Application of HFACS to the Nighttime Aviation Accidents and Incidents

Abstract

Commercial aviation accidents and incidents more prevalent at the certain times of the day. Operational problems (e.g., night vision, flash blindness, black hole illusion, and reflection) faced by pilots while performing nighttime flights pose threats to flight safety. The present paper aims to examine the contributing factors to commercial aviation accidents occurred at night. In this paper, accident reports of 30 commercial airplane crashes occurred over the past five years were analyzed. The contributing factors of those accidents were examined by using HFACS (Human Factors Analysis and Classification System). The relative importance of the causal factors was determined. Literature reviews have indicated that no study has examined the causality of nighttime commercial aircraft accidents by using HFACS as a framework. It was found that physical environment was the most significant causal factor. Skill-based errors were second-highest contributing factors. Perceptual errors and decision errors were ranked as third-highest causal factors. We believe that our results may be useful for reducing the chances of human error and raising safety standards of commercial airline operations.

Keywords

• human factors
• HFACS
• Night Flight
• Accident Investigation
• Commercial Aviation

References

1. [1] R. Hollingham, “The British airliner that changed the world,” BBC Future, 2017. [Online]. Available: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20170404-the-british-airliner-that-changed-the-world.
2. [2] G. Norris, Airbus A380: Superjumbo of the 21st Century. Motorbooks International, 2005.
3. [3] Wikipedia, “Airbus A380,” 2020. [Online]. Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_A380.
4. [4] The Associated Press, “Boeing delivers first 787,” 2011. [Online]. Available: http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/boeing-delivers-first-787-1.1112430.
5. [5] B. Kilic, “An analysis of critical factors affecting night flight training using DEMATEL,” in THE 4th INTERNATIONAL AVIATION MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE, 2019, p. 236.
6. [6] V. B. Nakagawara, R. W. Montgomery, and K. J. Wood, “Aircraft accidents and incidents associated with visual effects from bright light exposures during low-light flight operations,” FAA Civil Aerospace Medical Institute, Washington, D.C., 2006.
7. [7] R. Moura, M. Beer, E. Patelli, J. Lewis, and F. Knoll, “Learning from accidents: Interactions between human factors, technology and organisations as a central element to validate risk studies,” Saf. Sci., vol. 99, pp. 196–214, 2017.
8. [8] E. Kim and M. Rhee, “How airlines learn from airline accidents: An empirical study of how attributed errors and performance feedback affect learning from failure,” J. Air Transp. Manag., vol. 58, pp. 135–143, 2017.

9. [9] ICAO, “ICAO Safety Report 2019,” 2019.
10. [10] A. Y. Daramola, “An investigation of air accidents in Nigeria using the Human Factors Analysis and Classi fi cation System ( HFACS ) framework,” J. Air Transp. Manag., vol. 35, pp. 39–50, 2014.
11. [11] B. Kilic, “HFACS Analysis for Investigating Human Errors in Flight Training Accidents,” J. Aviat., vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 28–37, 2019.
12. [12] ICAO, “Human Factors Digest: Investigation of Human Factors in Accidents and Incidents,” Montreal, 1993.
13. [13] B. Kilic and S. Soran, “How Can an Ab-Initio Pilot Avert a Future Disaster : A Pedagogical Approach to Reduce The Likelihood of Future Failure,” J. Aviat., vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 1–14, 2019.
14. [14] B. Kilic and S. Soran, “Awareness level of airline pilots on flight-associated venous thromboembolism,” Aerosp. Med. Hum. Perform., vol. 91, no. 4, pp. 1–5, 2020.
15. [15] D. Silverman and M. Gendreau, “Medical issues associated with commercial flights,” Lancet, vol. 373, no. 9680, pp. 2067–2077, 2009.
16. [16] B. Kilic and C. Ucler, “Stress among ab-initio pilots: A model of contributing factors by AHP,” J. Air Transp. Manag., vol. 80, no. March, p. 101706, 2019.
17. [17] NTSB-National Transportation Safety Board, “Aviation Accident Database & Synopses,” 2019. [Online]. Available: https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/index.aspx. [Accessed: 30-Mar-2019].
18. [18] M. Martinussen and D. R. Hunter, Aviation Psychology and Human Factors, vol. 53, no. 9. London and Newyork: CRC Press, 2010.
19. [19] FAA, Airplane Flying Handbook. U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration, 2016.
20. [20] B. BÉKÉSI, “Night flight operations introduction,” in Repüléstudományi Közlemények 2010. április 16., 2010.
21. [21] J. R. Davis, R. Johnson, J. Stepanek, and J. A. Fogarty, Fundamentals of Aerospace Medicine, vol. 53, no. 9. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2008.
22. [22] J. Saleem and B. Kleiner, “The effects of nighttime and deteriorating visual conditions on pilot performance, workload, and situation awareness in general aviation for both VFR and IFR approaches,” Int. J. Appl. Aviat. Stud., vol. 5, pp. 107–120, 2005.
23. [23] R. Leland, “Night VFR… An Oxymoron?,” J. Aviat. Educ. Res., vol. 9, no. 1, p. 3, 1999.
24. [24] C. Bennett and M. Schwirzke, “Analysis of accidents during instrument approaches,” Aviat. Sp. Environ. Med., vol. 63, no. 4, pp. 253–261, 1992.
25. [25] R. Khatwa and R. L. Helmreich, “Flight safety foundation approach-and-landing accident reduction task force - Analysis of critical factors during approach and landing in accidents and normal flight: Data acquisition and analysis working group final report,” in 1999 World Aviation Conference October 19-21, 1999 San Francisco, CA, 1999.
26. [26] R. Gibb, R. Schvaneveldt, and R. Gray, “Visual misperception in aviation: Glide path performance in a black hole environment,” Hum. Factors, vol. 50, no. 4, pp. 699–711, 2008.
27. [27] B. Kilic, “The Analysis of Hot-Air Balloon Accidents by Human Factor Analysis and Classification System,” J. Aeronaut. Sp. Technol., vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 17–24, 2020.
28. [28] C. A. Havle and B. Kılıç, “A hybrid approach based on the fuzzy AHP and HFACS framework for identifying and analyzing gross navigation errors during transatlantic flights,” J. Air Transp. Manag., vol. 76, pp. 21–30, 2019.
29. [29] C. Chauvin, S. Lardjane, G. Morel, J. P. Clostermann, and B. Langard, “Human and organisational factors in maritime accidents: Analysis of collisions at sea using the HFACS,” Accid. Anal. Prev., vol. 59, pp. 26–37, 2013.
30. [30] T. Diller, G. Helmrich, S. Dunning, S. Cox, A. Buchanan, and S. Shappell, “The Human Factors Analysis Classification System (HFACS) Applied to Health Care,” Am. J. Med. Qual., vol. 29, no. 3, pp. 181–190, 2014.
31. [31] Q. Zhan, W. Zheng, and B. Zhao, “A hybrid human and organizational analysis method for railway accidents based on HFACS-Railway Accidents (HFACS-RAs),” Saf. Sci., vol. 91, pp. 232–250, 2017.