Evaluation and prioritization of technical and operational airworthiness factors for flight safety

Abstract

Purpose In this study, a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach for evaluating airworthiness factors were presented. The purpose of this study is to develop an acceptable rationale for operational activities in civil and military aviation and for design, production and maintenance activities in the aviation industry that can be used in-flight safety programs and evaluations. Design/methodology/approach In aviation, while the initial and continuing airworthiness of aircraft is related to technical airworthiness, identifying and minimizing risks for avoiding losses and damages are related to operational airworthiness. Thus, the airworthiness factors in civil and military aviation were evaluated under these two categories as the technical and operational airworthiness factors by the analytic hierarchy process and analytic network process. Three technical and five operational airworthiness criteria for civil aviation, three technical and nine operational airworthiness criteria for military aviation were defined, evaluated, prioritized and compared in terms of flight safety. Findings The most important technical factor is the “airworthiness status of the aircraft” both in civil (81.9%) and military (77.6%) aviation, which means that aircraft should initially be designed for safety. The most significant operational factors are the “air traffic control system” in civil (30.9%) and “threat” in the military (26.6%) aviation. The differences within factor weights may stem from the design requirements and acceptable safety levels (frequency of occurrences 1 in 107 in military and 1 in 109 in civil aircraft design) of civil and military aircraft with the mission achievement requirements in civil and military aviation operations. The damage acceptance criteria for civil and military aircraft are different. The operation risks are accepted in the military and acceptance of specific tasks and the risk levels can vary with aircraft purpose and type. Practical implications This study provides an acceptable rationale for safety programs and evaluations in aviation activities. The results of this study can be used in real-world airworthiness applications and safety management by the aviation industry and furthermore, critical factor weights should be considered both in civil and military aviation operations and flights. The safety levels of airlines with respect to our airworthiness factor weights or the safety level of military operations can be computed. Originality/value This is the first study considering technical and operational airworthiness factors as an MCDM problem. Originality and value of this paper are defining critical airworthiness factors for civil and military aviation, ranking these factors, revealing the most important ones and using MCDM methods for the evaluations of airworthiness factors for the first time. In civil aviation flight safety is the basic tenet of airworthiness activities in risk analysis, on the other hand in military aviation high levels of risks are to be avoided in peace training or operational tasks. However, even high risks have to be accepted during the war, if the operational requirements impose, as mission achievement is vital. The paper is one of a kind on airworthiness evaluations for flight safety.

Technical aspects of flight safety of military aircraft

“…In order to monitor and manage resources as efficiently as possible, it is necessary to reduce the involvement of aviation technical personnel in administrative tasks, by introducing a specialized information system that would improve the way of monitoring resources, keeping records and reporting (Senol, 2020). Practically, in one place it would be possible to create an overview of all important information, from the availability and training of staff, through the state of resources, filling with spare parts, data on the maintenance process through monitoring and analysis of malfunctions.…”

A Novel Semantic Cohesion Approach for Chinese Airworthiness Regulations: Theory and Application

“…where 12 ( , ) vv denotes an edge structure of graph G . In attributive directed graph, edge structure exists in the nodes 1 v and 2 v which have semantic cohesion relation. Because of the unique hierarchical provision structure, the airworthiness regulation texts are different from the texts with general linguistic form.…”

“…System safety engineers and other airworthiness engineers should conform to the regulations when designing and maintaining the ATS. Satisfying all the requirements of airworthiness regulations is an essential prerequisite for civil aircraft to the market of civil aviation [1].…”

“…, edge structure should be created between the pair of nodes. The edge structure is expressed as1 The two nodes are supposed to be connected to form the directed path, and the corresponding elementary provision units have the relation of semantic cohesionto be connected to form the directed path, and the corresponding elementary provision units have the relation of semantic cohesion. The edge structure with semantic cohesion relation should be created between the two nodesf v and i v , which can be expressed as ( , ) with case 2, the edge structure with semantic cohesion relation can be expressed as ( , ) fi e v v .…”

An Unsupervised Learning Approach for Analyzing Unsafe Pilot Operations Based on Flight Data

“…Flight safety is one of the most important topics in the aviation industry [1]. According to the 2020 EASA (European Union Aviation Safety Agency) annual safety review (EASA Annual Safety Review: 2020, https://www.easa.europa.eu/document-library/generalpublications/annual-safety-review-2020, accessed on 22 November 2022), the final approach and landing phases are the most prone to flight safety accidents.…”