Racing Against Time: The Invisible Effect of Hurry-Up Syndrome on Aviation Accidents

Tayfun Aydoğdu

doi:10.5281/zenodo.18059196

Racing Against Time: The Invisible Effect of Hurry-Up Syndrome on Aviation Accidents

Abstract

In the aviation industry, time pressure, operational efficiency, and performance expectations are among the critical factors that directly effect human factors. In this context, urgency, referred to in the literature as Hurry-up syndrome, is a significant psychological phenomenon that threatens flight safety by leading to perceptual narrowing, cognitive overload, and decision making errors. This study aims to examine the effect of Hurry-up syndrome on aircraft accidents and presents a case study of pilots, air traffic controllers, and aircraft maintenance technicians involved in aviation operations. This study, designed with a qualitative research approach, analyzes in detail the Comair Flight 5191, Linate Airport, and Helios Airways Flight 522 accidents, selected from national and international accident reports, using document analysis methods. The data were examined through thematic analysis within the framework of coding human errors, time pressure, communication interruptions, and prioritization errors. The findings demonstrate that Hurry-up syndrome triggers cognitive errors across all task areas, leading to misalignment of task priorities, communication breakdowns, and impaired risk perception. It also reveals that organizational-level performance expectations and cultural factors fuel the behaviors associated with Hurry-up syndrome. The study examines the relationship between human factors and safety culture from the perspective of Hurry-up syndrome. In this respect, it aims to contribute to the sustainability of safety performance in aviation by suggesting preventive strategies in the training, workload planning and time management processes of organizations.

Keywords

References

AAIASB. (2006). Accident report: Helios Airways Flight 522, Boeing 737-31S, 5B-DBY, near Grammatiko, Greece, 14 August 2005. Air Accident Investigation & Aviation Safety Board Press.
ANSV. (2004). Final report: SAS Flight SK686 and Cessna Citation CJ2, Milan Linate Airport, 8 October 2001. Agenzia Nazionale per la Sicurezza del Volo Press.
Bowen, G. A. (2009). Document analysis as a qualitative research method. Qualitative Research Journal, 9(2), 27-40. https://doi.org/10.3316/QRJ0902027
Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2018). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (4th ed.). Sage Press.
Çapkulaç, O. (2025). Havacılık sektöründe zaman baskısı: Yer hizmetleri çalışanlarına yönelik ampirik bir çalışma, Amasya Üniversitesi Ekonomi Ticaret ve Pazarlama Dergisi, 2(2), 99-111.
Çoban, R., & Aydoğdu, T. (2020). Havacılık sektöründe zaman baskısının teknostrese etkisi: Uçak bakım teknisyenleri üzerine bir araştırma. İşletme Araştırmaları Dergisi, 12(3), 2442-2460. https://doi.org/10.20491/ISARDER.2020.985
Dekker, S. (2011). Drift into failure: From hunting broken components to understanding complex systems. Ashgate Press.
Dekker, S. (2014). The field guide to understanding human error (3rd ed.). CRC Press.

Ek, A., & Akselsson, R. (2005). Safety culture and safety behavior. Safety Science, 43(3), 153-178.
Endsley, M. R. (1995). Toward a theory of situation awareness. Human Factors, 37(1), 32-64.
Endsley, M. R., & Rodgers, M. D. (1998). Situation awareness information requirements analysis for en route air traffic control. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, 42(1), 71-75. https://doi.org/10.1177/154193129804200117
Eurocontrol (2010). Human performance in air traffic management safety. A White Paper, FAA Action Plan 15 Safety.
FAA. (2020). Aviation safety information analysis and sharing report. Federal Aviation Administration Press.
Flin, R., O’Connor, P., & Crichton, M. (2008). Safety at the sharp end: A guide to non-technical skills. Ashgate Press.
Guldenmund, F. W. (2000). The nature of safety culture: A review of theory and research. Safety Science, 34(1-3), 215-257. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0925-7535(00)00014-X
Hancock, P. A., & Warm, J. S. (1989). A dynamic model of stress and sustained attention. Human Factors, 31(5), 519-537. https://doi.org/10.1177/001872088903100503
Helmreich, R. L., Klinect, J. R., & Wilhelm, J. A. (1999). Models of threat, error, and CRM in flight operations. In Proceedings of the Tenth International Symposium on Aviation Psychology, 677-682.
Helmreich, R. L., & Merritt, A. C. (2000). Culture at work in aviation and medicine: National, organizational and professional influences. Ashgate Press.
Hilburn, B. (2004). Cognitive complexity in air traffic control. The International Journal of Aviation Psychology, 14(1), 1-22.
Hobbs, A., & Williamson, A. (2002). Associations between errors and contributing factors in aircraft maintenance. Human Factors, 44(2), 186-201.
Hobbs, A. (2008). Human factors: The most important science in aviation. Ashgate Press.
ICAO. (2018). Safety management manual (Doc 9859). International Civil Aviation Organization Press.
ICAO. (2020). Human factors training manual (Doc 9683). International Civil Aviation Organization Press.
Maurino, D., Reason, J., Johnston, N., & Lee, R. (2017). Beyond aviation human factors: Safety in high technology systems. CRC Press.
McEwen, B. S. (2007). Physiology and neurobiology of stress and adaptation: Central role of the brain. Physiological Reviews, 87(3), 873-904.
NTSB. (2007). Aircraft accident report: Comair Flight 5191, Bombardier CL-600-2B19, Lexington, Kentucky, August 27, 2006. National Transportation Safety Board Press.
Orasanu, J., & Fischer, U. (1997). Finding decisions in natural environments. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Press.
Patton, M. Q. (2015). Qualitative Research & Evaluation Methods. Sage Press.
Rankin, W. L., Hibit, R., Allen, J., & Sargent, R. (2000). Development and evaluation of the maintenance error decision aid (MEDA) process. International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, 26(2), 261-276.
Reason, J. (1990). Human error. Cambridge University Press.
Reason, J. (1997). Managing the risks of organizational accidents. Ashgate Press.
Reason, J., & Hobbs, A. (2003). Managing maintenance error: A practical guide. Ashgate Press.
Salas, E., Wilson, K. A., Burke, C. S., & Wightman, D. C. (2006). Does crew resource management training work?. Human Factors, 48(2), 392-412.
Sweller, J. (1988). Cognitive load during problem solving: Effects on learning. Cognitive Science, 12(2), 257-285.
Vaughan, D. (1996). The challenger launch decision. University of Chicago Press.
Wickens, C. D., & Hollands, J. G. (2000). Engineering psychology and human performance (3rd ed.). Prentice Hall Press.
Wickens, C. D., Hollands, J. G., Banbury, S., & Parasuraman, R. (2015). Engineering psychology and human performance (4th ed.). Routledge Press.
Wiegmann, D. A., & Shappell, S. A. (2017). A human error approach to aviation accident analysis. Routledge Press.

Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Air Transportation and Freight Services

Journal Section

Research Article

Authors

Tayfun Aydoğdu ^*
Türkiye

Publication Date

December 26, 2025

Submission Date

October 5, 2025

Acceptance Date

December 21, 2025

Published in Issue

Year 2025 Volume: 5 Number: 2

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18059196

IZ

https://izlik.org/JA89BJ65RW

Cite

RIS / Bibtex

APA

Aydoğdu, T. (2025). Racing Against Time: The Invisible Effect of Hurry-Up Syndrome on Aviation Accidents. Research in Aviation Management (RAM), 5(2), 23-34. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18059196

AMA

1.Aydoğdu T. Racing Against Time: The Invisible Effect of Hurry-Up Syndrome on Aviation Accidents. Research in Aviation Management (RAM). 2025;5(2):23-34. doi:10.5281/zenodo.18059196

Chicago

Aydoğdu, Tayfun. 2025. “Racing Against Time: The Invisible Effect of Hurry-Up Syndrome on Aviation Accidents”. Research in Aviation Management (RAM) 5 (2): 23-34. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18059196.

EndNote

Aydoğdu T (December 1, 2025) Racing Against Time: The Invisible Effect of Hurry-Up Syndrome on Aviation Accidents. Research in Aviation Management (RAM) 5 2 23–34.

IEEE

[1]T. Aydoğdu, “Racing Against Time: The Invisible Effect of Hurry-Up Syndrome on Aviation Accidents”, Research in Aviation Management (RAM), vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 23–34, Dec. 2025, doi: 10.5281/zenodo.18059196.

ISNAD

Aydoğdu, Tayfun. “Racing Against Time: The Invisible Effect of Hurry-Up Syndrome on Aviation Accidents”. Research in Aviation Management (RAM) 5/2 (December 1, 2025): 23-34. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18059196.

JAMA

1.Aydoğdu T. Racing Against Time: The Invisible Effect of Hurry-Up Syndrome on Aviation Accidents. Research in Aviation Management (RAM). 2025;5:23–34.

MLA

Aydoğdu, Tayfun. “Racing Against Time: The Invisible Effect of Hurry-Up Syndrome on Aviation Accidents”. Research in Aviation Management (RAM), vol. 5, no. 2, Dec. 2025, pp. 23-34, doi:10.5281/zenodo.18059196.

Vancouver

1.Tayfun Aydoğdu. Racing Against Time: The Invisible Effect of Hurry-Up Syndrome on Aviation Accidents. Research in Aviation Management (RAM). 2025 Dec. 1;5(2):23-34. doi:10.5281/zenodo.18059196