Safety in Aviation Transportation
Facts
• The Wright Brothers (1903), were the first to complete the first ever assisted take off, pioneering the age of powered and controlled air travel. The first extensive
use of heavier than air engine powered planes was seen a decade later in the First World War.
• During the 1920s and 1930s, advancements in air transport saw the first commercial airliner, the Douglas DC-3, transport passengers safely.
When the Second World War was taking place, most cities were building airports, and the popularity of air transport increased after the war
• Air transport over the years has come to be referred to as the safest way to travel. During the Second World War, fatalities by aircraft crash increased sharply.
After the war, approximately 300 crashes were reported per year until 1980. That is equivalent to about 2000 deaths per year.
• The years from 1970 saw a steady decline in aircraft accidents due to enhancements in technology and safety procedures. For example, in 1973, the FAA in the USA
introduced the screening of passengers and their luggage. Since the year 2000, there have been averagely 164 aircraft crashes per year resulting in 1061 deaths (Kirk).
According to the IATA, more than 3.5 billion people flew safely on 37.6 million flights in 2015. According to B3A, in the same year, 122 aircraft crashes occurred
worldwide leading to 898 deaths.
• 2016 was the safest year to travel by air. Only five fatal aircraft incidences were reported. These include the Egyptian flight that crashed into the
Mediterranean in May leading to 66 deaths and the Brazilian LaMia jet carrying a popular football team in November killing 71 people. to70, an international air
transport consultancy firm based in the Hague reported that only 271 deaths by plane crash occurred in 2016 (Calder)
• Data collected by professor Ian Savage of the department of economics at Northwestern University shows that regarding deaths per billion passenger miles traveled,
air travel accounts for 0.07 deaths. This is a small value as compared to other modes of transport. Motorcycles are the most unsafe with 212.57 deaths followed by cars
at 7.28 deaths per one billion passenger miles traveled.(Morris)
• Aircraft accidents are rare as compared to other forms of transport but on occurrence seem relatively fatal. This fatality is then exaggerated by the media
creating an assumption that air transport is more dangerous than it is(Hope)
Definitions
• Aircraft accident- according to B3A is an event involving an aircraft carrying at least six people including the crew that was damaged enough to be removed from
service.
• Passenger miles- a unit of transportation measurement determined by multiplying the number of unlinked passenger trips by the average length of their trips.
• Turbulence- the state of being violently disturbed or agitated.
• Radar- a system that detects distant objects and determines their velocity and position by analyzing radio waves, usually microwaves sent from their surface.
• IATA- International Air Transport Association
• B3A- Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives
• FAA- Federal Aviation Administration
Cause/Effect
What technological advancements have made air transport safer and what are their effects on air transport safety?
• Use of Radar systems developed during World War II by Air traffic control helps pilots to steer the planes by tracking their positions, giving instructions, and
providing clearance for landing and takeoff. Airborne Radar and Weather Radar systems based on the ground can detect areas of extreme turbulence, a leading cause of
non-fatal accidents, so as to avoid them.
• Development of fully automated and built-in redundancies for important control functions so that if a control fails, a backup intervenes.
• Installation of satellite technology including Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and devices like Electronic Flight Bags (EFBs). An EFB is a laptop-sized device
that contains digital maps of airports and their surroundings. They are easier to edit and include new obstacles as compared to physical maps.
• After the 9/11 incident where terrorist took control of four commercial planes and crashed into the twin towers, the regulation requires cockpits to have armored
doors. These can help avoid such attacks or keep unruly passengers or crew from interfering with the flight deck
• Runway status lights are installed on runway edges to guide pilots when landing, taking off or crossing especially at night and during bad weather. Red indicates
a runway in use while green indicates that its clear.
Values
Is technology good or bad for air transport safety and who does it benefit?
• In as much as technology has helped to make air travel safer and more reliable, it also creates a lot of vulnerability for air crafts. High technology aircraft
that requires complex programs and software for operation are becoming common in the air transport industry. Such planes become prone to cyber security risks. For
example, many airplanes use Automatic Dependent Surveillance- Broadcast. This program sends unencrypted information indicating a plane’s position. What is to stop a
terrorist group from intercepting such a message to set coordinates for a missile attack?
• In 2015, the hacker Chris Roberts claimed that he used the entertainment system of a plane to access important controls like the engine. Computer programs were
introduced in the aviation industry to curb performance challenges rather than security risks hence they overlooked these vulnerabilities (Lemieux).
• In this IT age, terrorists and other criminals benefit from aviation vulnerabilities. Technology might have helped secure safety in air travel, but in the future,
if not addressed, it could be the cause of more accidents.
Policy Proposal
• The aviation industry should come up with ways to close the gaps that are opened by computer systems leading to security risks.
• One reason for this is that airline management firms are sharing more information than ever before leaving many loopholes for hackers to act upon (Bryan).
• Creating firewalls and encryption programs to protect the data and having a ready anti-cyber attack team to detect and deal with possible threats would help to
prevent tragedies before they happen.
REFERENCES
REFERENCES
Calder, S. “Despite High-Profile Tragedies, 2016 was one of the Safest Years Ever for Air Travel.” The Independent, Dec, 2016. www.independent.co.uk/ .Accessed 9
Feb.2017.
Hope, A. “5 Changes That Have Made Flying Safer- Conde Nast Traveler.” CNT, 7 July 2016. www.cntraveller.com/ .Accessed 9 Feb. 2017.
Kirk, A. “Just How Safe Is Flying?” The Telegraph, 29 Nov 2016. www.telegraph.co.uk/ .Accessed 9Feb. 2017.
Morris, J. “What Is the Safest Way to Travel? One Chart Which Reveals That Flying Is Less Dangerous Than You May Think.” City A.M, 15 May 2015. www.cityam.com/ .
Accessed 9 Feb. 2017.
Safety in Aviation Transportation
Claim
Safety in aviation transportation is very paramount, and the fraternity of aviation should ensure that the safety in the aviation fraternity.
Reasons:
As much as air as means of transportation is the considered the safest mode of transportation as compared to the other, it is precarious.
The collateral damage caused by an airplane crash is huge devastate the economy of the affected country vividly.
Air transportation is a risky mode of transportation as when accidents occur unlike the other means in airplane crash there are few survivors.
The number of passengers in Airbus is as many as 853 people. Losing such a high number in case of an accident is such significant to lose to the society. Thus, make it
necessary for the aviation community to intervene and ensure the safety of aviation transportation is advanced.
Assumption
Most people usually assume that sensors are the primary cause of airplane accidents in the world. Whenever an airplane people believe that the sensor must have
contributed to the crash.
Pilot error is the most common cause of plane crash attributing to 50% of all airline accident cases.
Backing
Sukhoi Superjet 100 that crashed into Mount Salak in Indonesia in 2012 reason of crashing is argued to be pilot error. The aircraft, which was on a demonstration
flight for potential buyers and journalists, had a terrain awareness and warning system (TAWS) but this had been switched off by the pilots who assumed the computer
was malfunctioning thus unaware if the nearby mountains the aircraft crashed (Rohrer and Castella 2014).
In 1972 Eastern Airlines flight 401 which smashed into the Florida Everglades. The three crews in the plane had been obsessed on why a single indicator light had not
come on when the landing gear was lowered. Unfortunately, the autopilot unnoticed accidentally switched to a setting that allowed steady descent as the three-crew
focused on their investigation. Before the three crew would realize the disaster in front of them it was too late (Rohrer and Castella 2014).
In 1978 the United Airlines Flight 173 crashed leading to the change on how the pilots were being trained. The captain of the pilot allowed the airline to run out of
fuel while circling Portland Oregon thus leading to a crash which attributed to the loss of 10 lives.
The Air France Flight 447that occurred in 2009 resulted in the loss of many people. The cause of the crash is assumed to the sensor. However, the chief executive of
the airline argued that the sensor were not the cause of the accident and people should not think that (Air France CEO: Don’t Assume Sensors Caused Crash 2009).
The Colombian plane crash that occurred in November 2016 led to the death of 76 footballers with very few survivors. The primary cause of the aircraft crash is argued
that the pilot ran out fuel while on their flight. The crush made the Brazilian football club to lose most of their players (Parkinson 2016).
Conditions of Rebuttal
Some people do argue that pilot error is not always the immediate cause of airplane crash and thus people should never assume that pilot error is the cause of plane
crashes. The mechanic is also leading causes to plane crashes, for instance, engine failure, ineffective radar, etc. Many aircraft accidents are caused by severe
weather condition which in barren the visibility of the pilot thus making the pilot lose control of the plane hence causing the crash. There are other causes of
airplane crashes and before people assume that the pilot error contributed to a plane crash the issue should be thoroughly investigated. From Air France Flight 447 CEO
it also evident that the sensors are not always the cause of airline crash thus also before coming up with the assumption on reasons of an airplane crash thorough
research must be done. The research would make the aviation community to highlight all the possible causes f plane crash thus preventing them before they occur.
Qualifier
Based on the argument their facts that pilot error is not always the immediate cause of airplane crash. However, they are the main reason for an aircraft accident.
Thus, to prevent a broad range of aircraft the pilots must first be highly trained to ensure the safety of the people traveling on the plane. Because of the rebuttal
condition above, I would change my topic too; the aviation fraternity should advance their transportation system to prevent the accident that is occurring. By the
aviation fraternity promoting their transport system, it would make the accident rates to be diminished and improve the reputation of the aviation transportation.
Changing the thesis to will make me counter the condition of rebuttal effectively.
Reference
Air France CEO: Don’t Assume Sensors Caused Crash. (2009). CNN News. Retrieved from: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/06/11/air.france.crash/
Parkinson, R.H. (2016). Plane Carrying Top Brazilian Football Team Crashes Killing 76 People. Metro. Retrieved from: http://metro.co.uk/2016/11/29/plane-carrying-81-
people-crashes-with-at-least-six-survivors-6288922/
Rohrer, F. & Castella, T. (2014). Mechanical v Human: Why do planes crash? BBC News Magazine. Retrieved from: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26563806
