Safety is of paramount significance in every place humans are involved. In the aviation industry, safety determines the existence of this industry. Ever since the first aircraft took flight, the new world of transportation possibilities was developed. This satisfied the need of society for better and quick means of transporting individuals and goods to different destinations. As a result of the effectiveness of this means of transport, a tremendous development was evident in the aviation industry and large corporations started to develop bigger and faster machines. Unlike other technologies, human and mechanical errors resulted in deaths and enormous financial consequences forcing the government to regulate the industry. As air travel and air freight increases, the apparent need for safety and regulatory control also increases. Currently, the problems of aviation safety have not decreased and continue to plague the industry day by day. As suggested by Byeon, Cho, and Choi (2016), there is need for strengthened safety regulation in the aviation industry to minimize the escalating threat of aviation based on terrorism, a rise in projected airspace congestion as well as a reduction in pilot skillsets that occur as a result of cockpit automation.
To start with, aviation safety helps people in identifying the various causes of aviation safety issues. One of the notable issues that cause aviation safety problem is pilot error. According to various studies, it is estimated that the proportion of crashes caused by pilot errors has heightened to approximately 50 percent. Some of the errors caused by pilots emanate from failing to program important flight management computers correctly which results in miscalculating the required fuel uplift. While these errors do occur, it is significant to remember that the pilot is the last line of defense when it goes catastrophically wrong. Mechanical failure is another cause of aviation safety problems. As opined by Soekkha (2020), equipment failures account for about 20 percent of aircraft losses as much as improvements have been noted in design as well as manufacturing quality. Even though engines are dependable today as compared to a half a century ago, catastrophic failures of engines occasionally occur. A more recent engine failure incidence occurred on a Qantas A380 carrying 459 passengers over Batam Island (Li, 2019). Sometimes, new technologies introduce different new types of failures in aircraft.
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More so, the weather is another cause of aviation safety. It is reported that bad weather accounts for about 10 percent of aircraft losses. As much as electronic aids such as satellite navigation as well as gyroscopic compasses have been developed, aircraft still do encounter storms, snow, and fog. Another most publicly visible area that may cause aviation safety problems is terrorism. In most cases, terrorists hijack aircraft and seek demands such as exchange of prisoners as well as unoccupied placement of bombs or they might decide to overtake aircraft and use them as weapons. For instance, on September 11th, terrorists overtook four commercial aircraft in America and flew then into the Pentagon and World Trade Center killing approximately 3000 individuals (Li, 2019). These kinds of attacks develop fear and anxiety among people and can paralyze transportation at the state as well as the international level. Aircraft overcrowding without a suitable capacity to promote a huge amount of aircraft has also contributed to safety problems that surround the increase in the projected airspace congestion. It is therefore significant for people to put into consideration the mentioned causes to achieve optimal importance of aviation safety.
Aviation safety has significant importance to the organization, passengers, and all individuals that are associated with the aviation system. Aviation safety is a state in which the risks associated with aviation activities are minimized or managed to acceptable levels. It entails the practice, theory, grouping of flight failures, investigation as well as prevention of failures through education, regulation, and training. The best strategy for aviation safety is prevention and can be achieved through risk management and hazard reporting. Apart from identifying the causes of aviation safety problems, aviation safety also assess the risks that emanate from the causes of aviation safety problems. To assess risks, data that result from previously investigated incidents and accidents is used. However, this information may not adequate to support a more effective proactive management approach and therefore, the international aviation community ought to strive to employ a various array of safety information to identify safety issues and further forecast significant consequences before accidents do happen. The most common data used to assess risks is the recorded flight reports as well as data that are provided by a mechanic, air traffic controller, pilots, and others that relate to observed hazards. Data from various flights are collected on a daily basis and analyzed to offer an exclusive view of the system works.
On the other hand, aviation safety is important because it assists aviation systems to track the effectiveness of mitigating measures that require a comprehensive analysis of various types of information. In monitoring mitigating measures effectiveness, information such as spikes of irregularities experienced when landing at a given airport, and certain standard operating procedures are formulated or training offered to prevent future aviation safety problems. Besides, aviation safety ensures that the safety of the aircraft is incorporated right from design. This is because every part of the aircraft is crucial to the safe operation of the airplane. During the design process, aviation safety ensures that an extra margin of protection is considered to permit pilots to safely go beyond the limit in case of an emergency situation. Aviation safety has also made manufacturers rigorously test aircraft to ensure that they meet or go beyond design standards as well as certification requirements. Aviation safety further manages hazards. In accomplishing this, a number of management and control actions have been formed to help enhance air safety. For instance, aircraft and equipment manufacturers have made significant utilization of classic risk analysis tools to investigate the problem of radio frequency (RF) interference. Through aviation safety, greater progress can be made to promote adaptive management and control in enhancing characterization and examination of the RF environment on aircraft, developing and deploying real-time equipment that can assist flight crew in detecting the RF emissions. As a result of aviation safety interventions, new technology to improve safety has been developed through collaboration and research. The developed advanced technologies have contributed greatly to enhancing aviation safety and further give unique safety benefits to the aviation system. The terrain avoidance warning systems such as predictive wind-shear equipment and Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning Systems are new technology examples that have made aviation safer.
Conclusively, aviation safety is not a simple task. As much as it reduces frequent aircraft deaths and accidents, effort, commitment, dedication, resources, ingenuity, and skills are required to maintain and continuously improve safety that has been witnessed for many years. It is therefore, significant for all people in aviation to work hard to make a safe aviation system safer as compared to previous years. These actions will enable the aviation industry as well as regulators to identify the cause of aviation safety problems, characterize them, and adaptively control the risk associated with them and further promote better aviation safety.
References
Byeon, A., Cho, Y. J., & Choi, Y. C. (2016). Study on Importance of Safety Management Factors in Aircraft Using Business. Journal of the Korean Society for Aviation and Aeronautics, 24(2), 68-73.
Li, S. (2019). Construction of Man-made Factor Management Strategy in Aviation Safety Management.
Soekkha, H. M. (Ed.). (2020). Aviation Safety, Human Factors-System Engineering-Flight Operations-Economics-Strategies-Management . CRC Press.
