Accidents and Fatalities in the Aviation Sector The predicament of occasional ac
ID: 3920547 • Letter: A
Question
Accidents and Fatalities in the Aviation Sector
The predicament of occasional accidents is becoming a significant business concern for many airline operators worldwide, including in the United States. This is a business issue in itself because the owners of the destroyed properties and families of the victims have to be compensated, which has financial implications on the profits of an airline operator or its insurer. Additionally, an airline can attract a negative reputation from the public. That being said, the aviation industry is broad, and it is, therefore, imperative for this report to establish where most of the accidents occur and cause the highest number of fatalities. Additionally, not all accidents are serious; hence, there is a need to know the exact proportion of the fatal and non-fatal accidents. Moreover, different airline operators run different flight schedules thereby translating to different flight hours. For this reason, it was essential to ascertain whether there exists a relationship between flight hours and the likelihood of an accident happening.
Description of the Data Source. The data for this report was obtained from the National Transportation Safety Board database. It is based on real occurrences of accidents and fatalities in the U.S. General Aviation industry from 1975 to 2014. Therefore, the data represents records for almost 39 years. This can be translated to mean that the research sample size (N=39) used in this report was adequately representative of what happens in the entire U.S. General Aviation. For that reason, the findings of this report can be considered as valid in reference to the business issue being analyzed.
Q. Recommended measurements or additional data that you feel would be useful to analyze.
Explanation / Answer
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and industry are working on a number of key initiatives to improve general aviation (GA) safety: the GA Joint Steering Committee (GAJSC), Equip 2020 for ADS-B Out, new Airman Certification Standards (ACS), streamlining aircraft certification, the Got Data? External Data Initiative, and the Fly Safe outreach campaign on Loss of Control.
The United States has the largest and most diverse GA community in the world, with more than 220,000 active aircraft, including amateur-built aircraft, rotorcraft, balloons, and highly sophisticated turbojets.The FAA’s goal is to reduce the GA fatal accident rate by 10 percent over a 10-year period (2009-2018). Inflight loss of control – mainly stalls – accounts for the largest number of GA fatal accidents. Although the fatal accident rate is declining, last year (FY17) 347 people still died in 209 general aviation fatal accidents
The FAA and industry are focused on reducing general aviation accidents by primarily using a voluntary, non-regulatory, proactive, data-driven strategy to get results— similar to the strategy the FAA uses in commercial aviation
Reducing Risk
Using data, the FAA and industry are working together to identify risk, pinpoint trends through root cause analysis, and develop safety strategies. The FAA and the GA community carry out this work through the GAJSC.
1)Formed in the mid-1990s, the GAJSC revitalized its efforts in 2011 to combat GA fatal accidents.
2)Recent accomplishments include 40 safety enhancements, (such as training, procedures, and technology) to address loss of control.
New Technology
The NextGen program includes innovative technologies and procedures to make flying safer, greener, and more efficient. In March 2015, the FAA achieved a major milestone by completing one of the largest automation changeovers in the history of the agency: a new high-altitude air traffic control system, known as En Route Automation Modernization (ERAM). This system will accommodate the technologies of NextGen, giving the U.S. a more powerful air traffic system.
The FAA is working with manufacturers to define equipage requirements and support NextGen by streamlining the certification and installation of NextGen technologies, such as Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B).
Airman Testing Standards and Training
In collaboration with aviation training community experts, the FAA has updated key elements of the airman certification system to include an enhanced focus on risk management. In June, the FAA replaced the Practical Test Standards (PTS) for the Private Pilot certificate in the airplane category and the Instrument Rating (also in the airplane category) with the corresponding Airman Certification Standards (ACS).
Aeronautical Data
In 2016, the FAA launched the Got Data? External Data Access Initiative to give the private sector better access the FAA’s aeronautical data and spur innovation. The goal is to help industry be in a position to create innovative products and technologies that improve safety and efficiency.
Aircraft Design
On August 30, 2017, a final rule overhauling airworthiness standards for general aviation airplanes officially went into effect. The FAA expects this rule will enable faster installation of innovative, safety-enhancing technologies into small airplanes, while reducing costs for the aviation industry.
IN USA
Total U.S. Accidents
2001-05 Baseline: 184 accidents, 29 fatal accidents, 55 fatalities
2013: 146 accidents, 30 fatal accidents, 62 fatalities
2014: 138 accidents, 21 fatal accidents, 37 fatalities
2015: 121 accidents, 17 fatal accidents, 28 fatalities
2016: 108 accidents, 17 fatal accidents, 29 fatalities
(41% decrease in accidents)
U.S. Accident Rate (per 100,000 flight hours)
2001-05 Baseline: 7.97 accident rate, 1.27 fatal accident rate, 2.36 fatality rate
2013: 4.95 accident rate, 1.02 fatal accident rate, 2.10 fatality rate
2014: 4.26 accident rate, 0.65 fatal accident rate, 1.14 fatality rate
2015: 3.67 accident rate, 0.52 fatal accident rate, 0.85 fatality rate
2016: 3.45 accident rate, 0.54 fatal accident rate, 0.93 fatality rate
(57% decrease in accident rate)
Previous eight-year GA fatal accident rates and numbers:
The Top 10 Leading Causes of Fatal General Aviation Accidents 2001-2016:
in my view these are some of the important issues -:
1. Loss of Control Inflight
2. Controlled Flight Into Terrain
3. System Component Failure – Powerplant
4. Fuel Related
5. Unknown or Undetermined
6. System Component Failure – Non-Powerplant
7. Unintended Flight In IMC
8. Midair Collisions
9. Low-Altitude Operations
10. Other