Charlie Victor Romeo

Charlie Victor Romeo
Date premieredFall 1999
Place premieredUnited States
Original languageEnglish
SubjectCrew Resource Management
GenreDocumentary theatre
SettingAirplane cockpits
Official site

Charlie Victor Romeo is a 1999 play, and later a 2013 film based on the play,[citation needed] whose script consists of almost-verbatim transcripts from six real aviation accidents and incidents. "Charlie Victor Romeo," or CVR, derived from the aviation phonetic alphabet, is aviation jargon for cockpit voice recorder. The play is a case study in crew resource management;[1] a PBS special described several parallels between the behavior seen in these disasters and in emergency room situations.[2]

The play opens with a flight attendant demonstrating the safety equipment and reminding the audience to fasten their seat belts and turn off cell phones. Before each scene, a display screen shows the name of the flight and reason for the disaster (e.g. "Icing" or "Multiple bird strikes"). Sound effects such as cockpit alarms, aircraft interior ambiances and mechanical sounds are included. At the end of each flight, the screen shows the number of casualties. A few of the transcripts were edited for time. At the end of the play, the cast and creators answer questions from the audience.

  1. ^ Kosnik, Linda K. (2002). "The New Paradigm of Crew Resource Management: Just What Is Needed to Reengage the Stalled Collaborative Movement?". The Joint Commission Journal on Quality Improvement. 28 (5). Elsevier BV: 235–241. doi:10.1016/s1070-3241(02)28023-2. ISSN 1070-3241. PMID 12053457.
  2. ^ "Medical Mistakes". PBS NewsHour. Mar 26, 2001. Archived from the original on July 13, 2012.