Cross-validation study of the personality aspects of involvement in pilot-error accidents

Pilot-error accidents have dominated accident statistics consistently from the 1940s to the present. Sanders and Hofmann (3) found that three factors from Cattell's Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16 PF) significant differences (p less than 0.05) between pilot-error accident groups and were used to correctly classify 86% of the aviators tested as to their previous pilot-error accident involvement. There were 66 aviators given the 16 PF in the present study in an attempt to cross-validate the findings reported in the original study. The results indicate that the personality factors did not significantly discriminate between the pilot-error accident groups. The primary personality differences between the present sample and the original sample were due to variations in the pilot-error accident-free groups. The findings indicate that individual differences in personality characterstics of the aviators prevent consistent identification of traits associated with pilot-error groups.