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 Human factors and ergonomics (commonly referred to as human factors) is the application of psychological and physiological principles to the engineering and design of products, processes, and systems. Four primary goals of human factors learnin ...

, 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 aircr ...

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

pilot error Pilot error generally refers to an Aviation accidents and incidents, accident in which an action or decision made by the Aircraft pilot#Airline, pilot was the cause or a contributing factor that led to the accident, but also includes the pi ...

Early life

Beaty was born in

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

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

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

Kingswood School (''In The Right Way Quickly'') , established = , closed = , type = Independent , religious_affiliation = Methodist , president = , head_label = Headmaste ...

followed by

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

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, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

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 in 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 fifteen Univers ...

Early flying and wartime service

Beaty was initially rejected by the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

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 des ...

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

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...

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.

Civil aviation

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 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 passi ...

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 oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe and ...

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

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. They are: * ''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 , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

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 that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

's ''

Saturday Night Theatre ''Saturday Night Theatre'' was a long-running radio drama strand on BBC Radio 4. The strand showcased feature-length, middle-brow single plays on Saturday evenings for more than 50 years, having been launched in April 1943. The plays featured in t ...

'' 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 a British government programme to develop civil airships capable of service on long-distance routes within the British Empire. It was designed and built by an Air Mi ...

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

Films

In 1960,

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. 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 featur ...

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 chara ...

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 th ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...

. 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