Purpose Stable approach concept has great importance for the safe operation of an airline during the approach and landing phases. The purpose of this study is to analyse the unstabilized approaches with bow-tie method and determine the threats that may cause risk in an unstable approach. Design/methodology/approach In this study, risk assessment of the unstabilized approaches is carried out by using fuzzy bow-tie method and Bayesian networks. Bow-tie method is the combination of event tree analysis and fault tree analysis. Bayesian network is used in the analysis to see interrelationship of basic and intermediate events as well as to update posterior probabilities. Finally, analysis results are verified by the safety performance indicator values. Findings In this study, the probabilistic values of the numerical model presented by the risk assessment system for risks were calculated using the fuzzy bow-tie method. Thus, the risk assessment system has been transformed into a structure that can be expressed in a probabilistic manner, and the relationship of the risks within the system has been examined and the effect of a possible change on the risk value has been found to be prevalent. Originality/value The bow-tie model is widely applied to assess the risks in aviation. Obtaining prior probabilities is not always possible in the risk assessment process. In this paper, innovative fuzzy bow-tie method is used to assess the risks to overcome the lack of prior probability problem in aviation operations.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to improve risk assessment processes in airline flight operations by introducing a dynamic risk assessment method. Design/methodology/approach Fuzzy logic and Bayesian network are used together to form a dynamic structure in the analysis. One of the most challenging factors of the analyses in aviation is to get quantitative data. In this study, the fuzzy data quantification technique is used to perform dynamic risk assessment. Dynamic structure in the analysis is obtained by transforming the bow-tie model into a Bayesian network equivalent. Findings In this study, the probability of top-event from fault tree analysis is calculated as 1.51 × 10−6. Effectiveness of the model is measured by comparing the analysis with the safety performance indicator data that reflects past performance of the airlines. If two data are compared with each other, they are at the same order of value, with small difference (0.6 × 10−7). Originality/value This study proposes a dynamic model to be used in risk assessment processes in airline flight operations. A dynamic model for safety analysis provides real-time, autonomous and faster risk assessment. Moreover, it can help in the decision-making process and reduce airline response time to undesired states, which means that the proposed model can contribute to the efficiency of the risk management process in airline flight operations.