Human Factors in Aviation

     

    Despite all the changes in technology to improve flight safety, one factor remains the same, human factor which leads to errors and accidents. It is estimated that approximately 80 percent of all aviation accidents are related to human factors.  Fatigue, complacency and stress are some of the human conditions in aviation directly cause or contribute to aviation accidents. Human factor accidents and incidents are associated with flight operations but over the years aviation maintenance and air traffic management have become a major concern as well. Human factors science is a multidisciplinary field incorporating contributions from psychology, engineering, industrial design, statistics, operations research, and anthropometry. It is a term that covers the science of understanding the properties of human capability, the application of this understanding to the design, development and deployment of systems and services, and the art of ensuring successful application of human factor principles into all aspects of aviation to include pilots, ATC, and aviation maintenance. Gathering research specific to certain situations such as flight, maintenance, stress levels, knowledge about human abilities, limitations, and other characteristics and applying it to tool design, machines, systems, tasks, jobs, and environments to produce safe, comfortable, and effective human use. The entire aviation community benefits greatly from human factors research and development as it helps better understand how humans can most safely and efficiently perform their jobs and improve the tools and systems in which they interact.

    I have experience challenges as part of aviation maintenance team in the Navy. Challenges include fatigue due to long hours of intense maintenance on highly sensitive components. A seven days a week, twelve hours on twelve hours off schedule for 8 to 10 months on an aircraft carrier really take a toll on your body. Stress is another challenge we face daily when deadline need to be met for mission purpose flight schedule. I believe complacency it's the biggest enemy in human factor for aviation maintenance. It's when maintainers become too comfortable performing same maintenance task and overlooking potential errors. In order to mitigate these risks of human factor, the Navy follow the Operation Risk Management system, weekly risk management training and refresher on back to the basic mentality reminding maintainer by the book maintenance is the key to performing quality maintenance.

Reference

Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge - Chapter 2: Aeronautical Decision-Making

https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation/phak/04_phak_ch2.pdf