No Aircraft
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
No Specific Anomaly Occurred All Types
Procedure; Human Factors; Company Policy
This is a general safety concern that I have had for quite some time. I am concerned that we keep getting communications from our safety people that pilots continue to have poor compliance with windshear and GPWS warnings and alerts. I know that there are many reasons contributing to this. However; I think one contributor can be eliminated. All flight deck warnings lose effectiveness when we hear them over and over and ignore them. We; as pilots; should NEVER hear the windshear and terrain warnings unless we are in a situation that requires action. I currently hear those warnings at least once a day and often twice or more everyday I am at work. I hear this while I am busy doing preflight tasks and am training my brain that I should do nothing about it.The TCAS system test doesn't create negative training; and when we hear those warnings we always react because it is always a real threat. The training department is rightfully concerned that pilots are not exposed to negative learning when we do [training] and recurrent. We should apply the same philosophy to line operations.The EGPWS and PWS tests should be performed by Mechanics or someone else if it is required more often than routine maintenance is performed. Or the tests themselves should not give the verbatim warnings we would hear in an actual event; e.g. the TCAS test only says 'OK' not 'CLIMB.'
From a human factors standpoint; I feel a strong case can be made in defense of crews who ignore GPWS or Windshear advisories in flight. I believe that we are trained to do so by hearing these warnings up to every leg we operate WITHOUT needing to respond. The required check of these systems during every crew and aircraft change leads to desensitization. One would never train a horse; dog; or human athlete to ignore a stimulus repeatedly; and then expect a response only once in a lifetime. The exact opposite is done in animal training.A stimulus is given and the appropriate response is expected every time. We are having conversations about our commute to work; or desired beverages from the Flight Attendant; all while the aircraft barks at us 'PULL UP; PULL UP.' The reports that are most telling to me are those where the crews on report not even hearing the warning. Of course they don't; it's background noise to a normal flight deck set up; sound that is only heard on the ground in a very safe condition. I would argue that the one time a year that we actually respond to these stimuli in the simulator doesn't even count toward a positive response here. It is overwhelmed by the sheer number of times that a crew hears the command and ignores it. (For me; it was 16 times just in this month that I heard the tests in the aircraft and did not respond.) I am under the impression that it is possible to have this aircraft certified to operate in the United States without the pilots performing flight deck checks of these systems. I think that we should pursue this for safety's sake.
Air carrier pilots reported safety concerns regarding pilots' reactions with ground proximity and windshear alerts.