Hi Bob,

I have a question regarding communication styles in the cockpit. " A good captain will encourage a co-pilot to use communication styles that are"
a. Assertive and submissive
b. Agressive and supportive
c Supportive and submissive
d. Assertive and supportive

I have always thought D would be the correct answer but another 3rd party disagrees just wondering what your take on this subject is.

Cheers Sam

I'm with you, Sam. Always, with multi-guess questions, test each and every answer to get rid of the wrong ones, first.

(a) Assertive and submissive Assertive - yes, as in, be confident to make your point without being a pain. Submissive - no, that's put more than a few aircraft into the ground over the years. The two options don't go together, anyway, so (a) is out.

(b) Aggressive and supportive Aggressive - no, that's a good way to engender a lot of cockpit antipathy and disharmony. Supportive - yes - it's both your necks if you collectively get it too far wrong. The two options don't go together, anyway, so (b) is out.

(c) Supportive and submissive Supportive - yes - see above. Submissive - no - see above. You may well come across folk who are supportive while being submissive. Doesn't belong in the cockpit so (c) is out.

(d) Assertive and supportive Assertive - yes - see above. Supportive - yes - see above. (d) is the only sensible option so let's run with (d) for the answer, shall we ?

Hi John,

Thanks for clearing that question up for me.

Cheers Sam