Failure to detect critical auditory alerts in the cockpit: evidence for inattentional deafness

The aim of this study was to test whether inattentional deafness to critical alarms would be observed in a simulated cockpit.

The inability of pilots to detect unexpected changes in their auditory environment (e.g., alarms) is a major safety problem in aeronautics. In aviation, the lack of response to alarms is usually not attributed to attentional limitations, but rather to pilots choosing to ignore such warnings due to decision biases, hearing issues, or conscious risk taking.

Twenty-eight general aviation pilots performed two landings in a flight simulator. In one scenario an auditory alert was triggered alone, whereas in the other the auditory alert occurred while the pilots dealt with a critical windshear.

In the windshear scenario, II pilots (39.3%) did not report or react appropriately to the alarm whereas all the pilots perceived the auditory warning in the no-windshear scenario. Also, of those pilots who were first exposed to the no-windshear scenario and detected the alarm, only three suffered from inattentional deafness in the subsequent windshear scenario.

These findings establish inattentional deafness as a cognitive phenomenon that is critical for air safety. Pre-exposure to a critical event triggering an auditory alarm can enhance alarm detection when a similar event is encountered subsequently.

Case-based learning is a solution to mitigate auditory alarm misperception.