Air Accidents Research Articles

A Theoretical Approach to the Effective Decision-Making Process

This research develops and elaborates studies done for a contribution to the 2019 PIC International Conference 2019 in Malta, about the decision-making process. Decision-making is the act of choosing between two or more courses of action. In the wider process of problem-solving, decision-making involves choosing between possible solutions to a problem, and these decisions can be made through either an intuitive or reasoned process, or a combination of the two. The study of decision-making processes, to be understood as the role of human factors, becomes particularly interesting in complex organizations. This research aims to analyze how an effective team, within organizations, can develop a more correct and effective decision-making, in order to get an optimal solution, overcoming the typical uncertainty. The paper describes the point of departure of decision in complex, time-pressured, uncertain, ambiguous and changing environments. The use of a leading case (the Tenerife air accident, 1977), will lead us to the desired results, i.e. to demonstrate how an effective decisional process, including team dynamics, can be useful to reduce the risk, present in all decisions, and reduce errors. The case of Tenerife air disaster, confirm our research. In that case, in fact, the group dynamics prove not to have worked. Thus, we can state that if a team approach had been followed instead of a more individual one, the results would probably have been different. The central belief of the research, is that classic decision theory could benefit from a team approach, which reduces the risk that a decision may lead to undesirable consequences. As demonstrated with the case study, within organizations, the decision-making is not a solitary action. Decisions, in fact, are made within a team and in order to be able to function effectively in a group, and manage group situations, there are essential skills. The team can then become a resource for the decisional process and problem solving, but it is necessary to understand the dynamics.

A Series of Three Aircraft Emergency Public Health Alerts at an International Airport Over a Six Week Period due to Suspected Contaminated Cabin Air

Air travel is a safe, common mode of transport for both work and leisure activities. It can be associated with health risks, with exposure to toxic compounds or fumes in the aircraft cabin resulting in a variety of clinical symptoms. We report on three aircraft incidents which resulted in passenger and crew illness and necessitated emergency landings at Dublin International Airport. We obtained details on the three incidents from the National Ambulance Service Operations Centre dispatch system and staff, regional public health specialists and the National Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU). We conducted a chart review of all passengers and crew who attended the hospital Emergency Department (ED) and consulted with the attending ED physician. Twenty-three crew and passengers reported feeling unwell on the three flights over a six week summer period. Symptoms included dizziness, headache, and throat and eye irritation. On one flight there was a severe odour. Fifteen crew and passengers from the first two incidents were treated at a hospital ED. One case had a low oxygen saturation, and another required oral steroids and nebulised bronchodilator. The AAIU did not find a cause for illness on assessment of all three aircraft. The three aircraft incidents described highlight the potential safety risk of air quality alterations. While there is no evidence that serious health events occurred in these events, sharing of experiences on similar events may lead to increased understanding of these complex events and ensure that aircrafts are a safe environment in which to travel and work.

Air Accident Investigation Findings and Recommendations: Aircraft Contaminated Air Events

Air Accident Investigation Findings and Recommendations: Aircraft Contaminated Air Events

Understanding Aviation Law Through the Evolving Concept of Sovereignty Beyond the Traditional Deep Blue Skies

In this paper, I will discuss the relevant conventions, treaties and agreements concluded in Public International Aviation Law covering air navigation, air accidents and crime committed on airplanes, and attempt to analyze how countries operate their airspace by entering into commercial agreements for conducting air transport activities. I aim to analyze important aviation conventions such as the Chicago Convention of 1944 and the Montreal Convention of 1999 to understand the evolving concept of sovereignty to understand how international regulations of air accidents are implemented with respect to liability and the damages attached thereunder, and the ramifications of the same on the sovereign control exerted by states. This is to say, how compensation to third parties for damages owing to acts of unlawful interference with aircraft is ascertained.

Defending Just Culture in Air Accident Investigations: The Decision of the English High Court in British Broadcasting Corporation & Anor V. Secretary of State for Transport & Anor

Defending Just Culture in Air Accident Investigations: The Decision of the English High Court in <i>British Broadcasting Corporation &amp; Anor V. Secretary of State for Transport &amp; Anor</i>

Auto Care: Analysis and implementation of IOT based vehicular monitoring to detect accidents and pollution

Pollution is very big and dangerous issue in the world. As vehicles increases, pollution also increases with emission of harmful gases like CO, oxides of nitrogen, CO2 and so on. These gases effect to the human health like heart diseases, lung cancer, respiratory infection, chronic bronchitis and also effecting to the environment by changes in the quality of air. Accidents increases by the increase in the population. Accidents also possible due to over speed of vehicles. Necessary to monitor and control air pollution and accidents. By controlling this, future of people will be better and healthy living. In this paper, proposing a system for monitoring with auto detection of air pollution, accidents and over speed of vehicles using IOT. This system allows monitoring and checking air quality, accidents, speed of a vehicle in a particular area. System uses some of the sensors like emission sensors, over speeding sensors, accident sensor. These sensors used to detect the presence of harmful gases which are emitted by vehicles, speed of a vehicle.

Evaluating Working Time and Work Capacity of Aircraft Cabin Line Maintenance Services

Along with the development of modernization and technology, high mobility has been transformed into the basic needs of each individual. To achieve high mobility, various kinds of transportation are highly needed, ranging from land, sea to air transportation. Aircraft as one of the main transportation, requires high maintenance costs to anticipate and minimize the risk of air accidents. Generally, aircraft maintenance can be divided into line maintenance that handles light (minor) maintenance and base maintenance that consist of heavy maintenance. One of the focuses on line maintenance beside of navigation and communication systems is Cabin maintenance. Cabin Maintenance Services usually perform the transit check, 24 hours check, daily check, weekly check, up to A Check. One of the focus of cabin maintenance is cabin standard check. Cabin standard check that consist of several checks from passanger aircraft entrance door, service door, cockpit interior, galley, lavatory, pessanger seats is currently allocated 150 minutes. However, it was found that with an allocation of 150 minutes by 1 man power, it was not possible to complete the cabin standard check for A330 series aircraft. Therefore, measurements of standard times andrestandardization for several types of aircraft is needed. Data collection is done by using a stopwatch time study to get the actual cycle time, then interview with mechanics on duty to get things that require an allowance, and consider the capacity of man hours and man powers available in the Maintenance Control Center (MCC). After measurement and recalculation, it was proposed to add another man power to the A330 series and proposed cabin standard check processing time for B737 series aircraft by 130 minutes, CRJ1000 by 95 minutes, and B777 and A330 using 2 manpowers each of 220 and 160 minutes to finish the Cabin Standard Check during cabin maintenance in various series of aircraft.

APPLICATION OF SITUATIONAL MANAGEMENT METHODOLOGY IN FORENSIC INVESTIGATION OF AIR ACCIDENT CIRCUMSTANCES

Urgency of the research. The authors solve the following praxeological questions: How do we perceive a dangerous flight situation, a flight incident and an air accident? Which basic stages of the investigation do we use? How to implement a situational management methodology for investigating the circumstances of an air accident? Target setting. The article presents the analysis of the current state of information issues in the investigation of air accident circumstances in the military and civil aviation by using the methodology of situational management of forensic investigation processes. Actual scientific researches and issues analysis. An integral part of this development is also the tackling the concept of development of the Air Force, with an emphasis on the training of personnel and the level of the flight operations and the flight safety. Uninvestigated parts of general matters defining. The forensic investigation of air accidents and incidents is perceived as the specific application area of the Forensic Engineering. The research objective. The core output of article is in the proposal of the investigation of air accident circumstances in the military and civil aviation. The statement of basic materials. We use the tools of analysis and synthesis, the expert method with the inductive method based on the close observations and experimentation/investigation in the terrain, in the aviation practice. Conclusions. It is therefore necessary to subject on the permanent pay attention to the theoretical and practical level. Some specific issues addressed in the monograph can be extended with the further proposals and selected issues to address within the scope of research and scientific base of the armed forces.

External Costs of Transporting Petroleum Products: Evidence from Shipments of Crude Oil from North Dakota by Pipelines and Rail

Using data for crude oil transported out of North Dakota in 2014, this paper constructs new estimates of the air pollution, greenhouse gas, and spill and accident costs from long-distance movement of petroleum products by rail and pipelines. Our analysis has three main findings. First, air pollution and greenhouse gas costs are nearly twice as large for rail as for pipelines. Second, air pollution and greenhouse gas costs are much larger than estimates of spill and accidents costs. Third, air pollution and greenhouse gas costs of transporting fuel by rail and pipelines are one-fifth to one-tenth of the costs of combusting fuel in motor vehicles. These results suggest that the policy debate surrounding crude oil transportation may be putting too much relative weight on spills and accidents, while overlooking a far more serious external cost: air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

Evaluating human error data for hazards in air-traffic control and deriving a quantitative safety index

We developed an analysis method of hazards related to air-traffic control (ATC). We used mixing approach procedures such as required navigation performance, authorisation required (RNP AR) and instrument landing system (ILS), as the test case. We carried out the hazard and operability (HAZOP) study and ATC real-time simulation experiments in the situation of the mixed operation for finding the hazards because we were not able to find them as the result of literature examination. We collected the data required for this analysis in the simulation experiment and selected HAZOP as the key assessment methodology. The hazard analysis method developed enables to perform a quantitative HAZOP analysis. We quantified the likelihood of accidents and the ratios between the hazard severities at the development stage. Furthermore, we discussed a safety index based on the statistics of recent catastrophic air accidents around the world. A safety index matrix showed the regions of acceptable levels with mitigation by a quantitative index value.

The total social costs of constructing and operating a maglev line using a case study of the riyadh-dammam corridor, Saudi Arabia

Background: Introducing Magnetic Levitation (Maglev) technology in a developing country is a big challenge that needs huge investments in infrastructure, operations and maintenance. Background information about the development of Maglev worldwide to date is included.&#x0D; Aim: Determine a methodology to estimate the full cost of travel and provide insights into the working model developed to include the calculations of the total social costs of building a new Maglev line for the Riyadh-Dammam corridor in Saudi Arabia and understand in what circumstances it is a suitable technology to use.&#x0D; Methods: The Spreadsheet Total Cost Model (STCM) is used to determine the calculations of operator costs, user costs, and environmental costs. However, the operator costs are related to infrastructure construction and maintenance costs, and costs associated with the acquisition, operation and maintenance of Maglev rolling stock. The user costs are dependent on the journey time, including access/egress time, waiting time, and in-vehicle time. The value of time is considered in order to get the user costs calculated. The external costs include air pollution, noise pollution, accident, and climate change per passenger-km.&#x0D; Results: The travel demand has to be forecasted in order to determine the total social costs, using the elasticity approach between the the proposed HSR and Maglev lines in terms of their number of trips and the generalised journey times. In addition, the generalised journey time is based on the in-vehicle time and service interval penalty. The Maglev system is operated at the capacity limit and the change in service is therefore forecasted to increase the Maglev demand by 24.6 % (3.25 million passengers). In terms of the total infrastructure costs, the infrastructure construction and maintenance costs are included and computed to be about € 835.4 million per year, using the capital recovery factor (0.06) based on 35 years of operation and a 5 % social discount rate. The acquiring, operating, and maintaining train’s unit cost is included in the calculation of rolling stock to achieve results of € 22.4 million, € 22.5 million, and € 40.9 million, respectively. In terms of the user costs, the access/egress time is computed as of 33 minutes, using the car, while the in-vehicle travel time and waiting time are resulted of 61.8 minutes and 7.8 minutes, respectively. The external environmental costs are based on accidents, and climate changes of € 8.87 million per year and € 8.13 million per year, respectively. However, the total social costs of Maglev line are computed as € 1.18 billion for 16.45 million passengers per year. This gives an average social cost of € 71.9 per passenger. The comparable figures for High-Speed Rail (HSR) are € 1.10 billion for 13.21 million passengers per year, giving an average social cost of € 83 per passenger.&#x0D; Conclusion: In conclusion, the Riyadh-Dammam Maglev system introduces a new intercity system into Saudi Arabia and brings new competition in the intercity transit market as a part of the future transport developments in the country. The average social cost for HSR is around 16 % higher than Maglev- but that is more proven technology.

Psychophysiological response of air mobile protection teams in an air accident manoeuvre

Different extreme contexts elicit a stress response on human body, specifically on combat produces an increase of sympathetic nervous system and a direct effect on the organic response. This research aimed to study the psychophysiological response of an air security force in a simulated air accident in a hostile area and its subsequent subterfuge to a safe area. We analyzed 13 soldiers (32.4 ± 8.0 years) from an air security force unit of the Spanish Air Force who were divided into three teams to conduct the manoeuvre. We analyzed before and after the manoeuvre psychological well-being scale, personal views survey, recovery-stress questionnaire (REST-52 Sport); heart rate variability, visual analogue scale, rated of perceived exertion, spirometry, hydration and hand strength were analyzed during the four days of the manoeuvre: This produced a significantly (p < .05) increase in sympathetic modulation, hand strength, dehydration status, general and specific stress from RESTQ-52. With this data we can conclude that an air accident manoeuvre of three nights and four days causes in the air mobile protection team a high sympathetic nervous system modulation, increases on muscle strength manifestations and stress and a dehydration status.

A novel hybrid fuzzy DEA-Fuzzy MADM method for airlines safety evaluation

Safety is a critical element in the air transport industry. Although fatal air accidents are rare compared to other transport industries, the rapid growth in air travel demands has resulted in a growing aviation risk exposure and new challenges in the aviation sector. Although the issue of airline safety is of serious public concern, notably few studies have investigated the safety efficiency of airlines. This paper aims to propose a novel hybrid method using fuzzy data envelopment analysis (DEA) and fuzzy multi-attribute decision making (F-MADM) for ranking the airlines' safety. In this study, fuzzy DEA is utilized to calculate criteria weights, in contrast to the conventional approach of using DEA for measuring the efficiency of alternatives. A ranking of each airline (DMU) on the basis of obtained weights is then assessed using MADM methods. Six MADM methods including Fuzzy SAW, Fuzzy TOPSIS, Fuzzy VIKOR, ARAS-F, COPRAS-F and Fuzzy MULTIMOORA are implemented to rank the alternatives, and finally, the results are compounded with the utility interval technique. This new hybrid method can efficiently overcome the pitfalls of traditional hybrid DEA-MADM models. The method proposed in this study is used to evaluate the safety levels of seven Iranian airlines and to select the safest one.

Parametrization of Pedestrian Injuries and its Utilisation in Proving Traffic Accidents Course Using Injury Signatures and Contact Signatures

The paper points out the present limited possibility of using the verbal description of injuries for the needs of experts from the field of road transportation as relevant criminalistics traces, as well as the options of the FORTIS system that creates a new area for a deeper interdisciplinary approach in the field of expert evidence. Further a description of how to create injury signatures and contact signatures and the possibilities of their evaluation and mutual comparison based on the proven individual attributes are described. To evaluate pedestrian injuries by the new proper FORTIS system and to show FORTIS valuability in the assessment of mechanical violence and mechanism of injuries. Cases of traffic injuries including photodocumentation, graphic schemes, medical files and autopsy protocols processed by the new FORTIS forensic system. A collision between a pedestrian and a vehicle represents a matrix of physical violence having an effect on the pedestrian´s body and a matrix of the pedestrian´s body´s response to this violence. The analysis of individual cases shows the valuability of the FORTIS system. It is apparent that for the needs of traffic accidents analysts the FORTIS system has more options for being used in forensic medicine, as it covers not only a field of evaluation of traffic injuries but also all kinds of injuries and accidents (rail accidents, air accidents, violent crimes, etc.).

A Study on the Revitalization Method of National Carrier(Low cost carrier) Safety Management System

Purpose - In this study, the safety related tasks for low cost carriers’ were examined and measures to improve them were suggested. As the air demand increases rapidly, number of passenger has mushroomed in Korea and in order to keep with the demand low cost carriers have played a role. However, low cost carriers’ safety related tasks are not reliable level so far. Thus, in this study, the low cost carriers’ current situations in terms of safety are investigated, especially regarding how well the ICAO’s new safety policies are applied. Research design, data, and methodology - The results of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation’ investigation are introduced and field study results are analysed. Current status of retaining experts, staffs, administrators in terms of aviation safety tasks of low cost carriers is compared to those of major airliner and low cost carriers’ aviation safety culture is also analyzed by examining the systems and questioning staffs. Especially the culture regarding aviation safety is very important because the culture surrounding the safety tasks plays a major role in every respect of conducting the tasks. Results – Overall the current status of low cost carriers’ aviation safety tasks is below standard. Especially retaining experts and staffs is basically below the required level. Also, system and organization to conduct safety tasks are not satisfactory. In particular, aviation safety culture is not settled to operate appropriately. Conclusions - The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and member states are continuing to launch new safety policies in response to the surging demand for air travel worldwide. The most urgent and important issue among the various safety policies is to reduce air accidents. In order to reduce the number of accidents, ICAO decided to reduce the number of accidents by using the Reactive Safety Management. ICAO has to ensure that each member country can implement proactive safety management for aviation safety. A safety management system (Safety Management System) is a system in which each member state implements a fulfillment standard. The current situation and problems of the safety management system for each airline are suggested and proposed for improvements.

On value and using of TAWS/FMS alert data in examination of air accidents, the case of Warsaw-Smolensk flight on 10 April 2010

ABSTRACTThrough an analysis of TAWS/FMS data collected and registered during the last minute of TU-154M aircraft flight from Warsaw to Smolensk, we show the value and existence of space for undertaking research works on enhancing standard functionality of TAWS/FMS systems to enable their effective use in examination of the course and causes of air accidents. The flight ended up in the total destruction of the aircraft and the death of all passengers and crew on board. The TAWS/FMS flight altitudes and spatio-temporal data, i.e. geographical location and speed of the aircraft motion, were inspected for their internal and external consistency with the data from the ATM QAR service recorder. Using the data from ATM QAR, records from the cockpit voice recorder (CVR), jointly with data from the TAWS/FMS systems, it was possible to reconstruct the most probable horizontal and vertical trajectory of the TU-154M aircraft during the last minute of flight before its complete destruction, as well as the likely scenario of accompanying events. The data available from recorders enabled the authors to gain information on the preliminary stage of the course of accident, and the first phase of the aircraft's destruction, resulting in serious damage of the left wing of the aircraft. Enhanced standard functionality of TAWS/FMS systems, incorporating use of their data in the post-accident situations examination, would have improved results and simplified the present analysis considerably.

Evolution of Flight Data Recorders

A flight recorder, commonly known as a black box, is considered the most important witness in the investigation of air accidents. Flight recorders have been considered important parts of onboard equipment for both military and civilian aircraft all over the world already from 1950s. They are used not only for flight evaluation after an unexpected event, but also for a pilot training, pilot skills assessment, diagnostics of on-board systems, and evaluation of aircraft systems as a whole. Thus, these flight recorders contribute to high aircraft reliability and aviation operation safety. This article focuses on Automatic Deployable Flight Recorders (ADFR), currently not often used in the military or civilian aircraft. ADFRs are mainly used for aircraft that fly over vast water areas as classic concept recorders were hard to find when the aircraft crashed into water. This deployable recorder is a reliable flight safety system used e.g. in US Navy F/A-18 multirole combat jets. In addition, creation of this article was inspired by the change in ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices for Operation of Aircraft, implemented in July 2016 in the tenth edition of ICAO Annex 6.

Studies on Controllable Aircraft Rescue System for Passenger Aircrafts using Multi Parachutes and Parafoils

Loss of lives due to fatal air accidents is an alarming problem faced by the aviation industry. There have been 88 fatal air accidents in the years 2010-2014 according to the IATA safety report. This clearly exhibits the fact that the present safety systems in aircraft are inadequate to save lives during mid-air emergencies. This paper presents a feasible solution to this problem with the use of controllable aircraft rescue system CARS involving the use of parachutes and parafoils. Parachutes are placed at the center, nose and tail sections of the aircraft which when deployed during a mid-air emergency to decrease the sink rate, provides stability and much-needed lift to the aircraft. Parafoils are attached to the wings of the aircraft through the fuselage which when deployed provides the much-needed control and enables safe navigation of the aircraft. Floats are provided at the bottom of the fuselage to reduce the force at impact in case of touchdown and also increase the time for which the aircraft can stay afloat in case of water landing. An analysis is performed to determine the size and diameter of parachutes required for aircraft of varying weights. The time of descent of the aircraft with parachutes from various altitudes is also determined. These results are summarized to exhibit the feasibility of the system.

An exploratory study on the effects of human, technical and operating factors on aviation safety

ABSTRACTThis article explores the effects of human, technical, and operating factors on the safety record of 50 airlines over the period 2004 to 2015. The factors examined include (1) pilot salary, (2) fleet age, (3) International Air Transport Association - Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) certification, (4) International Civil Aviation Organization safety parameters (i.e., legislation, organization, licensing, operations, airworthiness, accident investigation, air navigation service, and aerodromes), and (5) cultural-related indices (such as power distance, degree of uncertainty avoidance, and language for communication). Among the important factors such as organization, licensing, and operations performance, pilot salary is identified as the most important factor differentiating airlines with or without crashes. Within the group of airlines that encountered air accidents during the study period, fleet age, airworthiness, accident investigation, air navigation services and aerodromes scores, and salary are found to be significant factors on accident rate. IOSA certification, aerodromes, language of communi-cation, and uncertainty avoidance appear to be totally immaterial. Identifying the important factors is important to assist airlines investigate and improve their safety records.

The Public Safety Zones around Small and Medium Airports

Proper planning around airports safeguards the surrounding territory from risks of air accidents. Many countries have defined Public Safety Zones (PSZs) beyond the runway thresholds as a result of targeted risk assessment methods. Therefore, national aviation Authorities could limit building construction and industrial development in order to contain the risk for dwellers to be involved in aircraft accidents. The number of people who live, work or congregate in these areas should be limited. The procedure to set Public Safety Zones is based on advanced technical analyses for major infrastructures. For smaller airports, simplified schemes are used, but, sometimes, they are not as effective when considering the actual safety conditions. This article aims to identify the shape and size of the Public Safety Zones for small and medium one-runway airports. The influence of the volume and mix of traffic on the PSZ geometry has been evaluated using the program named SARA (Sapienza Airport Risk Analysis); the results are correlated with the current Risk Plans generally adopted in Italy. According to the air traffic, the Risk Plans are characterized by a dynamic definition and fit the results obtained from risk assessment.