Aircrew perceived stress: Examining crew performance, crew position and captains personality

This study was conducted at NASA Ames Research Center as a part of a larger research project assessing the impact of captain's personality on crew per formance and perceived stress in 24 air transport crews (5). Three differen t personality types for captains were classified based on a previous cluste r analysis (3). Crews were comprised of three crewmembers: captain, first o fficer, and second officer/flight engineer. A total of 72 pilots completed a 1.5-d full-mission simulation of airline operations including emergency s ituations in the Ames Manned Vehicle System Research Facility B-727 simulat or. Crewmembers were tested for perceived stress on four dimensions of the NASA Task Load Index after each of five flight legs. Crews were divided int o three groups based on rankings from combined error and rating scores. Hig h performance crews (who committed the least errors in flight) reported exp eriencing less stress in simulated flight than either low or medium crews. When comparing crew positions for perceived stress over all the simulated f lights no significant differences were found. However, the crews led by the "Right Stuff" (e.g., active, warm, confident, competitive, and preferring excellence and challenges) personality type captains typically reported les s stress than crewmembers led by other personality types.