Human Factors in Aviation Safety Research Paper

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Human Factors in Aviation Safety

The human beings with their immense capabilities, imagination, creativity, and cleverness have transformed the world into an industrial world that is surrounded by numerous inventions, innovations, and advancements in various facets of life. Aviation industry is also one of the developments of the human beings, which was imagined as an attempt to emulate bird flight. Human beings were engaged in this phenomenon for centuries prior to the emergence of the first flight, which resulted in outstanding civil transport in the form of spaceflight (Campbell & Bagshaw, 2008). However, it is wise to note that the human life is one integral aspect that should not be ignored when any mode of transportation is concerned. To have a safe journey during flights it is demonstrated that aviation safety is essential. Aviation safety principally signifies that prevention techniques in the form of regulation, education, and training should be applied in order to avoid aircraft failures. Aviation safety also refers to the process where flight failures are categorized so that it could be prevented in the future. This also brings the fact into the light that human factor is the core aspect involved and engaged in the aviation industry (Campbell & Bagshaw, 2008).

Even though the aircrafts are typically controlled by the people in the air, yet they need constant support from the ground. This is important because they can carry out safe and effective operations during the flights. This deep and comprehensive involvement of people all over the aviation transport has emerged the need to understand the human role (or human factor) in aircraft operations. This also signifies the fact that flight crews and other operational personnel are required to have necessary trainings and skills so that they can carry out the functions in aerospace in an effective and safe manner. This is in accordance with the defined criteria (Campbell & Bagshaw, 2008).

Even though human factor is considered with a narrow scope, yet it is vital to highlight that it has a much broader context in terms of its knowledge base and scope. Considering the human factor, the overall behavior and action that can probably affect the human performance with the aviation system. In simpler terms, it is the scientific knowledge that facilitates in the understanding of human capacities and their weaknesses in systems that are being operated. This means that the human factor is the amalgamation of an individual's social, personal skills (such as communication skills and decision-making ability), and technical skills that facilitate a person to respond in a safe and efficient manner during flight (Campbell & Bagshaw, 2008). Unfortunately, it has been observed that human error is the typical term that is associated to the human factor. Due to this, it is considered as negative, yet it is imperative to note that human factor is not confined to the negative aspect as positive factors of the human behaviors and actions (which usually refer to the unique things performed by the humans) are equally associated to the term human factor. In other words, human factors refer to the actions or behaviors of the people in physical working environments along with their associations with the equipments. It is also influenced by how they tend to maintain relationships with their peers (Salas, Jentsch & Maurino, 2010).

Considering the human factor in aeronautics industry, it is the extent to which the humans (pilots and crew members) can integrate them with the technology in the most safe and efficient way. Based on this ability of humans, the policies, training schedules, designs, and procedures have to be incorporated. This is done so that it can aid the humans to improve their performances (Salas, Jentsch & Maurino, 2010).

Human performance is potentially affected by diversity of factors. Due to this diversity, human errors are likely to happen which has been recognized as the major factor for all aviation accidents. In this regard, extensive studies and investigations conducted by the medicine community of the aviation have brought the fact into the light that since the beginning of the aviation industry, human factor is considered the widespread danger. This danger is closely connected with aviation mishaps (Salas, Jentsch & Maurino, 2010).

Furthermore, from the studies, it has also come to notice that a significant percentage of airplane mishaps have been attributed to human error. This has resulted in portrayal or documentation of this aspect as primary reason for aircraft collisions. Indeed, the framework of human errors has continued to be one of the biggest challenges of the aeronautics industry.

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As the aviation, industry has realized that human factors have contributed to most of the aviation accidents and incidents, rather than mechanical failure. The human factor has increasingly become more popular and widespread within the industry (Salas, Jentsch & Maurino, 2010).

In fact human factors especially the pilot error is the primary contributing factor that leads to aircraft crashes. Improper communication between the key personnel involved in flights is another significant aspect that causes collision of the aircraft. At times, it has also been observed that pilots are not able to monitor flight instructions in a proper manner, which also becomes the reason for air crashes. Moreover, blunders at take-off and landing also lead to catastrophic consequences of air crash (Ebermann & Scheiderer, 2012).

The human errors are also observed at times when the crewmembers or pilots have performed an action in a wrong manner, or they have taken actions on the things that need no activities. This is also possible if they have not performed the actions when they were necessary to perform a task. These are few of the common errors that are likely to happen during the flights because the crew members or pilots are stressed out or have become fatigued. These aspects clearly indicate the fact that the physical and mental states of the crew members are most important in aviation system and at flights. In other words, the health of the crew members play a critical role in the decision making process during the flights (Ebermann & Scheiderer, 2012).

The human error is not confined in the air, but errors are likely to happen at the ground as well. This elucidates the fact that pilots are not the only personnel that lead to dramatic air crashes, but other crewmembers or personnel can also cause such disasters. For instance, if the design of the cargo door is not properly prepared, it can also become the reason of an accident. In addition, if the repair of previously damaged equipment is not done in a proper manner, it increases the probability of the air crash through the destruction of systems that are involved in flight controls (Ebermann & Scheiderer, 2012).

These are some of the prime contributing factors of air crashes that have turned the human factor into potential danger when aviation safety is concerned. Nevertheless, the human factor can maintain air safety if the flight crew has the capability to maintain situational awareness, which is considered to be one of the critical human factors. Unfortunately, from the studies, it has been observed that awareness of human factors, which plays a critical role in the accident rates, is perhaps to a very lower extent amongst the general pilots when compared to other sector of aviation industry. This eventually leads to the fact that the development of the understanding between the human factors and accident rates is essential in order to have aviation safety (Stolzer, Halford & Goglia, 2010).

Considering the severe consequences of the major accidents in the aviation history, much of the attention has been made to improve the human factors in aviation safety since few decades. However, it is also vital to note the fact that from the historic times, the aviation industry has attempted to make progress in safety of aircraft by implementing various strategies like pilot's checklist, crew resource management, and so on, yet, this arena needs some major changes so that more safety and security can be provided to the millions of people using this mode of transportation (Wise, Hopkin & Garland, 2011).

The historical perspective of human factors in the aviation industry reveals the piece of information that the concept of human factor within the industry has been initiated over sixty years, but, until the recent times, this discipline has not transpired, and hence is considered as a new concept. The development of the aeronautics industry has been immensely motivated from the Second World War; however, this also made the human factor more apparent than before. Numerous sources of information also highlighted the fact that the relationship between humans and the aircraft system was conceptualized by the aviation psychologists in the latter years of the twentieth century, when the human factor become more obvious (Wise, Hopkin & Garland, 2011).

Indeed, the researches have also drawn the attention to the fact that with the advancements and innovations in the aviation industry over the course of period, the human errors have caused many accidents and collisions in.....

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