Aircraft Loss of Control Causal Factors and Mitigation Challenges

Abstract

Loss of control is the leading cause of jet fatalities worldwide. Aside from their frequency of occurrence, accidents resulting from loss of aircraft control seize the public's attention by yielding a large number of fatalities in a single event. In response to the rising threat to aviation safety, the NASA Aviation Safety Program has conducted a study of the loss of control problem. This study gathered four types of information pertaining to loss of control accidents: (1) statistical data; (2) individual accident reports that cite loss of control as a contributing factor; (3) previous meta-analyses of loss of control accidents; and (4) inputs solicited from aircraft manufacturers, air carriers, researchers, and other industry stakeholders. Using these information resources, the study team identified the causal factors that were cited in the greatest number of loss of control accidents, and which were emphasized most by industry stakeholders. This report describes the study approach, the key causal factors for aircraft loss of control, and recommended mitigation strategies to make near-term impacts, mid-term impacts, and Next Generation Air Transportation System impacts on the loss of control accident statistics.

Flight Energy Management Training: Promoting Safety and Efficiency

“…The next two leading causes of fatal accidents, controlled flight into terrain (CFIT), where an airworthy airplane is unintentionally flown into the ground (Boeing, 2012), and runway excursions during landing, where an airplane undershoots, overruns, or contacts the runway abnormally (Boeing, 2012), can also be at least partially attributed to poor energy awareness or management (Airbus, 2005). Although various contributing factors have been linked to each of the three leading causes of fatal accidents (Airbus, 2005;Clark, 2005;Cox, 2010;Jacobson, 2010), improper energy management appears to be a significant common denominator.…”

“…A significant number of fatal aircraft accidents have been associated with poor management of vertical flight path (potential energy) and/or airspeed (kinetic energy). Resulting from the inability of the pilot (or autopilot) to safely manage the airplane's energy state or restore it following an upset, loss of control in flight (LOC-I) has become the number one cause of fatal accidents in commercial (Boeing, 2012;Jacobson, 2010) and general aviation (EAA, 2011). A recent example of loss of control accidents is the crash of Colgan Air Bombardier Q400 in Buffalo, New York, which resulted in widespread media attention and sweeping new legislation for pilot qualifications (Jacobson, 2010).…”

“…Resulting from the inability of the pilot (or autopilot) to safely manage the airplane's energy state or restore it following an upset, loss of control in flight (LOC-I) has become the number one cause of fatal accidents in commercial (Boeing, 2012;Jacobson, 2010) and general aviation (EAA, 2011). A recent example of loss of control accidents is the crash of Colgan Air Bombardier Q400 in Buffalo, New York, which resulted in widespread media attention and sweeping new legislation for pilot qualifications (Jacobson, 2010). The next two leading causes of fatal accidents, controlled flight into terrain (CFIT), where an airworthy airplane is unintentionally flown into the ground (Boeing, 2012), and runway excursions during landing, where an airplane undershoots, overruns, or contacts the runway abnormally (Boeing, 2012), can also be at least partially attributed to poor energy awareness or management (Airbus, 2005).…”

“…Such initiatives include the upset recovery training aid (URTA), aimed at decreasing loss-of-control-in-flight accidents (FAA, 2008); the terrain alert warning system (TAWS), developed for reducing controlled-flight-into-terrain accidents (Cox, 2010); and the approach and landing accident reduction (ALAR) tool kit, focused on decreasing runway excursion accidents (Clark, 2005). Although TAWS has been successful in reducing CFIT accidents (Jacobson, 2010), CFIT is still the second highest cause of jet fatalities worldwide (Boeing, 2012). Neither the URTA nor ALAR initiatives appear to have been effective in decreasing accidents caused by loss-of-control-inflight (Jacobson, 2010) and runway excursions (Cox, 2010), respectively.…”

“…Unsafe and inefficient operations pose a threat to public safety and confidence, and can cause significant financial losses to the aviation industry (BTRE, 2006). The incidence of in-flight energy crises leading to aircraft accidents (Airbus, 2005;Boeing, 2012;Jacobson, 2010) as well as the impact of wasted energy on increased operating costs (Airbus, 2004;Berglund, 2008;Boeing, 2004) suggest a need for better energy management training for pilots.…”