Module 07 — TEM, Threat Generation & Facilitation vs Instruction

Duration: ~2.0 hours
Competency focus: TEM theme · Situation Awareness · Leadership & Teamwork · Workload Management

Learning objectives

1. Use Threat and Error Management as a continuous instructional theme in design, observation, and debrief.
2. Insert and modulate threats to generate learning, not confusion.
3. Choose facilitation or instruction deliberately and explain the choice.
4. Recognise when facilitation has failed and directive intervention is required.
5. Demonstrate ability to integrate, teach, and assess TEM and CRM in the operational (FSTD) environment — consistent with UK CAA SD29 v9.1 §4.5 / §8 (paraphrased) and AMC1 FCL.920 expectations as applied by the ATO/Operator.
6. Distinguish “mentioning CRM in the debrief” from training CRM during the session.

1. TEM for instructors (working model)

TEM examines how crews manage threats (external factors), errors (crew actions/inactions that deviate), and undesired aircraft / mission states — and how they recover or trap issues before consequence.

For the TRI:

• Design scenarios that present manageable threats.
• Observe whether crews anticipate, trap, and mitigate.
• Debrief the management story, not only the fault message.
• Avoid treating TEM as a poster on the wall — name it in notes and debriefs.

1a. UK CAA SD29 v9.1 — Part FCL instructors and CRM/TEM (paraphrased)

Cite Standards Document 29 Version 9.1 by section; do not quote CAA text.

Operational environment (SD29 §4.2): simulator training including the briefing and debriefing, or line training. That is where this TRI course expects you to teach CRM/TEM.

Part FCL instructors (SD29 §8, paraphrased):

• A TRI/SFI delivering CRM only in the operational environment is not automatically required to complete the full classroom Flight Crew CRMT pathway (§6).
• Practical instructor training must still develop the skills to teach and assess TEM and CRM (linked to AMC1 FCL.920).
• Knowledge and ability to teach CRM at a level suited to the operational environment may be checked at initial and recurrent Assessments of Competence.
• Simply making occasional TEM/CRM “links” while teaching technical items is not the same as being able to teach CRM subjects properly in that environment.
• Operators/ATOs must ensure instructor courses go deep enough for their organisation; they may draw on experienced CRMTs for guidance.

FSTD practice (SD29 §4.5, paraphrased): discussing CRM topics only during LOFT-style debriefs is common — but instructors must still show they can integrate, train, and where applicable assess/evaluate CRM in the device.

Assessment (SD29 §10, paraphrased): CRM/NTS assessment uses observable behaviours (NOTECHS is one recognised marker system). Under EBT/ATQP, technical and non-technical performance are considered together in the Evaluation phase (or equivalent). Keep standards consistent; do not rewrite criteria merely because a candidate is experienced or inexperienced. Full OPC/Line Check methodology remains in the OM / Standards Doc 24A.

Honest gap: dedicated classroom CRMT appointment, refresher, and examiner processes (§6–§7) are Operator responsibilities — not completed by this TRI pack. See CAA Standards Document 29 alignment.

2. Observing TEM in practice

Tag TEM alongside competencies (often Situation Awareness, Workload Management, Problem Solving & Decision Making, Communication).

3. Threat generation craft

Prepare: Know the trigger, the expected competent response, and your tailor-up/down.
Insert: Clear, realistic, timed to allow process.
Monitor: If the threat simply destroys the session objective, modulate.
Hold: Resist narrating the answer from the IOS unless phase = Manoeuvres instruction.
Recover: Be ready to freeze, clarify, and restart a segment for learning value.

Ethical line: Threats train professionals. They are not tools for dominance or entertainment.

4. Facilitation vs instruction

Choose facilitation when

• Evaluation phase or Scenario-based training phase and aircraft path is safe.
• Trainee has enough knowledge to discover with guidance.
• You want decision-making / TEM / CRM evidence and self-analysis (SD29 facilitation emphasis).

Choose instruction when

• Safety or device integrity at risk.
• Trainee is lost and frustration blocks learning.
• New critical procedure must be modelled correctly the first time.
• Manoeuvres training phase requires a clean technique model.

Hybrid (common)

Prompt once → if no progress, tighten the prompt → then instruct the model → then let them practise → facilitate the debrief.

5. Intervention ladder (in-session)

1. Observe — note only.
2. Subtle prompt — “What’s your plan for…?”
3. Focused challenge — “Confirm FMA.”
4. Directive instruction — clear corrective input.
5. Takeover / freeze — safety or reset learning.

Announce in the brief roughly where you will sit on this ladder for each phase.

6. Workshop

Role-play IOS insertions: weather threat, automation surprise, cabin pressure. Observers score: realism, timing, facilitation discipline, and safety control.

7. Integrating CRM with technical training (operational environment)

Practical MaxFli standard for TRI candidates (aligned with SD29 Appendix 5 FSTD themes — paraphrased practice, not a copy of the form):

1. Support stated CRM/TEM objectives, not only technical ticks.
2. Role-model CRM (open climate, standards, assertiveness norms).
3. Weave CRM into the technical story in the box.
4. Identify behaviours for errors and good results.
5. Use company competency / NOTECHS-style language when provided.
6. Facilitate self-analysis before delivering the model.
7. Judge non-technical performance with the same care as handling.
8. Show CRM subject knowledge appropriate to sim/line instruction.

8. Key takeaways

• TEM is a lens for design, notes, and debrief — and a taught skill, not a slogan.
• Generate threats with a learning purpose and an exit strategy.
• Facilitation is default for development; instruction is a precision tool.
• Climb the intervention ladder early enough for safety, late enough for learning.
• SD29 §8: Part FCL instructors must be able to teach/assess TEM & CRM in the operational environment; classroom CRMT is a separate Operator pathway.

Instructor notes

• Cross-link Module 05 (design) and Module 08 (seat intervention mechanics).
• Discourage mockery of trainee startle — startle is a training resource.
• Use CAA Standards Document 29 alignment when clients ask about CAA HF/CRM instructor expectations.