Aviation Accidents and Safety Performance.

Aviation Accidents and Safety Performance

 

 

The four leading causes of aviation accidents, in order of occurrence, are human error (Flight Crew Members, Air Traffic Control) weather (Fog, Ice, Windshear) airframe or engine failure, and maintenance. So, a fifth cause that shows up in worldwide accidents statistics (currently third just behind weather) is sabotage/military accidents.

Most accidents involve multiple factors. So, finding the primary cause can be difficult and may require subjective judgments.

The Safety record of the world’s airlines will decline in the next 20 years, if the industry focuses more on preventing accidents and determining what cause them, this is the key.

Traditionally, accident investigation analysis has centered on a single, primary cause, so when most accidents involve a chain of events. As a result, such procedures tend to limit the scope of the future accident prevention actions.

I want to be emphasizing in this safety post, what I read on a safety book, more than 80% of the accidents were caused by the Pilots.

Study of hull of accidents, found that on scheduled flights of 1.6 hr. duration, nearly 70% of the accidents occurred during Take Off and Landing operations. Specifically, 24.8% of the accidents occurred during the crucial take off and initial climb phases, which represents a mere 2% of total flight time, so the analyses of airline hull losses since 1968 shows a clear correlation between Controlled Flight Into Terrain ( CFIT ), and the use of Ground Proximity Warning System equipment( GPWS ).

Ground Proximity Warning System equipment (GPWS), warns pilots that the aircraft is too low and in close proximity to terrain.

Since 1974 and 1975, when GPWS was implemented by airlines, 44 accidents have occurred involving aircraft that did not have the system installed, only about 5% of the world’s airline aircraft lack such equipment.

So, another 43% of the accidents occurred during the final approach and lading phases, which account for only 4% of the flight time. Although takeoff and landing operations accounted for nearly 70% of all accidents since 1959, CFIT remains the leading cause of airline deaths worldwide.

During the past decade, an average of 550 people has died each year in CFIT – related accidents, according to statistics.

About five or six CFIT accidents occur each year worldwide, and estimates indicate that 75% of these accidents happen during non-precision instrument approach procedures that lack vertical, or glideslope  guidance. Therefore, in such cases, a GPWS probably would have provided warning of the impending crash. Analysis indicates that slow, incorrect or no pilot response to GPWS alerts was responsible for at least 19 accidents since 1975.

Let’s review this information so far, study of 63 accidents in the US and Canada from 1982 to 1991, for example, showed that prevention strategies applicable to the flying pilots adherence to procedures may have been a factor in as much as 41% of the crashes.

This compares with 43% of 38 accidents in Europe during the same period. 48% of 47 accidents in Latin America, 32% of 37 accidents in Africa and 52 % of 37 accidents in Asia. They found that strategies linked to improvements in aircraft design, maintenance, air traffic control and basic piloting skills would have played important roles in preventing the accidents.

So, basic piloting skills, for example, were a factor in 16% of the US- Canada accidents, 34% of those occurring in Latin America, 29% in Africa and 32% in Asia.

Always Remember Safety First!!!!  Safety is Something We Can Live With!!!!