Safety

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9 pages, 655 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Fatal Consequences of Safety Non-Compliance in Non-Commercial Ultralight Aviation: A Case Study

by Sebastian Glowinski and Slawomir Majdanik

Safety 2024, 10(3), 77; https://doi.org/10.3390/safety10030077 - 4 Sep 2024

Viewed by 1153

The popularity of ultralight planes in non-commercial aviation is on the rise; however, non-compliance with regulations and the use of faulty equipment poses significant risks. This study explores the consequences of such lapses in adherence to safety standards by thoroughly examining the conditions [...] Read more.

The popularity of ultralight planes in non-commercial aviation is on the rise; however, non-compliance with regulations and the use of faulty equipment poses significant risks. This study explores the consequences of such lapses in adherence to safety standards by thoroughly examining the conditions leading to an ultralight plane crash, focusing on data related to causative factors. The accident involved an unregistered ultralight aircraft, lacking proper inspection and the required license. The pilot’s error during takeoff led to a stall, resulting in a fatal crash. Upon impact with the ground, the pilot’s shoulder and lap belts were torn off, leading to immediate death. This case underscores the critical importance of compliance with safety regulations in ultralight aviation. The findings illuminate the dire consequences of non-compliance with safety regulations and the utilization of unregistered, uninspected ultralight aircraft in private aviation. The tragic accident analyzed herein underscores the pivotal role of adherence to safety standards in mitigating the risks associated with ultralight planes. The pilot’s fatal error during takeoff, compounded by the absence of proper inspection and licensing, serves as a stark reminder of the potential dangers inherent in neglecting established safety protocols. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Aviation Safety—Accident Investigation, Analysis and Prevention)

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12 pages, 1231 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Is Declined Cognitive Function Predictive for Fatal Accidents Involving Aging Pilots?

by Douglas D. Boyd and Alan J. Stolzer

Safety 2024, 10(3), 71; https://doi.org/10.3390/safety10030071 - 5 Aug 2024

Viewed by 1300

Abstract

Background. Civil aviation comprises airlines/charters and general aviation (GA). Currently, airlines are experiencing a pilot shortage, partly reflecting scheduled retirements mandatory for airline (but not GA) pilots aged 65 years, fueling a debate as to whether the retirement age should be increased. Herein, [...] Read more.

Background. Civil aviation comprises airlines/charters and general aviation (GA). Currently, airlines are experiencing a pilot shortage, partly reflecting scheduled retirements mandatory for airline (but not GA) pilots aged 65 years, fueling a debate as to whether the retirement age should be increased. Herein, using 16–40 years-of-age aviators as a reference, we determined whether GA pilots aged 60+ years (i) incurred an elevated accident rate, employing, for the first time, age-tiered flight time as a measure of risk exposure and (ii) carried an excess risk for cognitive deficiency-related fatal accidents. Methods. Airplane accidents (2002–2016) involving Class 3 medical certificated pilots were per the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) databases. Age-tiered pilot risk exposure represented a summation of flight hours per Class 3 medical applications. Cognitive decline measures were per NTSB field codes. Statistical analyses employed Chi-Square, Mann–Whitney, logistic regression, and binomial tests. Results. Using flight hours as the denominator, the fatal accident rate for older pilots (41–80 years) was unchanged compared with aviators aged 16–40 years. In the logistic regression, no cognitive deficiency measure was predictive (p = 0.11, p = 0.15) for pilots aged 61+ years who were involved in fatal accidents. Conclusion. These findings question the necessity of an automatic disqualification of air transport pilots at 65 years of age. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Aviation Safety—Accident Investigation, Analysis and Prevention)

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6 pages, 171 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

Nose-Over and Nose-Down Accidents in General Aviation: Tailwheels and Aging Airplanes

by Alex de Voogt and Kayla Louteiro

Safety 2024, 10(2), 39; https://doi.org/10.3390/safety10020039 - 13 Apr 2024

Viewed by 1734

Abstract

Safety in General Aviation has been a continuous concern. About 12% of all airplane accidents in General Aviation involve nose-overs and nose-down events. A total of 134 accidents reported by the National Transportation Safety Board that include nose-overs and nose-downs were analyzed for [...] Read more.

Safety in General Aviation has been a continuous concern. About 12% of all airplane accidents in General Aviation involve nose-overs and nose-down events. A total of 134 accidents reported by the National Transportation Safety Board that include nose-overs and nose-downs were analyzed for their main causes. It was found that 35% of the defining events involved a loss of control on the ground while 58% of the total dataset involved tailwheel-type aircraft. A relatively high proportion of aircraft built before 1950 were found, which are also aircraft that have tailwheel-type landing gear, and thereby a higher propensity for ground loops and nose-overs. It is shown that the high accident rate in General Aviation, especially for accidents that did not result in a fatality, was, to an important extent, explained by tailwheel and older aircraft in the US General Aviation airplane fleet struggling with controlling the aircraft on the ground. Attention to this group of aircraft in future studies may help to more effectively address the relatively high accident rates in General Aviation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Aviation Safety—Accident Investigation, Analysis and Prevention)

16 pages, 891 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Mitigating the Negative Effect of Air Traffic Controller Mental Workload on Job Performance: The Role of Mindfulness and Social Work Support

by Bader Alaydi and Siew-Imm Ng

Safety 2024, 10(1), 20; https://doi.org/10.3390/safety10010020 - 20 Feb 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2521

Abstract

Air traffic controllers (ATCOs) play a substantial part in securing the safety of flights, such that a compromise of the ATCOs’ performance may lead to tragedies. Given the mental workload that comes with the nature of ATCOs’ work, this study intends to investigate [...] Read more.

Air traffic controllers (ATCOs) play a substantial part in securing the safety of flights, such that a compromise of the ATCOs’ performance may lead to tragedies. Given the mental workload that comes with the nature of ATCOs’ work, this study intends to investigate the impact of mental workload on ATCOs’ job performance and identify conditional factors that could mitigate the mental workload–ATCOs’ job performance relationship. Underpinned by the job demands–resources theory, a framework was developed to investigate the impact of job demands (mental workload) on job performance and whether personal resources (mindfulness and social work support) weaken the relationship. A total of 324 ATCOs across Saudi Arabia responded to the questionnaire. There were three notable findings. First, mental workload was indeed found to bring detrimental effects to ATCOs’ job performance. Second, mindfulness played a mitigating role, where more mindful ATCOs demonstrated less workload effect on performance. Thirdly, social work support also played a mitigating role, where ATCOs who perceived receiving greater job support experienced less detrimental impact from the workload on performance. This study verified the negative linkages between mental workload and job performance and identified the boundary conditions (mindfulness and social work support) that weaken the relationship. The limitations and future research directions are then discussed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Aviation Safety—Accident Investigation, Analysis and Prevention)

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16 pages, 13870 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Exploring the Use of Geographic Information Systems to Identify Spatial Patterns of Remote UAS Pilots and Possible National Airspace Risk

by Damon J. Lercel and Joseph P. Hupy

Safety 2023, 9(1), 18; https://doi.org/10.3390/safety9010018 - 22 Mar 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2906

Abstract

The proliferation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in the United States National Airspace System (NAS) has resulted in an increasing number of close encounters between manned aircraft and UAS, which correlates with the increasing number of remote pilots in the Federal Aviation Administration [...] Read more.

The proliferation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in the United States National Airspace System (NAS) has resulted in an increasing number of close encounters between manned aircraft and UAS, which correlates with the increasing number of remote pilots in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airmen database. This research explores spatial patterns of registered airmen using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) analyses that provide notable spatial distribution patterns of pilots and how they relate to UAS sightings and airspace categories. The application of GIS to these aviation data may assist safety practitioners with identifying geographic patterns, areas of higher risk, and ultimately improve safety management. The authors analyzed publicly available airmen data to examine spatial distribution patterns, data correlations, and inferences. Airmen addresses were first geocoded into ArcPro 10.4 GIS software as a vector data layer containing attribute values of the database. The spatial analysis tool set was then utilized to establish clustering, density patterns, and spatial relationships between various categories of registered airmen. These density analyses revealed implicitly that commercial registered pilots tend to have the highest clustering near major commercial use controlled airspace, yet registered remote (UAS) pilots are also clustered in these and other densely populated areas. UAS sighting data were also geocoded using zip code values of the reported city to potentially correlate UAS sighting with registered remote pilots, yet the lack of spatial precision in the database made establishing any type of spatial relationship ineffective. The implicit spatial relationships between commercial and remote registered pilots revealed further research is needed to integrate UAS safely and effectively into the national airspace. The poor quality of UAS sighting data also demonstrates the need to better utilize GIS to monitor and track UAS flights within the context of an Unmanned Traffic Management System. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Aviation Safety—Accident Investigation, Analysis and Prevention)

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11 pages, 268 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Commercial Aircraft-Assisted Suicide Accident Investigations Re-Visited—Agreeing to Disagree?

by Alpo Vuorio, Robert Bor, Antti Sajantila, Anna-Stina Suhonen-Malm and Bruce Budowle

Safety 2023, 9(1), 17; https://doi.org/10.3390/safety9010017 - 12 Mar 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2826

Abstract

Background: The number of aircraft-assisted suicides can only be considered a rough estimate because it is difficult and, at times, impossible to identify all cases of suicide. Methods: Four recent reports of accidents occurring in 1997 in Indonesia, 1999 in Massachusetts in the [...] Read more.

Background: The number of aircraft-assisted suicides can only be considered a rough estimate because it is difficult and, at times, impossible to identify all cases of suicide. Methods: Four recent reports of accidents occurring in 1997 in Indonesia, 1999 in Massachusetts in the United States, 2013 in Namibia, and 2015 in France related to commercial aircraft-assisted suicides were analyzed. This analysis relied on data extracted from the accident reports that supported aircraft-assisted suicide from the: (a) cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and flight data recorder (FDR), (b) medical history, (c) psychosocial history, (d) toxicology, (e) autopsy, and (f) any methodology that utilized aviation medicine. There are some limitations in this study. Although all analyzed accident investigations followed ICAO Annex 13 guidelines, there is variability in their accident investigations and reporting. In addition, accident investigation reports represent accidents from 1997 to 2015, and during this time, there has been a change in the way accidents are reported. The nature of this analysis is explorative. The aim was to identify how the various aircraft accident investigators concluded that the accidents were due to suicidal acts. Results: In all four accident reports, FDR data were available. CVR data were also available, except for one accident where CVR data were only partially available. Comprehensive medical and psychosocial histories were available in only one of four of the accident reports. Conclusion: To prevent accidents involving commercial aircraft, it is necessary to identify the causes of these accidents to be able to provide meaningful safety recommendations. A detailed psychological autopsy of pilots can and likely will assist in investigations, as well as generate recommendations that will substantially contribute to mitigating accidents due to pilot suicide. Airborne image recording may be a useful tool to provide additional information about events leading up to a crash and thus assist in accident investigations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Aviation Safety—Accident Investigation, Analysis and Prevention)

5 pages, 190 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

Technical Failures in Helicopters: Non-Powerplant-Related Accidents

by Alex de Voogt and Keyashia Nero

Safety 2023, 9(1), 10; https://doi.org/10.3390/safety9010010 - 22 Feb 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3101

Abstract

Technical failures in helicopters are a main concern for helicopter safety. The prominence of mechanical failures differs for specific helicopter operations. This analysis used 151 General Aviation accident reports from the National Transportation Safety Board online database from an 11-year time period. The [...] Read more.

Technical failures in helicopters are a main concern for helicopter safety. The prominence of mechanical failures differs for specific helicopter operations. This analysis used 151 General Aviation accident reports from the National Transportation Safety Board online database from an 11-year time period. The information in each report was collated, including the list of findings for each accident. Possible relations between causes and specific flight operations were analyzed by looking at significant differences between expected and actual values within the dataset of categorical data. It is found that the proportion of fatal accidents in this category of accidents is low (16.6%) compared with the percentage of fatal helicopter accidents in general, as well as those of specific helicopter operations. Instructional flights appear significantly more likely to be associated with maintenance-related causes. Causes related to fatigue of aircraft parts are more often associated with ferry and positional flights, as well as helicopters with turbo-shaft engines. Future research is recommended for these specific associations to further mitigate the number of accidents with non-powerplant failures. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Aviation Safety—Accident Investigation, Analysis and Prevention)

11 pages, 2097 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Objective Evaluation of the Somatogravic Illusion from Flight Data of an Airplane Accident

by Eric L. Groen, Torin K. Clark, Mark M. J. Houben, Jelte E. Bos and Randall J. Mumaw

Safety 2022, 8(4), 85; https://doi.org/10.3390/safety8040085 - 14 Dec 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3339

Abstract

(1) Background: It is difficult for accident investigators to objectively determine whether spatial disorientation may have contributed to a fatal airplane accident. In this paper, we evaluate three methods to reconstruct the possible occurrence of the somatogravic illusion based on flight data recordings [...] Read more.

(1) Background: It is difficult for accident investigators to objectively determine whether spatial disorientation may have contributed to a fatal airplane accident. In this paper, we evaluate three methods to reconstruct the possible occurrence of the somatogravic illusion based on flight data recordings from an airplane accident. (2) Methods: The outputs of two vestibular models were compared with the “standard” method, which uses the unprocessed gravito-inertial acceleration (GIA). (3) Results: All three methods predicted that the changing orientation of the GIA would lead to a somatogravic illusion when no visual references were available. However, the methods were not able to explain the first pitch-down control input by the pilot flying, which may have been triggered by the inadvertent activation of the go-around mode and a corresponding pitch-up moment. Both vestibular models predicted a few seconds delay in the illusory tilt from GIA due to central processing and sensory integration. (4) Conclusions: While it is difficult to determine which method best predicted the somatogravic illusion perceived during the accident without data on the pilot’s pitch perception, both vestibular models go beyond the GIA analysis in taking into account validated vestibular dynamics, and they also account for other vestibular illusions. In that respect, accident investigators would benefit from a unified and validated vestibular model to better explain pilot actions in accidents related to spatial disorientation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Aviation Safety—Accident Investigation, Analysis and Prevention)

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