Human factors in aviation maintenance: how we got to where we are

Abstract

Human factors in aviation has traditionally concentrated on aircrew and air traffic control errors, but the increasing number of maintenance and inspection errors has seen the rise of human factors research and interventions in this area. This paper provides the rationale for such work and gives an overview of the domain, both of which may not be familiar to human factors and ergonomics practitioners. The papers in this special issue are placed into the context of the human factors tools they employ and the interventions they develop, showing that most are extensions of existing techniques applied to a domain with a distinctive culture and unique challenges. Finally, recent advances, beyond the research represented by fully developed papers, are outlined to enable the reader to locate current and future work in this field.