I read recently in the Flight International Magazine about an event involving a Thompson Airways Boeing 767 which almost did not take off because it was alleged that the crew had inadvertently entered a zero fuel weight of 118 tonnes instead of 172 tonnes in to the electronic flight bag or similar non EFB lap top tool.  Although the aircraft did become airborne, it suffered a tail strike in the process. 

You may recall that an Airbus A340 was involved in a serious incident in Melbourne in March 2009, when it overran the runway before eventually becoming airborne after a similar crew data entry error.

There are probably many more such events and incidents of a similar nature. 

Whilst the EFB/lap-top tool is a very useful way of storing heavy and voluminous manuals, and quickly finding information, I believe that its use involves a peculiar set of ergonomic and human factor issues.

Regulators around the world have attempted to control the use of such tools, but the world turns faster every day, in that technology and the requirements for more efficiency are difficult to keep up with. 

There is guidance material and rules for the use of EFBs and non EFB lap top tools.  Some of the suggested safety defences rely heavily on procedural controls, which may not be the most appropriate error traps for this system and during very busy times on the flight deck.  Physical error traps programmed into the soft ware may also be required.  It must be possible!

Gross error checks are also very important and a demonstration of good airmanship whether you are flying a Cessna 152 or an Airbus A380.

Clearly, the use of electronic flight bags (EFB) or programs stored on laptops needs to be controlled and different training and practices need to be employed to ensure safe and efficient use; by different, I mean different to training someone on paper based system of manuals and charts.

 It may be that the global aviation community needs to undertake a study of the use and potential of EFB’s and the use of lap top tools, identify and find ways address the human factors issues.

Notwithstanding, it is the new millennium and technology is changing – and, no one could possibly suggest that errors were never made with paper based systems. 

Another thing; has anyone ever experienced dropping a copy of Jeppesen World Wide Text on the flight deck floor in the middle of the night?  Putting all those pages back in order is not fun!