Written by SOURCE: www.competentaviators.com
“Complacency. Merited with at least a dishonourable mention in almost all books on human factors, this supposedly pernicious attitude is universally villainised and cited as a factor in countless aeronautical mishaps and accident reports. But what actually is complacency? Can it be shown to exist? And if so, how do you know it is at play until Captain Hindsight points his all knowing finger?“
In this article, Alex Pollitt argues that labelling complacency as a cause of errors in aviation (and human performance generally) is overly simplistic and unhelpful. Complacency is often blamed in accident reports without anyone clearly defining what it really is or how it comes about. Instead, the article suggests complacency is a symptom, not a root cause, emerging from a complex mix of organisational, task, cultural, and environmental factors rather than a standalone mental state. Simply telling people to “avoid complacency” or “be more vigilant” doesn’t address the real underlying issues; to improve safety we must better understand the conditions that foster these behaviours.
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