Role of Fatigue of Civil Aviation Aircrews in Genesis of Aviation Accidents

Abstract

Input of various risk factors into aviation accidents (AAs) was examined using the circumstance study reports of the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC). In the period of 2010–2021, IAC investigated 89 AAs with heavy aircrafts (HA, maximum take-off mass exceeding 5 700 kg) including 65 vehicles manufactured in Russia and 18 vehicles manufactured by foreign companies, and also 6 AAs with aircrafts belonging to foreign air transport companies. The study reviewed the data on AA occurrence, number of the injured and causative factors. It was concluded that 49.7 % AAs were associated to a degree with the human factor. For instance, 8.4 % AAs were due to an error caused by fatigue because of circadian rhythm disruptions. The most important contributors to the risk are night flights, both high and low workload, work schedule, length of rest period and annual leave, and environmental factors (noise) that individually and in combination may increase the AA risk in 3 to 5 times.