs when repeated deviations from established procedures, without negative consequences, become accepted as the new normal within an organization. This erodes safety margins over time and was a contributing factor in several major aviation and space accidents.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Confirmation bias is an individual cognitive bias, not an organizational drift in standards.
- B. Threat and error management is a proactive framework for managing threats, not a description of eroding standards.
- D. Just culture is an organizational approach to fairly handling errors, not the acceptance of unsafe shortcuts.
Normalization of Deviance
A process in which repeated deviations from safe procedures, absent negative outcomes, gradually become accepted as normal within an organization or crew culture.
- Erodes safety margins incrementally
- Often goes unchallenged because no immediate consequence occurs
- A recognized contributing factor in major accidents (e.g., Challenger disaster)
Memory trick: Deviance becomes the new 'normal' one skipped step at a time.