One Event, Many Views: Why Every Witness Should Report in Aviation

In aviation, we rely on people (pilots, technicians, cabin crew, and ground staff), to operate complex systems, follow precise procedures, and make split-second decisions. But there’s one truth we often overlook:

The human brain doesn’t record reality like a video. It reconstructs it.

What we remember and what we perceive can be profoundly flawed. And yet, those perceptions are often the basis for how we report incidents, learn from occurrences, and improve safety.

Perception

Perception in Action: Everyone Sees a Different Story

Imagine this: two ramp workers witness the same event. One reports it as unsafe behavior. The other says it was fully within limits.

Who's right? Possibly both.

Perception is shaped by many factors:

• Where the person was standing

• Their experience and expectations

• Their emotional state (stress, fatigue, pressure)

• Subconscious biases like confirmation or hindsight bias

This isn’t just theory. It has very real operational consequences.

Human Error and the Fog of Memory

Even highly trained professionals can misremember. Not because they’re careless, but because the brain is designed to adapt, not to archive.

After a stressful event or mistake, the brain often softens or reshapes memories. It might downplay details to reduce discomfort, or unintentionally revise what happened to align with what should have happened.

Over time, memories can shift or fade entirely, especially when people fear they might be blamed.

This isn’t dishonesty. It’s human nature.

Why This Matters in Safety Reporting

Every occurrence report and safety recommendation is built on what people think happened. If we assume human memory is reliable, we build safety systems on unstable ground.

But if we understand the limitations of memory and perception, we can build systems that:

• Support immediate, simple reporting

• Cross-check perspectives from multiple roles

• Use procedures and tools that reduce reliance on recall

Safety isn’t just about procedures. It’s about designing for human fallibility.

What We Can Do About It

• Design systems that assume memory will fail. Make checklists easy to follow. Reduce the need to “remember” critical steps.

• Encourage reporting as soon as possible. The sooner someone reports an event, the clearer the details.

• Gather multiple perspectives. The same event looks different to a pilot, a technician, and a ground handler.

• Educate your team about memory distortion. Awareness of how perception works can reduce defensiveness and improve trust.

Encourage Everyone to Report

A question that comes up often is: “Isn’t it enough if one person reports the occurrence?”

In the past, the answer might have been "Yes, only the captain should submit a report". But today, we understand that no two people perceive an event the same way, and each report adds valuable detail.

If two people witness an occurrence, both should report. What one notices, the other might miss. One report might focus on a procedural deviation, the other on environmental factors, communication gaps, or human behavior.

Encouraging multiple reports doesn’t create noise, it sharpens the signal. It helps safety teams see the full picture, not just one version of it.

Final Thought

In aviation, we often say “trust your training.” But we also need to trust what we know about how the brain works.

Memory is not perfect. Perception is not neutral. And that’s okay, if we build our systems around those truths. Because safety isn’t just built on data or checklists. It’s built on people. And people are not black boxes.