The Art of Cutting Corners and the Normalization of Deviance
By Sarah Rovner, Master CFI, CFII, MEI, ATP, Owner of FullThrottle Aviation
LLC
July 2018
Most pilots can relate to hearing of a mishap involving someone or a business they
know and then thinking to themselves, “that’s not surprising at all.” Perhaps it
was a pattern of behavior or well-known shortcutting of procedures that many onlookers
knew was an accident waiting to happen. Perhaps it was that hangar neighbor that
never pre-flights their airplane. Perhaps it was the local mechanic who was known
to sign off on annuals without doing a full inspection. As we know from our training,
the chain of events leading to an accident or incident started long before the mishap.
It started when the deviant behavior became normal.
The term “normalization of deviance” was coined by sociologist Diane Vaughan1
in
the wake of the Challenger Disaster. In 1986, the Challenger blew up a mere 73 seconds
after lift-off due to faulty O-rings that caused the solid rocket fuel to ignite.
In the resulting investigation, it was discovered that NASA engineers were aware
of the flaws as early as 1981, but a culture of loosening standards and accepting
such risks had fostered an environment that eventually led to disaster. The engineers
knew that the launch parameters were outside of what was tested but deemed it an
“acceptable risk” because they had gotten away with it so many times before2.
Another well-known example of the normalization of deviance is that of the Concordia3
cruise ship disaster. In 2012, the Costa Concordia cruise ship crashed into rocks
off Giglio Island, killing 32 people. Although the ship was prohibited from going
that close to shore, it was reported that directors at Concordia would allow, and
even encourage, the deviant behavior of the “ship salutes” because they were considered
to “enrich the cruise product”.4 Each captain would get closer and closer
to shore
with no consequence; until one day a ship hit rocks and caused a disaster. Had the
ship’s captain followed procedures, this wouldn’t have happened.
The concept behind the normalization of deviance is that when people within an organization
become accustomed to the deviant behavior, they no longer consider it as deviant.
An example of this can be found on almost any road. Although turn signals and stopping
fully to a rollback at a stop sign are part of the state-mandated rules of the road,
people have become so accustomed to not stopping or signaling that it has become
socially acceptable. By Vaughn’s theory, a driver that continues to get away with
it will continue negative behavior until it becomes normal. Over time, behaviors
will continue to drift further and further away from the standard.
Although the consequences can be high on the road as well, aviation has a way of
being unforgiving of recklessness. Many pilots’ lives could have been saved by a
proper pre-flight or checklist usage. There have been several engine failures related
to fuel contamination that was not discovered on a pre-flight. Taking extra time
to preflight the fuel to check for water and contaminants could have possibly saved
someone’s life. Many inadvertent gear up landings could be prevented by using a
checklist. We all learned to pre-flight and use a checklist during our training,
so why is it that a lack of these elementary safety tools allows mishaps to reoccur?
How many pilots are caught off guard by NOTAMs and weather? Perhaps a proper briefing
could have also prevented an unanticipated and dangerous situation.
Many pilots try to rationalize shortcuts under pressure. As the pilots get away
with it over and over again, the behavior becomes normal. Not checking weather and
NOTAMS, skipping items on a pre-flight, or not using a checklist are just a few
examples of shortcuts that pilots often find themselves rationalizing. Reinforcing
negative behavior with no consequences only fuels the tendency to continue cutting
corners. Following procedures in the interest of safety is the only way to overcome
these phenomena. As an instructor or just a fellow pilot, encourage your students
and peers to follow the correct procedures and not cut any corners. Although we’ve
gotten away with it many times before, the behavior will ultimately lead to a preventable
disaster. “I’ve gotten away with this before” is not the way to rationalize a behavior,
because today may be the day the bill comes due.
We’d love to know what you think of this PIREP. Please email us at
[email protected] and let us know.
To sign up for our monthly Avemco PIREP series,
click here.
Reprint by permission only. If you would like to obtain reprint requirements and
request permission, please email us at [email protected]
Sarah Rovner holds an ATP certificate with a CL-65 type rating and is currently
an FAA Safety Team Lead Representative, Master Instructor, Captain and CTP simulator
instructor with a Part 121 airline. Since changing careers after years as a senior
network engineer for the oil & gas industry, Sarah has obtained her ATP, CFI, CFII,
MEI and has flown over 4200 hours. As the owner of an international ferry pilot
company, FullThrottle Aviation LLC, Sarah has flown over 117 different types of
general aviation airplanes in 15 different countries, including oceanic crossings
in small aircraft. She continues to stay involved in general aviation through mentoring
and education; volunteering at many different events and presenting original seminars
on aviation safety and human factors. Although much of her flying is now professional
in nature, she still enjoys flying her Super Cub on her days off. As a regular attendee
of EAA AirVenture and local fly-ins, she enjoys the company and camaraderie that
general aviation brings.
1 https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Professionalism/Diane_Vaughan_and_the_normalization_of_deviance
2https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Challenger_disaster
3
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Concordia_disaster
4https://enwikipedia.org/wiki/Sail-by
salute
|