Arthur David Beaty (28 March 1919 – 4 December 1999) was a British writer, pilot and psychologist notable as a pioneer in the field of

human factors Ergonomics, also known as human factors or human factors engineering (HFE), is the application of psychological and physiological principles to the engineering and design of products, processes, and systems. Primary goals of human factors eng ...

, now an integral branch of

aviation medicine Aviation medicine, also called flight medicine or aerospace medicine, is a preventive or occupational medicine in which the patients/subjects are pilots, aircrews, or astronauts. The specialty strives to treat or prevent conditions to which air ...

, which he argued played a central role in aviation accidents attributed to

pilot error In aviation, pilot error generally refers to an action or decision made by a Aircraft pilot#Airline, pilot that is a substantial contributing factor leading to an Aviation accidents and incidents, aviation accident. It also includes a pilot ...

Early life

Beaty was born in

Hatton Hatton may refer to: Places England * Hatton, Cheshire West and Chester, a former civil parish * Hatton, Derbyshire, a village and civil parish * Hatton, Lincolnshire, a village and civil parish * Hatton, London, in the London Borough of Houn ...

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

on 28 March 1919, the son of a Methodist minister, and was educated at the

Kingswood School Kingswood School is a private day and boarding school in Bath, Somerset, England. The school is coeducational and educates over 1,000 pupils aged 9 months to 18 years. It was founded by John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, in 1748, and is the ...

followed by

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 126 ...

where he read History and edited ''Cherwell'', a student newspaper. Whilst at Oxford the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

broke out prompting him to volunteer for pilot training with

Oxford University Air Squadron The Oxford University Air Squadron, abbreviated Oxford UAS, or OUAS, formed on 11th October 1925, is the training unit of the Royal Air Force at the University of Oxford and forms part of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. OUAS is one of fif ...

Career

Aviation

Beaty was initially rejected by the RAF pilot selection panel. Thanks largely to the support of his university tutors, he eventually passed selection and completed flying training, receiving a pilot grading of 'exceptional'. Following flying training, Beaty joined

RAF Coastal Command RAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was founded in 1936, when the RAF was restructured into Fighter, Bomber and Coastal commands and played an important role during the Second World War. Maritime Aviation ...

flying the

Consolidated Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models desi ...

. He completed four tours with 206 Squadron and won a Distinguished Flying Cross and bar. During an attack on a

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

in the Baltic his aircraft was badly damaged, with a number of the control surfaces, including the rudder, being shot away. Beaty brought the aircraft back to base for a successful landing. Upon inspection, over 600 holes were counted in the aircraft. After the war, Beaty was offered a regular commission with the RAF. However, he turned down the opportunity and joined

BOAC British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was the British state-owned national airline created in 1939 by the merger of Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd. It continued operating overseas services throughout World War II. After the ...

where he was posted to the carrier's flagship route across the

North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for ...

. His flying career with BOAC was short-lived. Soon, he took up writing on a full-time basis.

Writing

Novels

Beaty wrote 20 novels, under the names Paul Stanton and Robert Stanton, starting at the end of his commercial flying career and continuing almost until his death. Flying has an important place in many of them. In 1960,

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...

bought the rights to Beaty's novel ''Village of Stars'' but never produced the film. Another novel of Beaty's was produced as the film '' Cone of Silence'' (1960) starring

George Sanders George Henry Sanders (3 July 1906 – 25 April 1972) was a British actor and singer whose career spanned over 40 years. His heavy, upper-class English accent and smooth bass voice often led him to be cast as sophisticated but villainous charac ...

. * ''The Take Off'' (1949) (US title: ''The Donnington Legend'') * ''The Heart of the Storm'' (1954) (US title: ''The Four Winds'') * ''The Proving Flight'' (1956) * ''Cone of Silence'' (1959) * ''Call Me Captain'' (1959) * ''Village of Stars'' (1960) (writing as Paul Stanton) * ''The Wind Off The Sea'' (1962) * ''The Siren Song'' (1964) * ''Milk and Honey'' (1964) * ''Sword of Honour'' (1965) * ''The Gun Garden'' (1965) * ''The Temple Tree'' (1971) * ''Electric Train'' (1975) * ''Excellency'' (1977) * ''The White Sea Bird'' (1979) * ''Wings of the Morning'' (1982) (with Betty Beaty) * ''The Stick'' (1984) * ''The Blood Brothers'' (1987) * ''Eagles'' (1990) * ''The Ghosts of the Eighth Attack'' (1998)

Non-fiction writing, flight safety, and human factors

Already an accomplished novelist, Beaty turned his attention to identifying the possible causes behind aviation accidents attributed to

, enrolling at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

to read psychology. Having completed the degree course in a single year, rather than the traditional three years, Beaty became a civil servant in 1967 before publishing his first non-fiction work, ''The Human Factor in Aircraft Accidents'' in 1969. This was followed by ''The Water Jump: The Story of Transatlantic Flight'' (1976), ''The Complete Skytraveller'' (1979) and ''Strange Encounters: Mysteries of the Air'' (1982), before he returned to the subject of his first non-fiction book in ''The Naked Pilot - The Human Factor in Aircraft Accidents'' (1991). Finally ''Light Perpetual: Aviators' Memorial Windows'' appeared in 1995. His first book was met with considerable resistance, not least from a number of aviators, because it portrayed pilots as ordinary human beings, susceptible to errors and mistakes. However, Beaty's work resulted in further interest in the subject, which has now become an accepted part of flying training and is a compulsory module on many private and professional flying courses.

Radio

On 10 June 1972, a 90-minute adaptation of Beaty's novel ''The Temple Tree'', scripted by Betty Davies and Michael Spice, was transmitted in

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

's ''

Saturday Night Theatre __NOTOC__ ''Saturday Night Theatre'' was a long-running radio drama strand on the BBC Home Service and its successor, BBC Radio 4. Launched in April 1943 the strand showcased feature-length, middlebrow single plays on Saturday evenings for mor ...

'' slot. Beaty himself subsequently wrote a drama serial for Radio 4 entitled ''The Magic Carpet''. The story of the doomed airship

R101 R101 was one of a pair of British rigid airships completed in 1929 as part of the Imperial Airship Scheme, a British government programme to develop civil airships capable of service on long-distance routes within the British Empire. It was d ...

, it was transmitted from 27 November 1983 to 8 January 1984 in seven 30-minute episodes.

Death

Beaty died on 4 December 1999 in

Slindon Slindon is a mostly rural village and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England, containing a developed nucleus amid woodland. Much of Slindon's woodland belongs to the National Trust on the southern edge of the escarpment of t ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

. His wife, Betty Campbell Beaty, wrote ''Winged life: A Biography of David Beaty'' in 2001.

References

External links

Author page on Pan Macmillan website
* Archival material at