Fatigue: Is It a Stress or a Strain, that is, an injury? Is fatigue an injury to the human body from which we need time to recover? Or is fatigue just being tired or over tired, a stress for which a good night’s sleep is the common remedy? That is the question: is fatigue justContinue reading “The Injury of Pilot Fatigue: Is Fatigue a Stress or a Strain ?”
Author Archives: Capt. Paul Miller
Titan B733, Chambery France, Loss of Control, Human Factors,14 April 2012: Is Flawed Aerodynamics in UK AAIB Investigation Report?
I believe that there is a basic flaw in the mishap investigation report by the UK AAIB. The flaw is a lack of inclusion of important take off aerodynamics procedures in the investigation, due to referencing solely the events surrounding EFB procedure errors. [Did the board seek the Safety Purpose or the Legal Purpose?Continue reading “Titan B733, Chambery France, Loss of Control, Human Factors,14 April 2012: Is Flawed Aerodynamics in UK AAIB Investigation Report?”
Is the Study of Accidents the Same as Mishap Prevention? Are the Two Related or Is Mishap Prevention More?
Recent publications of the Boeing Statistical Summary of Commercial Airplane Accidents, The ICAO Safety Review, The EASA Annual Safety Review and the UK CAA Global Fatal Accident Review cause me to react this way: These are documents of failures, of human failures, of failures despite the best efforts of many government and commercial organizations. IContinue reading “Is the Study of Accidents the Same as Mishap Prevention? Are the Two Related or Is Mishap Prevention More?”
Is More Emphasis Needed on Commercial Aviation ‘Go-Around’ Procedures & Is More Training Needed to Improve Safety? : A Report of the Flight Safety Foundation European and International Advisory Committee June 2013 ‘Go-Around Safety Forum’
Commercial pilots do not often go around when an approach has gone bad. As a matter of fact about 97% of the time, pilots have tried to salvage a good landing out of a bad approach. From that segment of attempted landings out of bad approaches comes nearly all of the fatal commercial aviation landingContinue reading “Is More Emphasis Needed on Commercial Aviation ‘Go-Around’ Procedures & Is More Training Needed to Improve Safety? : A Report of the Flight Safety Foundation European and International Advisory Committee June 2013 ‘Go-Around Safety Forum’”
UPS Safety Program: Prevention or Mishap Investigation? What are the Financial Consequences of a Failed Safety Program?
Is UPS Airlines now joining the ranks of so many previously safe FAR Part 121 airlines whose safety program looks good on paper, but in the field is no longer functioning to prevent fatal mishaps? Since 1982, UPS has run UPS Airlines free of fatal mishaps. In fact the few mishaps that have occurred in the operationContinue reading “UPS Safety Program: Prevention or Mishap Investigation? What are the Financial Consequences of a Failed Safety Program?”
UPS 6 Sept 2010 Dubai Crash GCAA Final Report: What Is the Cost of the Mishap? What Recommended Corrective Actions Will Prevent this Mishap from Occurring all over again?
What is not written in the just released GCAA Final Report of the September 2010 crash of UPS Flight 6? Was the report written for legal purposes or safety purposes? What wasn’t learned from the reading of the report? Was anything learned from the report that would have prevented this mishap, that wasn ‘t alreadyContinue reading “UPS 6 Sept 2010 Dubai Crash GCAA Final Report: What Is the Cost of the Mishap? What Recommended Corrective Actions Will Prevent this Mishap from Occurring all over again?”
Asiana 214, Fatigue and In-Flight Crew Meals: Postprandial somnolence, or getting sleepy after you eat.
The more factors I consider, the fewer seem likely until I consider the human factor of fatigue. Automation? He was flying a B747 prior, plenty of automation there. San Francisco? Not all that different from dozens of international airports in the Pac Rim. CRM? Things didn’t go bad until the last few miles. New captain,Continue reading “Asiana 214, Fatigue and In-Flight Crew Meals: Postprandial somnolence, or getting sleepy after you eat.”
Asiana 214: Cultural Issues, Fatigue or a need for better Stabilized Approach and Go Around Procedures?
Culture issues, fatigue and other human factors of every type are and will continue to be amongst the most serious safety hazards, risks or challenges for the foreseeable future in commercial aviation. In the very open cultures of North America there may be a tendency to see cultural issues not only as a non-typical factor,Continue reading “Asiana 214: Cultural Issues, Fatigue or a need for better Stabilized Approach and Go Around Procedures?”
Asiana 214 Mishap, SFO, July 6, 2013: Stable Approaches & Go Around Procedures
Stabilized Approaches must be part of an Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and not just a criteria, policy or even best practice. Procedure means that it is a written set of steps and explanatory notes. Procedures are trained by the airline, checked by the FAA and continually verified, reviewed and updated by the FAA and theContinue reading “Asiana 214 Mishap, SFO, July 6, 2013: Stable Approaches & Go Around Procedures”
Lithium-Ion Aircraft Batteries as a Passenger and Cargo Smoke/Fire Risk
In fact three aircraft have been destroyed by fires caused by lithium ion batteries, one in 2006, two in 2010. But the FAA, NTSB and other government and official agencies categorize safety as related to passenger safety or a cargo acft only hazard and of no interest to passenger airline safety, such as the currentContinue reading “Lithium-Ion Aircraft Batteries as a Passenger and Cargo Smoke/Fire Risk”
Safety Forecast 