Core Aviation Psychology

Experts in aviation and psychology supporting aircrew, air operators and manufacturers through evidence-based psychological practice. 

About

Core Aviation Psychology specialises in providing psychological consulting services to the aerospace sector,  in particular aircrew psychological assessment and support. Our Managing Partner, Paul Dickens is one of only 11 accredited Aviation Psychologists in the UK. He is a member of the British Psychological Society's expert working group on Aviation Psychology, the ICAO Mental Health Working Group and is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.
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High Flying Psychologists

Update!

by Paul Dickens • 25 March 2021

UPDATE!

Its been sometime since I posted an update on here, for the simple reason that since late last year I have been extremely busy! Some of that was in relation to European AOC holders needing to be compliant with CAT.GEN.MPA. 175 by 14th February. What has been interesting has been the variety of work I have been engaged in:

- our regular in-depth psychological assessment of pilots for recruitment and command upgrade with a number of operators

- designing psychological assessment processes for a number of operators in compliance with CAA CAP1938 including job analysis and OM A policy development, and training Basic Interviewers in line with CAP1938 requirements

- individual psychological assessments for pilots returning to work after Class 1 medical suspension

- assessment and support of pilots involved in serious incidents

- assessments of private pilots with mental health diagnoses for granting Class 2 medicals

- individual treatment/support work with pilots with sim anxiety and other aviation-related anxiety conditions

- training aviation peer supporters

- delivering webinars on aviation mental health and wellbeing awareness

- acting as a subject matter expert on a project for Leonardo Helicopter and the Norwegian Armed Forces

- participating in the ICAO mental health working group online meetings and the CAA FOLG Crew health and welfare subgroup

 

Phew! I'm sure there are things I've missed too. Since the start of 2021 we have acquired some significant new clients including Loganair Limited , BlueIslands, Castle Air and Air Charter Scotland, and we have a number of additional new contracts with operators in the UK and Europe in the offing. We also continue to support Kura Human Factors MAPS peer support programme working with over 40 AOCs across Europe as a result. We are now the exclusive suppliers of aviation psychology services to all 4 main offshore helicopter operators, Babcock Onshore and UKSAR and Irish Coast Guard SAR operations.

 

In April May I will be presenting at two online Royal Aeronautical Society events. On 27th and 28th April I will presenting during the Mental Wellbeing and Human Performance event and on 17th May I am presenting at the HF SG Engineering and Maintenance Conference. Both cover the topic of mental wellbeing and aviation, the first focussing on pilots the second - importantly - on aerospace engineers. I am also planning to update my "Cleared for Take Off" guide produced last year in the light of changed circumstances in the run up to flight operations post Covid, and new research that has emerged.

 

Keeping busy!

by Paul Dickens • 21 June 2020
Despite being restricted in my usual travel (I am usually flying from Edinburgh Airport at least once a week) it has been a busy time. Work has included:
  • urgent aircrew mental health assessment for operators
  • online pilot peer selection interviews for the North Sea pilot peer consortium
  • translating the "Cleared for Take Off!" guide into French and Spanish following requests from Canadian and Columbian pilot's unions
  • presenting a Webinar (see above) on the guide for up to 1500 Avianca pilots across Central and South America
  • reviewing papers for our professional aviation psychology journal
  • planning activities with a number of operators for when travel is less restricted next month
The "Cleared for Take Off!" guide has now been distributed to up to 65000 pilots in the USA and Canada, including those at United and Delta airlines. It was recommended in the BALPA checklist for pilots in the UK, and distributed by Flight Operations Inspectors of the UK CAA

Challenging times!

by Paul Dickens • 29 April 2020
With most scheduled airlines currently grounded as a result of the quarantine measures most nations have adopted, aviation is facing extremely challenging times. In particular aircrew who have been furloughed or laid-off face great uncertainty about their financial position and their furture career. However at some stage airlines will begin to return to flying, although maybe in a different way than previously and may take longer to return to full operations.

In order to help pilots return to work we have produced a guide - "Cleared for Take Off!: A pilot's guide to returning to flying". You can download it and distribute it from this website by clicking the button on the home page.

Review: 2019

by Paul Dickens • 15 December 2019
2019 has been another busy year at Core Aviation Psychology as many operators are beginning to implement the new regulations that come into force in August 2020, and we have been supporting a number of them to this end. We have welcomed a number of new clients:

  • Wizzair
  • DHL Air
  • NHV Helicopters
  • Bristow Helicopters
  • Babcock Offshore and Onshore
  • CargoLogicAir
  • West Atlantic
We are now the sole provider of aviation psychology services to the offshore helicopter AOCs. We have also cemented our relationship with Kura Human Factors and look forward to some exciting future joint ventures with them in the corporate aviation sector.

We continue to see individual pilots at the request of AMEs and the CAA, who are working towards their PPL and need a Class 2 medical, and have a mental health diagnosis, and we have consulted with the CAA on both pilot support and pilot psychological assessment.

Our input into mental health and wellbeing awareness continues, working alongside both jet2.com and DHL to develop CRM packages on the topic, and we have delivered awareness sessions for Babcock Offshore in Aberdeen and Sumburgh.

Other work has included presentations at the Royal Aeronautical Society and the CHC Safety and Quality Summit in Dallas TX (on Pressure to Fly), contributing to the ICAO Mental Health Working Group and to the European Association for Aviation Psychology working groups. I was pleased to contribute two chapters to the newly-published textbook on Pilot Psychological Assessment (on interviewing pilots and assessing helicopter pilots), and even more honoured to be made a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.

Busy, busy!

by Paul Dickens • 27 September 2019
A busy few weeks in prospect. I am travelling to Dallas TX to participate in the annual CHC Helicopter Safety and Quality Summit where I will be presenting on "Pressure to Fly", looking at the psychological aspects behind faulty decision making in helicopter operations. The first week in October I will be back in Aberdeen where I am involved in a meeting with all four offshore helicopter operators - CHC, NHV, Babcock and Bristow - looking at how we can set up a consortium approach to providing a Pilot Peer Assistance Newtwork together with the CAA Project Officer Nick Goodwyn. On the same day I will be at a meeting of the CAA FOLG Pilot Welfare subgroup. Following that I will be heading to Munich as I have been invited to participate as an aviation psychologist on an expert panel at Inter Airport Europe 2019.
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