The impact of psychological factor on the aircraft operation safety

Tetyana Tarnavska ,Lilia Baranovska,Serhii Yahodzinskyi,Natalia Glushanytsia

doi:10.1051/e3sconf/202125802029

Tetyana Tarnavska , Lilia Baranovska + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202125802029

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Abstract

Awareness of the radio exchange problems and the robust skills of recognizing and eliminating errors in radio communication will help to free up time and attention for the pilot and air traffic controller (ATC) to efficiently carry out their main professional functions in any circumstances. It is vitally important for pilots and ATCs in stressful situations not to focus their attention on the foreign language interaction that is the activity that only accompanies their main job performance. Analysis of aircraft accident investigation reports shows that language-related accidents mostly have psychological nature. The authors suggest a range of mental and psychophysiological qualities that determine professional competence and reliability of pilots and ATC. They also identify the sources of neuropsychic stress in critical situation and the ways to overcome it. The research results enable to design a language training model based on the analysis of the last-minute records and aircraft accident and incident reports to be able to identify typical problems of radio exchange, fatal language errors which led or could lead to a disaster. The research is aimed at improving aircraft operation and eventually increasing flight safety.

Highlights

The continuous improvement of aviation technology creates the background for a higher level of flight safety
The aim of this study is to analyze the fatal language errors and typical problems of radio exchange, in order to identify the sources of neuropsychic stress of pilots and air traffic controllers and the ways to overcome it in extreme situations
The Dutch pilot unintentionally used the construction of his native language, which was defined by the Doctor of Philology Steven Cushing [8] as “Code Switching”

Summary

Introduction

The continuous improvement of aviation technology creates the background for a higher level of flight safety. According to the International Civil Aviation Organization Accident Statistics [1], more than 80% of all aircraft accidents are caused by human factor. The Dutch pilot of the KLM airline, who wanted to send a message that they were starting to take off, made a mistake that became fatal for 583 passengers and crew members of two Boeing 747 aircrafts. Instead of the standard phraseology of the radio exchange «we are taking off» (i.e, we have not yet taken off, but we have already begun to run along the runway) the pilot used the construction of his native language «we are at take-off (non-standard phrase which, for English speakers, sounds as «we are at the line up position» because the preposition “at” in Dutch means the same as Continuous in English). The Spanish ATC accepted the message as information about the location of the aircraft waiting for his permission to start taking-off didn’t beat an alarm that another Boeing 747 had not yet vacated the runway

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