1.0 Introduction
While air transportation is one of the safest and fastest ways of traveling, there are still some problems associated with it. While aircraft systems have developed so far to help aid the pilot, there are still some major issues that we still have. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) defines situational awareness as “the accurate perception and understanding of all the factors and conditions within the five fundamental risk elements (flight, pilot, aircraft, environment, and type of operation that comprise any given aviation situation) that affect safety before, during, and after the flight” (Aeronautical). With all of these factors playing a role in each flight, there is a risk of something happening during the flight to cause a negative outcome.
For a pilot, situational awareness begins far before the flight itself actually takes place. Unlike getting in a car, where the driver walks up and drives away, special and sometimes meticulous planning has to go into a flight. There are many phases that occur other than just the actual flight part that has to have attention paid to it.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is in charge of investigation aircraft accidents in the United States and compiles statistics of each accident. Part 135 is classified as air taxi operations meaning airlines. This data shows accidents for fixed wing aircraft, which most people travel on. Airline pilots have accumulated the most flight time out of most pilots in any other category. According to the NTSB, “Pilots involved in these accidents had an average total flight time of 5,459 hours, with a range from 611 to 16,010 hours, and an average time in the type of accident aircraft of 2,502 hours, with a range from...
... middle of paper ...
...://www.ntsb.gov/doclib/reports/2012/ARA1201.pdf
Risk Factors Associated with Weather-Related General Aviation Accidents. (2005). In National Transportation Safety Board. Retrieved March 22, 2014, from https://www.ntsb.gov/doclib/safetystudies/SS0501.pdf
Saini, M. (2010, May). Get Ready for ADS-B. In FAA Safety Briefing. Retrieved February 21, 2014, from http://www.faa.gov/nextgen/implementation/programs/adsb/broadcastservices/view/media/MayJun2010-ADS-B.pdf
Spirkovska, L., & Lodha, S. (2003, May 30). Audio-visual situational awareness for general aviation pilots. In SPIE Digital Library. Retrieved February 17, 2014, from http://proceedings.spiedigitallibrary.org.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/proceeding.aspx?articleid=755892
XM WX Data Products. (2014). In XM WX Satellite Weather. Retrieved February 21, 2014, from http://www.xmwxweather.com/xmwx-data/data-products.php
Flying alongside the clouds at high altitudes; to hear nothing except the thoughts in my head and to go to far away destinations on a weekend is just some of the reasons I enjoy flying. I start out early in the morning heading out to the local airport. At that time in the morning, I can feel the chill in the air. It is so quiet at the beginning of dawn. I know when I am close to the airport; I can smell the aviation fuel burning from the aircraft on the runway. Once I arrive, I head straight to the aircraft hangar where I left my aircraft the previous day. Next, I would walk around the aircraft to do a visual inspection of any damage to the aircraft that may have been done on a previous flight. If there is some minor damage, I log it in my flight log. Once I am done with the preliminary outside inspections, I move inside the flight cabin where I set the instruments for the day’s flight. Once the instruments are set, I crack my window slightly and yell, “CLEAR.” I turn the key to the right; the propeller starts to turn with a clank, clank sound; suddenly the engine comes to life. WOW, what a feeling that is to hear the engine comes to life. I place my headset on my head and say, “Clermont, WNS77 with radio check, Clermont.” The tower replies with, “Clermont, WNS77 radio check, load and clear, Clermont.” The thrill of flying has always had a place in my heart and being a part of the Experimental Aviation Association, also known as EAA, has help me feel closer to my desires of flying with the heavenly bodies. The main goal of the Experimental Aircraft Association is to bring individuals, like myself, together and share in the joy of all parts of aviation. This can include homebuilt aircraft, exploring new technology in the field of...
pilots and flight attendants are going to give us what we need. I know it's
It is estimated that pilot fatigue contributes to 15-20% of all fatal air accidents related to human error. It is precisely at the moment when most people would feel ‘dead tired’ at the end of a long working day, that pilots must be fully alert to make critical decisions, concentrate and ensure a safe landing. In any case, getting to one’s destination in one piece is much more important than the price of one’s ticket
Today, we have better forms of communication and technology, including a collision alarm system, “The collision alarm system not only warns both planes anytime a conflict over air space arises, pilots are given specific instructions to move them out of danger”(Johnson).This definitely helped improve where both the planes are and how to avoid a collision from happening. But on occasion collisions happen from poor maintenance and or pilot’s error, the PSA crash was still one of the worst plane crash in U.S. history, even when it was forty years ago. Though the PSA crash happened due to lack of information and understanding that infromation and taking action, it proved that the airlines need to make careful assumptions of where they are and what other planes are flying around in there direction, and how they can avoid the other
NWS Internet Services Team. "Glossary - NOAA's National Weather Service."Glossary - NOAA's National Weather Service. National Weather Service, 25 June 2009. Web. 02 Mar. 2014.
Collision avoidance is something that has been a problem in aviation for a long time. Most of the flights conducted today rely on the see and avoid concept and ground radar. Both of which have their flaws. The FAA predicts that mid-air collisions will increase by 300% over the next 20 years due to the increase in flights being flown by all areas of the aviation community (Kraus xiv). Civil aircraft have had onboard protection from midair collisions only since 1990 and general aviation aircraft are not required to have any collision avoidance technology onboard(www.cassd.org 1).
falling asleep at the controls as flying hours get longer. July 26, 2004 p02 The Christian Science Monitor, p.02. Retrieved November 04, 2011, from Custom Newspapers via Gale
On this leg of their long day, the captain was the flying pilot in control of the aircraft, and the first officer was the non-flying pilot, handling such things as navigation and the radios. After only 14 minutes in the air, 22:54, they received the fi...
A well rounded airline safety video should express the fundamentals of safety. According to the National Transport Safety Board passengers must be presented with safety information specific to the aircraft. The video must include the following information on: smoking, emergency exit locations, safety belt, signs and the location and use of flotation devices. If the flight goes above 25000 feet then the instructions on how to use oxygen masks should be added (NTSB 61).
...to a very dangerous flight situations. Such issues make really unrealistic adopting such configuration for any civil aircraft without any specific countermeasure. Indeed, the rectification of these stability and control deficiencies and the provision of adequate flying qualities will require a very high authority augmentation system. Thus, a multiple-redundant command augmentation system must be implemented to make a neutral or slightly negatively permanent flying setting even only conceivable.
...ing dangerous icing conditions. Flight is an amazing science that will only get safer as time goes on.
Safety in the ethics and industry of aerospace technology is of prime importance for preventing tragic malfunctions and crashes. Opposed to automobiles for example, if an airplane breaks down while in mid-flight, it has nowhere to go but down. And sadly it will often go down “hard” and with a high probability of killing people. The Engineering Code of Ethics states first and foremost that, “Engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public.” In the aerospace industry, this as well holds very true, both in manufacturing and in air safety itself. Airline safety has recently become a much-debated topic, although arguments over air safety and travel have been going ...
Throughout the history of aviation, accidents have and will continue to occur. With the introduction of larger and more complex aircraft, the number of humans required to operate these complex machines has increased as well as, some say, the probability of human error. There are studies upon studies of aircraft accidents and incidents resulting from breakdowns in crew coordination and, more specifically, crew communication. These topics are the driving force behind crew resource management. This paper will attempt to present the concept of crew resource management (CRM) and its impact on aviation safety in modern commercial and military aviation. The concept is not a new one, but is continually evolving and can even include non-human elements such as computer-controlled limitations on aircraft maneuvers and the conflicts that result in the airline industry.
Aviation Accident Data 2006. Annual Review NTSB/ARG-10/01, pp. 38-50. Retrieved Feburary 6, 2011, from http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/2010/ARG1001.pdf
Prior to 1959, faulty equipment was the probable cause for many airplane accidents, but with the advent of jet engines, faulty equipment became less of a threat, while human factors gained prominence in accident investigations (Kanki, Helmreich & Anca, 2010). From 1959 to 1989, pilot error was the cause of 70% of accident resulting in the loss of hull worldwide (Kanki, Helmreich & Anca, 2010). Due to these alarming statistics, in 1979 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) implemented a workshop called “Resource Management on the Flightdeck” that led to what is now known as Crew Resource Management (CRM) or also known as Cockpit Resource Management (Rodrigues & Cusick, 2012). CRM is a concept that has been attributed to reducing human factors as a probable cause in aviation accidents. The concepts of CRM weren’t widely accepted by the aviation industry, but through its history, concepts, and eventual implementation, Crew Resource Management has become an invaluable resource for pilots as well as other unrelated industries around the world.