Attitudes toward unsafe acts in a sample of Australian general aviation pilots

The aim of this research was the development and validation of a questionnaire designed to examine attitudes toward unsafe acts that mitigate involvement in human error-related accidents and incidents. A 25-item questionnaire was designed and completed by a sample of 70 pilots in the Australian general aviation industry. The data analysis involved considerations of internal reliability and concurrent validity, in addition to comparisons between experience levels and attendance at human factors seminars. The results suggest that the questionnaire has a level of reliability and validity for the analysis of attitudes toward unsafe acts within the Australian general aviation industry. The implications of these results are discussed in terms of the development and evaluation of human factors training strategies within the general aviation environment.