Air Accidents Research Articles

Defines causes and the circumstance of air accidents in preparatory conducts connected with their appearing

Article makes up the attempt of the synthetic formulation of the causes of air accident which necessary to fix during preparatory proceding, and then judicial. It should notice that the proper qualification of causes and the circumstance of the air accident or different event, has to show possible guilty persons in the led conduct and qualify the range of contributing their to the rise of the event. Indicated rasons can be differ than essential way of diagnose by the State Committee of Investigation Air Accidents. It is results of the procedure distinction and also divergent goal. These questions will be analysed through the general causes of occurrence of air accident and their source.

Acts Affecting the Safety of Civil Aviation in Saudi

The aircraft is a means of air navigation that the international community has taken care of and has sought to regulate the legal rules for the safety of civil aviation where a global plan for the safety of civil aviation was developed in 2010 with the existence of international conventions on the regulation of crimes against aviation security. This article aims to identify the acts and crimes against civil aviation with the statement of the air accident in Saudi Arabia and the subject was addressed through several points represented in the presentation, analysis and interpretation of the legal rules of the air incident and crimes on Flight in Saudi Law 1426, by following the comparative descriptive analytical approach. The results of the article indicated that the civil aviation Law was affected by the provisions of international conventions related to air transport with special rules for dealing with aviation accidents the article included two sections: the first section acts and crimes affecting the security of the aircraft, and came the second section entitled; the air accident and rescue and assistance.

Международно-правовые аспекты обеспечения безопасности полетов гражданских воздушных судов в районах боевых действий и военных учений

Introduction. Despite the international aviation community’s attempts aimed at improvement of safety of air transport and reduction of the number of air accidents, unfortunately, many threats to safety of civil aircraft still exist to date, including armed conflicts and other military activities taking place in different parts of our planet. Malaysian Boeing 777-200 crash of 17 July 2014 in the eastern Ukraine killing 283 passengers and 15 crew members has become the tragedy clearly showing the risks, to which the civil aircraft and passengers on board flying in the airspace over the areas of armed conflicts, are exposed. In light of this accident, the author examines the present international legal regime of safety of civil aircraft flying over the areas of armed conflicts and military exercises, identifies the problems of this regime and proposes the ways of its improvement. Materials and methods . The present research has been conducted on the basis of international air law treaties, the documents of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), as well as the works of Russian and foreign international law experts. The methodology of the research is based upon general scientific and special methods, including dialectical method, methods of analysis and synthesis, deduction and induction, comparative legal method. Research results . On the basis of his research the author concludes that neither the present-day international legal regime of safety of civil aircraft flying over the areas of armed conflicts and military exercises, nor existing rules of international air law prohibiting use of weapons against civil aircraft can prevent accidents similar to Malaysian airplane crash of 17 July 2014. In view of this conclusion, the author proposes improvement of international legal regime of safety of civil aviation, and in particular, amendment of the Convention on International Civil Aviation of 1944 (“Chicago Convention of 1944”) aimed at enhancement of States’ obligations relating to restriction of flights of civil aircraft within their sovereign airspace during armed conflicts or other military activities. Discussion and conclusions . The author examines treaty and customary rules of international law governing the issues of safety of civil aircraft flying over the areas of armed conflicts and military exercises as well as ICAO standards and other acts (documents) and concludes that they do not precisely oblige the States to restrict or prohibit flights of civil aircraft in their sovereign airspace during armed conflicts, military exercises or other hazardous military activities. Moreover, the provisions of the Chicago Convention of 1944 and other international treaties prohibiting the use of weapons against civil aircraft are imperfect and do not fully protect civil aviation from different types of weapons. Therefore, the ICAO’s work following Malaysian airplane crash of 17 July 2014 for the purpose of enhancement of protection of civil aviation from the threats arising from armed conflicts and other hazardous military activities appears insufficient and must include more efficient measures, such as adoption of new international treaty rules containing precise States’ obligations.

What do aircraft accident investigators do and what makes them good at it? Developing a competency framework for investigators using grounded theory

We present a new analysis of the tasks carried out by air accident investigators and propose a new competency framework which captures the competencies demanded of an effective investigator. Using a subject-matter expert panel, a hierarchical task analysis (HTA) was developed to frame and organise the diverse activities that are required of the air accident investigator. Supported by the HTA, a competency framework was developed using structured interviews based on repertory-grid interview technique. Grounded theory was used to abstract competencies derived from the interviews. The resultant competency framework could be applied to selection and training future investigators in other safety critical domains. More immediately, the framework can deliver insight into what differentiates the good investigator from the excellent investigator.

Impact of pitch angle fluctuations on airborne lidar forward sensing along the flight direction

Abstract. Airborne lidar forward sensing along the flight direction can serve for notification of clear air turbulence (CAT) and help to prevent injuries or fatal air accidents. The validation of this concept was presented in the framework of the DELICAT (DEmonstration of LIdar-based CAT detection) project. However, the strong variations in signal level, which were observed during the DELICAT measurements but not explained, sometimes indicated the need of a better understanding the observational errors due to geometrical factors. In this paper, we discuss possible error sources pertinent to this technique, related to fluctuations of the flight parameters, which may lead to strong signal variations caused by the random deviations of the sensing beam from the forward flight trajectory. We analyze the variations in backscattered lidar signal caused by fluctuations of the most important forward-sensing flight parameter, the pitch angle. The fluctuation values considered in the paper correspond to the error limits of the compensational gyro platform used in civil aviation. The part of the pitch angle fluctuations not compensated for by the beam-steering device in the presence of aerosol concentration variations can lead to noticeable signal variations that can be mistakenly attributed to wind shear, turbulence, or fast evolution of the aerosol layer. We formulate the criteria that allow the recognition of signal variations caused by pitch angle fluctuations. Influence of these fluctuations is shown to be stronger for aerosol variations on smaller vertical scales. An example of DELICAT observations indicating a noticeable pitch angle fluctuation impact is presented.

To fly as a pilot after cardiac surgery.

SummaryAircrew are responsible for safe and reliable aircraft operations. Cardiovascular disease accounts for 50% of all pilot licences declined or withdrawn for medical reasons in Western Europe and is the most common cases of sudden incapacitation in flight. Aircrew retirement age is increasing (up to age 65) in a growing number of airlines and the burden of subclinical, but potentially significant, coronary atherosclerosis is unknown in qualified pilots above age 40. Safety considerations are paramount in aviation medicine, and the most dreaded cardiovascular complications are thromboembolic events and rhythm disturbances due to their potential for sudden incapacitation. In aviation, the current consensus risk threshold for an acceptable level of controlled risk of acute incapacitation is 1% (for dual pilot commercial operations), a percentage calculated using engineering principles to ensure the incidence of a fatal air accident is no greater than 1 per 107 h of flying. This is known as the ‘1% safety rule’. To fly as a pilot after cardiac surgery is possible; however, special attention to perioperative planning is mandatory. Choice of procedure is crucial for license renewal. Licensing restrictions are likely to apply and the postoperative follow-up requires a tight scheduling. The cardiac surgeon should always liaise and communicate with the pilot’s aviation medicine examiner prior to and following cardiac surgery.

Measuring the LCC effect on charter airlines in the Spanish airport system

Using a robust transfer function model methodology, the present paper seeks to offer empirical evidence regarding the size and type of effects that low-cost carriers (LCCs) have had on traffic for charter carriers (CCs) in the Spanish airport system by geographic market. We show an unmistakable substitution relationship between CCs and LCCs in the latter's typical niche markets, national and European flights, while there is no reaction from the CCs in the segment of international flights outside the EU. Furthermore, substitution effects are smaller between CCs and LCCs on the domestic level than effects between LCCs and network carriers (NCs) and slightly larger on the European level. Lastly, CC traffic's different sensitivity to terrorist attacks, day of the week, air accidents and the economic crisis is also evident. CCs should therefore be considered an independent category that warrants individualized analyses.

Enhancement of safety measures to prevent air accidents

In today's world, with time at a premium, people increasingly use aircraft for travel and for transporting goods from one place to another. This has resulted in greater chances of aircraft accidents. There are many reasons for these accidents, ranging from pilot error to instrument or machinery failure. Basically, there are five phases of air travel during which these accidents can occur: take off, initial climb, en-route, landing-approach, and touchdown. In the last few years, the accidents during the en-route phase are on the increase, e.g., from 2012 till 2014 they have increased from 3 in 2012 to 8 in 2013 to 13 in 2014.

A new Bi-objective model for a Two-echelon Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem for Perishable Products with the Environmental Factor

In multi-echelon distribution strategy freight is delivered to customers via intermediate depots. Rather than using direct shipments, this strategy is an increasingly popular one in urban logistics. This is primarily to alleviate the environmental (e.g., energy usage and congestion) and social (e.g., traffic-related air pollution, accidents and noise) consequences of logistics operations. This paper represents a two-echelon capacitated vehicle routing problem (2-ECVRP) in which customers' satisfaction and environmental issues are considered for perishable goods delivery for the first time. The paper proposes a novel bi-objective model that minimizes: 1) total customers waiting time, and 2) total travel cost. A restriction on maximum allowable carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from transport in each route is considered as environmental issue in the problem. The proposed model is solved by simple additive weighting (SAW) method. Finally, the proposed model is applied to a real world problem in a supermarket chain. The results achieved by GAMS optimization software confirm the validity and high performance of the model in respect to the importance of the each objective function. Furthermore, the sensitivity analysis performed on the model reveals that less restrictive policies on carbon emissions lead to more total emissions but less total travel cost and customers waiting time.

60 years of UK visibility measurements: impact of meteorology and atmospheric pollutants on visibility

Abstract. Reduced visibility is an indicator of poor air quality. Moreover, degradation in visibility can be hazardous to human safety; for example, low visibility can lead to road, rail, sea and air accidents. In this paper, we explore the combined influence of atmospheric aerosol particle and gas characteristics, and meteorology, on long-term visibility. We use visibility data from eight meteorological stations, situated in the UK, which have been running since the 1950s. The site locations include urban, rural and marine environments. Most stations show a long-term trend of increasing visibility, which is indicative of reductions in air pollution, especially in urban areas. Additionally, the visibility at all sites shows a very clear dependence on relative humidity, indicating the importance of aerosol hygroscopicity on the ability of aerosol particles to scatter radiation. The dependence of visibility on other meteorological parameters, such as wind speed and wind direction, is also investigated. Most stations show long-term increases in temperature which can be ascribed to climate change, land-use changes (e.g. urban heat island effects) or a combination of both; the observed effect is greatest in urban areas. The impact of this temperature change upon local relative humidity is discussed. To explain the long-term visibility trends and their dependence on meteorological conditions, the measured data were fitted to a newly developed light-extinction model to generate predictions of historic aerosol and gas scattering and absorbing properties. In general, an excellent fit was achieved between measured and modelled visibility for all eight sites. The model incorporates parameterizations of aerosol hygroscopicity, particle concentration, particle scattering, and particle and gas absorption. This new model should be applicable and is easily transferrable to other data sets worldwide. Hence, historical visibility data can be used to assess trends in aerosol particle properties. This approach may help constrain global model simulations which attempt to generate aerosol fields for time periods when observational data are scarce or non-existent. Both the measured visibility and the modelled aerosol properties reported in this paper highlight the success of the UK's Clean Air Act, which was passed in 1956, in cleaning the atmosphere of visibility-reducing pollutants.

Accident Investigators Are the Guardians of Public Safety: The Importance of Safeguarding the Independence of Air Accident Investigations as Illustrated by Recent Accidents

The sole objective of an air accident investigation is the prevention of future accidents; its purpose is not to apportion blame or liability. This mantra of air accident investigators combined with requirements to ensure the independence of investigations – all contained in ICAO Annex 13 to the Chicago Convention – affords investigators the opportunity to review crucial evidence and reach conclusions on the cause of an accident without fear of recrimination or the presence of undue pressure. Ultimately, these provisions allow the proper and independent investigation of accidents and encourage aviation safety to be furthered. Recent high profile accidents have laid bare the pressures faced by investigators from within the investigation itself and external sources including the media, victims’ representatives, manufacturers, operators, and the spectre of blame proceedings. This article will study these stress points in the context of recent accidents and seek to illustrate why it is of fundamental importance to the independence of future air accident investigations, and the quality of the resultant safety outcomes, that such pressures are recognized and addressed by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). It will also consider whether the recently issued 11th edition of Annex 13 incorporating Amendment 15 achieves these aims.

Air Accidents over Water — Selected Forensic Aspects

Aviation is one of the safest means of transport. Despite increasing amounts of money being spent on safety, this mode of transport is not free from incidents and disasters. The article considers the issue of aviation accidents as a result of which the aircraft has sunk in a body of water. The events of recent years involving the aircraft Air France Flight 447 (Airbus 330-203,2009), Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (Boeing 777, 2014) and a military aircraft of the Russian Federation (Tu-154, 2016), show that aviation is not free from this kind of tragic disaster. One important aspect in such situations is that proper and immediate search and rescue operations are undertaken (i.e. SAR or CSAR). Due to the nature of the location of the event, which is a body of water, the course of procedural and forensic activities differs from the traditional mode of conduct. The algorithm for examination of the scene begins with finding and securing the flight data recorder (i.e. the black box). The methodology for examination in the case of an event in an aquatic environment is non-standard. The actions themselves, including visual examination, cannot be carried out by the specialist but only indirectly by suitably qualified divers or scuba divers. Also, the aquatic environment itself demands that all activities are carried out immediately. Any delay may entail the bodies of victims, material evidence or structural parts being moved by water currents, which in turn can distort the picture of the scene itself. Only after recovery of human bodies and evidence to on board a vessel or ashore is it possible to carry out the necessary forensic examination. In the case of air accidents it is necessary, among others, to determine the number of people involved and the disposition of their bodies, to collect evidence and establish the critical moment of the incident. The preservation of the bodies of victims and material evidence recovered from the water involves special treatment. In this type of event it is possible to use the so-called new technologies in the form of unmanned craft (i.e. underwater drones).

Empirical analysis of extreme weather conditions and aviation safety in Nigeria

The frequency of delay, diversion and outright cancellation occasioned by poor weather has affected the Nigerian aviation industry and serious safety implication.This study therefore examines the influence of weather conditions on aviation safety in Nigeria. Secondary data basically from Nigeria Meteorological Agency such as information on thunderstorm, fog occurrence and rainfall from 2004 to 2013 and data obtained from Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria on air accident induced by extreme weather within the same period were analysed using Multiple Regression Analysis. Results show that low visibility as a result of fog occurrence causes four (4) air traffic accidents more than other weather conditions and that Lagos experienced two (2) air accidents more than other airports during the period under study. So also the value of R2 shows a value of 77.8% which implies that there is variation in the dependent variable (Airport Operation) which can be predicted by independent variables (Weather conditions). The F-statistic value of 62.892 is also found to be statistically significant at 5% (p<0.05) which shows that weather condition has significant influence on aviation safety. Baseline studies on flight operation, government intervention in aviation industry, maintenance culture were recommended.Keywords: Fog, Thunderstorm, Rainfall, Safety, Accident

Rethinking Aviation Accidents: An Examination of the Rights of Third Parties Surface Owners in Nigeria

Air accidents trigger the application of several interrelated national, regional, international laws and regulations that provide windows of redress for victims. However, most regulations are centered on the protection of passengers on board, whilst neglecting victims on the surface or third parties not contemplated by the relevant regulation on air carrier’s liability i.e the Montreal Convention 1999. This paper provides a summary of the relevant common law and statutory regulation of legal rights of victims and principles at play where third party surface victims occur. It provides a simplified synopsis of the relevant provisions of common law, local and international aviation law through which victims of air accidents can seek compensation. It also highlights the absence of a comprehensive domestic regulation on compensation standards for such victims in Nigeria and makes recommendations for its enactment.

Excessive sleepiness, sleep hygiene, and coping strategies among night bus drivers: A cross-sectional study.

Background:Sleep disruption and excessive sleepiness are the known consequences of shift work. The recent spate of night-time road and air accidents, with some being directly attributed to driver sleepiness prompted us to undertake this study.Aims:To screen for excessive sleepiness, coping practices, and post-shift sleep hygiene in night bus drivers.Settings and Design:This prospective study was carried out on night bus drivers of a public transport organization in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.Materials and Methods:Bus drivers driving for ≥8 h at night were screened with the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) and a prevalidated shift work questionnaire.Statistical Analysis:Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the compiled data using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.Results:One hundred and eighty bus drivers aged 22–63 years were screened.Excessive Sleepiness:Although only 2 (1.1%) drivers scored above the cutoff on ESS, 10 (5.6%) and 103 (57.2%) drivers admitted to feeling sleepy during daytime and night driving respectively. None of the drivers admitted to causing accidents related to sleepiness. The coping strategies for nocturnal sleepiness included consuming coffee/tea (16.7%), chewing tobacco (12.8%), smoking (6.1%), and walking (3.9%).Post-Shift Sleep Practices:Post-shift sleep duration ranged between 1 h and 10 h. Twenty-six (14.4%) and 16 (8.9%) drivers had difficulty initiating and maintaining sleep, respectively, while 9 (5%) reported frequent awakening during daytime sleep.Conclusion and Implications:This study has demonstrated a high incidence of nocturnal sleepiness and daytime sleep disruption among night bus drivers, thus necessitating the need for education about shift work and alertness testing among shift workers in critical professions.

Intermodal Urban Mobility: Users, Uses, and Use Cases

Cities are growing nowadays and so is their citizens’ demand for mobility. On a global scale, motorized individual traffic is hardly capable of meeting this need due to its ownership costs and due to the lack of an accordingly large infrastructure. Besides, motorized individual traffic is responsible for the majority of today's traffic burdens, such as air pollution, traffic jams, noise, and accidents. It is thereby assumed that only a combination of soft transport modes and public and private modes of motorized transport with different capacities, time schedules, and operation times can achieve what is called “sustainable cities”. Besides the need for coordinated transport services, their cooperation must be assured to obtain seamless interchanges and consequently undisturbed, fast, and reliable travelling. Such a use of different transport modes within a single journey is called “intermodality” and is a work topic fostered in a national, European, and world-wide context. This report shows the initial results of the project “UrMo” (“Urban Mobility”) that is being performed at three institutes of the German Aerospace Center (DLR). The report gives an introduction to the topic by evaluating how socio-demographics and space structure influence intermodal behavior. In addition to this, the subsequent project steps are outlined.

Ensemble Feature Selector for Aviation Accident Analysis and Prevention

Aviation Accidents (AA) are a major public health concern, resulting in a millions of deaths injuries worldwide each year. Aviation Accidents are the leading cause of death and injury. In this work, we applied data mining technologies such feature selection and classification tasks to analyze recorded air accidents during the period 1919–2014, and developed a new data set- Aviation Accident Dataset (AAD) dealing aviation accidents for 1379 accidents with 231 causes as factors for accidents. Among 231 causes the top most cause of accidents are selected by our proposed novel feature selection method “Improved Oscillated Correlation Feature Selection (IOCFS)” and could be used as pre-checklist by the aviation agencies to avoid accidents and improve safety journey.

Information systems as a tool for supporting the management of aircraft flight safety

The article discusses the issue of air traffic safety in the context of aircraft combat readiness. Implemented methodological approaches to ensure security of civil and military aviation depend on the achieved level of safety The article points out selected aspects of data analysis in the field of flight safety gathered in IT systems functioning in civil and military aviation supporting the management of flight safety. Selected aspects of data analysis with different tools influencing the safety of flights are presented. The article also points to the role of the inspection functions and supervision at the stage of execution of normative acts on safety and conduct of flights and the implementation of projects to ensure flight safety. The development of projects firstly preventing air accidents is mentioned as an important action to support flight safety. Increasing level of flight safety in civil and military aviation requires searching for methods to support decisions and actions. The main aim is to develop such methods to support decisions which minimize the risk of errors.

SAFETY CULTURE ASSESSMENT – OPTIMIZATION OF EXISTING PRACTICE

Improving aviation safety has always been a priority for the aviation industry. While in recent decades the reliability of machinery and computers dramatically improved the reliability of the people and the organizational aspect of safety did not change much. Many of air accident investigations have shown that one of the causal factors, which increase the probability and severity of accidents, is exactly poor safety culture. The purpose of this paper is to present the concept of safety culture assessment and the overview and review of different methods of measuring the safety culture in aviation. This research provides the suggestion that by use of different methods of assessment (evaluation) of the results, more credible insight into the level of safety culture in the organization can be obtained. It also provides an understanding of how measurement systems in order to guide future performance can be used proactively.

Trapped mountain wave excitations over the Kathmandu valley, Nepal

Mid-wintertime spatial and temporal distributions of mountain wave excitation over the Kathmandu valley has been numerically simulated using Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) modeling system. The study shows that low-level trapped mountain waves may remain very active during the night and early morning in the sky over the southern rim of the surrounding mountains, particularly, over the lee of Mt. Fulchoki. Calculations suggest that mountain wave activities are at minimum level during afternoon. The low-level trapped mountain waves in the sky over southern gateway of Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) may pose risk for landings and takeoffs of light aircrafts. Detailed numerical and observational studies would be very important to reduce risk of air accidents and discomfort in and around the Kathmandu valley.