The Human Factor in Aviation

The modern airliner is a marvel of technology, as safe as man can make it. The statistics convincingly point to the safety of flying over other means of transportation. "In 1978, U.S. airlines completed 99.99991 percent of their flights without a fatality (Norris 11). In 1979 around 800 million passengers travelled by air around the world, and only 1,267 of them (plus 149 crew members) were killed, making the odds about 565.000 to 1 (Norris 11). These figures have remained relatively constant, though 1980 and 1986 saw no fatal accidents in the United States. The role of the pilot error in these numbers, however, is significant.

Since 1984, the National Transportation Board (NTSB) has counted 183 U.S. airliner accidents, of which 97 were caused at least in part by pilot error. "A study by Boeing laid sixty-five percent of all airliner accidents from 1959 to 1986 to flight-crew mistakes ("High" 8). 1987 was the worst year for accidents since 1974. There were 31 of them, and 231 people died in four fatal crashes (Stockton 40). Meanwhile, the volume of domestic airline passengers has risen steadily from 240 million in 1977 t

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ow crews perform in the cockpit and interact with computerized flight controls (Stockton 60). Airplane makers contend that automation has significantly improved safety. But Henry Duffy, president of the Air Line Pilots Association, asserts that "inadequate training for pilots flying high-tech airplanes has eroded the margin of safety" ("High" 8). Airlines, growing more concerned, are now looking seriously at new training programs, especially as manufacturers strive to produce a new generation of planes that can steer, navigate, ascend and descend without the pilot's touch. Clayton Foushee, who is a NASA researcher on pilots and planes, asks, "If something goes wrong, will the pilot be in the same position to intervene as he would be in a more conventional airplane where his brain is more connected to the system ("High" 9)? The FAA is getting on the offensive again and is now questioning whether its safety minimums for pilot training are sufficient. In addition, it is also studying how best to regain regulatory authority over the airlines and the training of pilots. The authority is necessary, it believes, because of the realization after a decade of study that two and three man airline flight crews often don't work well
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Approximate Word count = 2068
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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