Situational Awareness and General Aviation Accidents

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hilary Kalagher ◽  
Alex de Voogt ◽  
Colin Boulter
Keyword(s):  
Situational Awareness ◽  
Meteorological Conditions ◽  
General Aviation ◽  
Transportation Safety ◽  
Accident Investigation ◽  
Fatal Accidents ◽  
Aviation Accidents ◽  
Instrument Meteorological Conditions ◽  
Low Visibility ◽  
Aircraft Accident

Abstract. Situational awareness is a concept increasingly used in aircraft accident investigation reports. We analyzed 94 general aviation accidents in which situational awareness was mentioned by the National Transportation Safety Board investigator to determine factors that are significantly more often associated with fatality. We found a consistent use of the situational awareness concept, mainly applied to situations in which aircraft inadvertently collided with each other, with other man-made objects, and with various kinds of terrain. A significantly higher proportion of fatal accidents occurred during nighttime, in instrument meteorological conditions, or low visibility conditions. In addition, flights occurring during the cruise phase or in combination with spatial or geographical disorientation proved most often fatal.

Correlation of General Aviation Accidents with the Biorhythm Theory

1977 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 283-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
John H. Wolcott ◽  
Robert R. McMeekin ◽  
Robert E. Burgin ◽  
Robert E. Yanowitch
Keyword(s):  
Critical Period ◽  
Random Model ◽  
General Aviation ◽  
Transportation Safety ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Aviation Accidents ◽  
Exact Date ◽  
Birth Data ◽  
National Transportation Safety Board ◽  
Aircraft Accident

Biorhythms were calculated for over 4,000 pilots involved in general aviation accidents in 1972. Data were obtained from the files of the National Transportation Safety Board. Exact date and time of accident were used, and 1200 hours (noon) was used as the average time of birth. Data were analyzed for correlation of aircraft-accident occurrence with both biorhythmically critical days and with individual and multiple low or negative phases of cycle. Data were calculated by both a 24- and 48-hour critical period and by all three cycles (physical, emotional, and intellectual) or only the physical and emotional cycles. Data did not deviate significantly from the random model, when analyzed by chi-square at the p = 0.1 level. No correlation was found between accident occurrence and biorhythmic criticality or low phase of cycle. This was true both for the cases in which the primary cause of the accident was attributed to pilot involvement and for those in which it was not.

Challenges Contributing to the General Aviation Weather Problem & Decision Support Systems Technology Recommendations

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 1771-1775 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jayde King ◽  
Yolanda Ortiz ◽  
Beth Blickensderfer ◽  
Emalee Christy
Keyword(s):  
Decision Support ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Decision Support Tool ◽  
Meteorological Conditions ◽  
General Aviation ◽  
Support Tool ◽  
Instrument Meteorological Conditions ◽  
Decision Making Biases ◽  
Aviation Weather

General Aviation (GA) weather related accidents have steadily remained the most fatal accidents and incidents in the GA flight community. The majority of these accidents involve low-experienced Visual Flight Rule (VFR) pilots, inadvertently encountering Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC). Previous research indicates, poor inflight weather avoidance could stem from insufficient preflight weather planning. Further investigation reveals, pilots’ face many challenges during the preflight planning process, including: poor weather product interpretation/ usability, decision making biases and errors, and inadequate aviation weather experience. However, with new technology on the rise, a preflight decision support tool may help guide novice pilots through the preflight process successfully. This paper will discuss the challenges novice pilots encounter during the preflight process and offer recommendations for applying a preflight decision support tool as a solution.

scholarly journals Helicopter Pilots Encountering Fog: An Analysis of 109 Accidents from 1992 to 2016

Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 994
Author(s):  
Alex de Voogt ◽  
Hilary Kalagher ◽  
Andrew Diamond
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
The United States ◽  
Meteorological Conditions ◽  
Transportation Safety ◽  
Online Database ◽  
Fatal Accident ◽  
Instrument Meteorological Conditions ◽  
High Prevalence ◽  
Helicopter Pilots

Helicopters have the ability to make maneuvers or precautionary off-airport landings to avoid flights into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) such as fog. Flight accidents in which fog was encountered as well as inadvertent and intentional flights into fog were examined to understand their occurrence. A 25-year period in the United States using the National Transportation Safety Board online database was used to collect 109 accident reports of which 73 (67%) were fatal. Pilots flying intentionally into IMC were more likely to be a part of a fatal accident than those who did so inadvertently. Those pilots who were reported as being under pressure when encountering fog conditions were also more likely to be in an accident. The findings confirm a high prevalence and an added danger to intentional flights into IMC. In addition, decision-making under pressure when encountering IMC conditions is now linked to a higher proportion of fatalities, emphasizing that helicopter pilots should be made aware of these specific decision-making circumstances in their operations.

Accident Rates, Causes, and Occupant Injury Involving High-Performance General Aviation Aircraft

2020 ◽  
Vol 91 (5) ◽  
pp. 387-393
Author(s):  
Douglas D. Boyd ◽  
Cass Howell
Keyword(s):  
High Performance ◽  
Injury Severity ◽  
Situational Awareness ◽  
General Aviation ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Aviation Accidents ◽  
Spatial Disorientation ◽  
Occupant Injury ◽  
Accident Rates ◽  
General Aviation Aircraft

BACKGROUND: Spatial disorientation, poor situational awareness, and aerodynamic stalls are often causal/contributory to general aviation accidents. To mitigate against the occurrence of these mishaps Cirrus Aircraft has, since 2002, introduced advanced avionics into their piston airplanes (Cirrus SR20/22). These airplanes are also certificated to more rigorous crashworthiness tests than legacy aircraft approved prior to these standards being codified. Herein, using for comparison two legacy aircraft fleets manufactured prior to 2002, we determined whether a reduced mishap rate for all accidents or relating to the aforementioned causes/contributing factors and/or diminished injury severity for survivable accidents were evident for Cirrus SR20/22 airplanes.METHODS: Accidents (2008–2017) involving Cirrus SR20/22 airplanes (manufactured 2002 or later) and Beechcraft 35/36 (Bonanza) and Mooney 20 models (both manufactured no later than 2001) (14CFR Part 91 rules) were identified (N = 136, 259, 164, respectively) from the NTSB database. Statistical analyses used Poisson distribution/contingency tables/ t- and Mann-Whitney tests.RESULTS: For each year within the 2013–2017 timespan the Cirrus SR20/22 all-accident rate was diminished 39–75% relative to both legacy fleets. Temporally, the fraction of fatal Cirrus SR20/22 accidents, initially higher, declined 50% achieving a lower, or comparable, proportion to the two legacy airframes. Fatal accident rates involving spatial disorientation/situational awareness/aerodynamic stalls were > 80% lower for Cirrus SR20/22 airplanes. For survivable mishaps, Cirrus SR20/22 aircraft showed a lower proportion (0.13 compared with 0.20–0.35) of fatal/serious injuries.CONCLUSION: Toward improving legacy aircraft safety, owners should be encouraged to upgrade their avionics for mitigating against the occurrence of such human-factor-related mishaps and install airbags to minimize injury severity.Boyd DD, Howell C. Accident rates, causes, and occupant injury involving high-performance general aviation aircraft. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2020; 91(5):387–393.

Improving Weather Display Interpretation: A Training Solution

2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 1866-1869
Author(s):  
John Kleber ◽  
Jacqueline McSorley ◽  
Jayde King ◽  
Beth Blickensderfer
Keyword(s):  
Multidisciplinary Team ◽  
Meteorological Conditions ◽  
General Aviation ◽  
Team Approach ◽  
Design And Development ◽  
Multidisciplinary Team Approach ◽  
Simulation Based ◽  
Instrument Meteorological Conditions ◽  
Visual Flight Rules ◽  
Training Modules

Visual flight rules (VFR) operations into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), is one of the deadliest causes of weather-related accidents in the General Aviation (GA) community. Current weather training for GA pilots is inadequate. This paper describes the design and development of three weather training modules and provides research-based recommendations for the development of future training modules for aviation weather. Recommendations include incorporating simulation-based training, utilizing available materials, prioritizing accessibility, accounting for changing technology, maintaining high cognitive fidelity, and using a multidisciplinary team approach.

HFACS Analysis of U.S. General Aviation Accidents Using Bayesian Network

2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 1655-1659
Author(s):  
Chuyang Yang ◽  
John H. Mott
Keyword(s):  
Human Factors ◽  
Bayesian Network ◽  
General Aviation ◽  
Transportation Safety ◽  
Aviation Industry ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Aviation Accidents ◽  
Prior Probabilities ◽  
Probability Table

Safety is one of the most important factors that affects the sustainable development of the aviation industry. With the increasing robustness of technologies, humans have played a progressively more important causal role in aviation accidents. This paper applies an HFACS-BN model (HFACS: Human Factors Analysis and Classification System; BN: Bayesian Network) to analyze the root causes of aviation accidents. General aviation (GA) accident reports were collected from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) accident database. The authors encoded the human factors of sample cases based on the HFACS framework and constructed a corresponding BN. From this work, parameter estimation associated with a conditional probability table (CPT) was conducted to determine prior probabilities of contributing factors, and a sensitivity test was conducted to determine the most significant factors. This study provides guidance to the federal government to facilitate risk management in order to reduce fatal general aviation accidents.

General Aviation Flight Safety During the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 92 (10) ◽  
pp. 773-779
Author(s):  
Douglas D. Boyd
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Function ◽  
Injury Severity ◽  
Situational Awareness ◽  
The United States ◽  
General Aviation ◽  
Transportation Safety ◽  
Flight Safety ◽  
Accident Rate ◽  
Chi Squared ◽  
Airplane Accidents

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: The COVID-19 virus has caused over 582,000 deaths in the United States to date. However, the pandemic has also afflicted the mental health of the population at large in the domains of anxiety and sleep disruption, potentially interfering with cognitive function. From an aviation perspective, safely operating an aircraft requires an airmans cognitive engagement for: 1) situational awareness, 2) spatial orientation, and 3) avionics programming. Since impaired cognitive function could interfere with such tasks, the current study was undertaken to determine if flight safety for a cohort of single engine, piston-powered light airplanes was adversely affected during a period of the pandemic (MarchOctober 2020) prior to U.S. approval of the first COVID-19 vaccine. METHODS: Airplane accidents were per the National Transportation Safety Board Access<sup/> database. Fleet times were derived using Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast. Statistics used Poisson distributions, Chi-squared/Fisher, and Mann-Whitney tests. RESULTS: Little difference in accident rate was evident between the pandemic period (MarchOctober 2020) and the preceding (JanuaryFebruary) months (19 and 22 mishaps/100,000 h, respectively). Similarly, a proportional comparison of accidents occurring in 2020 with those for the corresponding months in 2019 failed to show over-representation of mishaps during the pandemic. Although a trend to a higher injury severity (43% vs. 34% serious/fatal injuries) was evident for pandemic-period mishaps, the proportional difference was not statistically significant when referencing the corresponding months in 2019. CONCLUSION: Surprisingly, using accidents as an outcome, the study herein shows little evidence of diminished flight safety for light aircraft operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Boyd DD. General aviation flight safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2021; 92(10):773779.

Fatality and Operational Specificity of Helicopter Accidents on the Ground

2021 ◽  
Vol 92 (7) ◽  
pp. 593-596
Author(s):  
Alexander J. de Voogt ◽  
Caio Hummel Hohl ◽  
Hilary Kalagher
Keyword(s):  
Meteorological Conditions ◽  
Rotor System ◽  
Online Database ◽  
Main Rotor ◽  
Fatal Accidents ◽  
Wind Gusts ◽  
Instrument Meteorological Conditions ◽  
The Common ◽  
Serious Injuries ◽  
High Winds

INTRODUCTION: Accidents with aircraft standing are more likely with helicopters than fixed-wing aircraft due to the common presence of off-airport landings and the possibility of the rotor system to strike objects in its immediate surroundings.METHODS: A total of 115 accidents involving helicopters characterized as standing as a broad phase of flight were selected from the NTSB online database for the period 1998 until 2018.RESULTS: Accidents reporting fatal (8.7) or serious injuries (7.8) were significantly less likely to occur when the aircraft was substantially damaged (84.3) or destroyed (5.2). The majority of the cases occurred after off-airport landings (57.4), which were reported significantly more often in Alaska (N= 15). A main rotor strike with an individual was at the basis of each of the 10 fatal accidents in the dataset and in 8 of these cases the cause of the accident was attributed to the victim. None of the accidents occurred in instrument meteorological conditions, but, in particular, high winds and gusts proved a main cause of accident (18.3).CONCLUSION: Pilot, passengers, and crew endangered themselves when they were outside the aircraft while the rotors were still turning. Helicopter operating manuals should highlight the limitations and dangers for wind and wind gusts not only during takeoff and flight, but specifically when standing.de Voogt AJ, Hummel C, Kalagher H. Fatality and operational specificity of helicopter accidents on the ground. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2021; 92(7):593596.

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