Inside Report (6)

April 2, 1982

* Airline pilots are pressing for more research into the human factors often dismissed as ''pilot error'' in air crashes.

The Air Line Pilots Association specifically mentions ''subtle pressures'' on the cockpit crew, including the desire to get home and win the approval of colleagues.

The National Transportation Safety Board decided recently to add a unit to its team investigating the January Air Florida jet crash. The new unit will look specifically at the human factors involved.

One aviation safety expert says the focus on the human element means a major policy change. ''There just hasn't been anybody investigating crashes before with an attitude of looking at these factors,'' he says.