CAUSES OF AIRCRAFT ACCIDENTS 10 th Week (9.00 am 10.30 am) 3 rd Oct 2009 (Friday) COURSE : DIPLOMA IN AVIATION MANAGEMENT MODULE : AVIATION SAFETY AND SECURITY (AVS 2104) 1
LEARNING OBJECTIVES Understand causes of aviation accidents Define aviation accidents Know aviation accidents survey and statistics Know top reasons for general aircraft crashes Know history and aviation avionics Understand ARINC 429 2
SCOPE Introduction Definition of Aviation Accident Causes of Aviation Accidents Aviation Accidents Survey Top Reasons for General Aircraft Crashes Aviation Avionics ARINC 429 3
Introduction Aviation Accident Attorneys Few lawyers have the experience necessary to represent a client who has suffered serious injury or lost a loved one in an aviation accident. The attorneys of Harris, Penn & Lowry, LLP, have handled many airplane injury cases, and can help people throughout the United States who need assistance in this specialized area of the law. No Attorneys' Fees until Recovery The firm's plane crash attorneys recognize that after suffering catastrophic injuries or wrongful death in the family, clients are unlikely to be able to pay lawyers' fees. All aviation accident and other personal cases are done on contingency, meaning that the firm will only receive fees as part of a settlement or verdict. 4
Definition of Aviation Accident An aviation accident is defined in the International Civil Aviation Organization Annex 13. It is roughly defined as an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft which takes place between the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight and all such persons have disembarked, in which a person is fatally or seriously injured, the aircraft sustains damage or structural failure and/or the aircraft is missing or is completely inaccessible. An aviation incident is also defined as an occurrence other than an accident, associated with the operation of an aircraft, which affects or could affect the safety of operations. An accident in which the damage to the plane is such that it must be written off, or in which the plane is totally destroyed is often referred to as a hull loss. 5
Causes of Aviation Accidents Aviation accidents tend to have one of three causes. They are : Pilot error: failing to check weather conditions, failing to obtain clearance, etc. Product defect: defective engines, defective instruments, and other matters of product liability. Maintenance negligence 6
Aviation Accidents Survey An accident survey of 1,843 aircraft accidents from 1950 through 2006 determined the causes to be as follows : 53%: Pilot error 21%: Mechanical failure 11%: Weather 6%: Sabotage (bombs, hijackings, shoot-downs) 8%: Other human error (air traffic controller error, improper loading of aircraft, improper maintenance, fuel contamination, language miscommunication etc.) 1%: Other cause Note : The survey excluded military, private, and charter aircraft. 7
Aviation Accidents Survey A study by Boeing determined the primary cause of Airline hull loss accidents (worldwide commercial jet fleet), from 1996 through 2005, to be: 55%: Flight crew error 17%: Airplane 13%: Weather 7%: Misc./Other 5%: Air traffic control 3%: Maintenance That study included 183 accidents, with known causes for 134 of them. The remaining 49 were unknown, or awaiting final reports. Previous Boeing studies showed higher rates for Flight Crew Error: 70%: 1988-1997 67%: 1990-1999 66%: 1992-2001 62%: 1994-2003 56%: 1995-2004 8
Top Reasons for General Aircraft Crashes Pilot errors due to fatigue or negligence Pilot errors due to skill based errors Pilot errors due to perception errors Negligent maintenance or repair Failure to comply with FAA regulations Faulty Equipment Federal air traffic controller error About 20 percent of general aviation aircraft crashes result in death. The other 80 percent usually cause serious injuries and loss of property. Prompt investigation and use of forensic resources are critical to the successful litigation of plane crash cases 9
Aviation Avionics Avionics means "aviation electronics". It comprises electronic systems for use on aircraft, artificial satellites and spacecraft, comprising communications, navigation and the display and management of multiple systems. It also includes the hundreds of systems that are fitted to aircraft to meet individual roles, these can be as simple as a search light for a police helicopter or as complicated as the tactical system for an Airborne Early Warning platform The term avionics was not in general use until the early 1970s. Up to this point instruments, radios, radar, fuel systems, engine controls and radio navigation aids had formed individual (and often mechanical) systems 10
ARINC 429 ARINC 429 is the technical standard for the predominant avionics data bus used on most higherend commercial and transport aircraft. It defines the physical and electrical interfaces of a two-wire data bus and a data protocol to support an aircraft's avionics local area network ARINC 429 is application-specific standard for aircraft avionics. It uses a full duplex data bus (Tx and Rx are on separate ports) known as the Mark 33 Digital Information Transfer System (DITS) 11
Q & A COURSE : DIPLOMA IN AVIATION MANAGEMENT MODULE : AVIATION SAFETY AND SECURITY (AVS 2104) 12
Group Discussion & Presentation Discuss and Briefly Explain : What is the most recognize reason for causes of aviation accidents and why? What is aircraft avionics? What is ARINC 429? Requirement : Explain briefly Time Allocated - 30 minutes for group discussion - 5 minutes for each group presentation Finding passenger 13
SUMMARY Causes of aviation accidents Define aviation accidents Aviation accidents survey and statistics Top reasons for general aircraft crashes History and aviation avionics Understand ARINC 429 14
THANK YOU COURSE : DIPLOMA IN AVIATION MANAGEMENT MODULE : AVIATION SAFETY AND SECURITY (AVS 2104) 15