I believe that preventing loss of control should be the first priority on the most wanted list. The NTSB says that between 2001 and 2011 over 40 % of general aviation fixed wing fatal accidents occurred because of the pilots' lost of control (Prevent Loss of Control, NTSB). This is very common with pilots failing to see an oncoming spin or stall while in IMC. Presently, pilots will need a bi-annual flight review to keep their certificate current. Having only one check or flight every two years is not nearly enough practice to keep any sort of skilled honed to the level needed, especially with flying. There should be some changes made, calling for more required flight time or more training throughout the two years to keep flying skills and knowledge up to date.
Fatigue related accidents are of no surprise to the aviation community. Fatigue has been a heavy issue with aviation for quite some time and there have been improvements made, but not nearly as much as should be required from the industry. Over 42% of U.S. drivers have admitted to falling asleep at the wheel at least one time in their lifetime (Reduce Fatigue-Related Accidents, NTSB). Fatigue is common in all industries, especially in the U.S. where citizens work the most hours per week over other industrialized countries. Recently there have been regulations passed allowing more rest time for flight crews, but those regulations do not adhere to all working pilots in the industry. It also doesn't account for crew members not following fixed sleep schedules and the possibility of sleeping in a new environment every trip.
The third item on the most wanted list should be the reduction of distracting devices. PEDs are becoming more permanently fixed in our lives and we can never seem to get away from them. People driving and operating in the transportation industry need to realize that those little devices take our minds too far off of the situation at hand and cause us to become a danger to everybody around.
Fourth on the list should be medical fitness. The aviation industry has a strict medical screening for pilots which will be hard to add even more screening to. Certainly, some diseases and medical issues will be very hard if not impossible to detect at times, but those are rare cases. By producing an even more difficult medical examination process which will possibly not yield many results all while possibly restricting pilots who are fit to fly is not what the industry needs.
Lastly, cockpit image recorders should not be implemented into cockpits. With FDRs and CVRs pilots are already being heavily monitored during their time on duty. Having an image recording device always watching over you as well can become very stressful. To me, that creates the sensation of my boss always staring over my shoulder which will lead to a higher stress levels and a stronger possibility of mistakes being made. The use of FDRs and CVRs can already give us a clear view of what was going on in the cockpit. Is adding thousands of image recording devices to aircraft to always be glaring at our pilots a very good idea? I believe that to be a worse distraction than PEDs by the fact that you will always have the thought of somebody watching you through that camera on top of the company, your coworkers, the FAA and the rest of the industry.
One thing that should be added to the list is environmental and technology changes. Right now, the aviation industry will have to wait years or even decades for new technologies to be implemented. By the time they are moved into the industry, those technologies are obsolete. We need to find a way to remove or aid in shortening the time to approve technologies that do work and removing those that do not. It is time for aviation to be a leader in technology instead of always following close behind.
References
Prevent Loss of Control in Flight in General Aviation. (n.d.). In National Transportation Safety Board. Retrieved April 7, 2016, from http://www.ntsb.gov/safety/mwl/Pages/mwl7_2015.aspx
Reduce Fatigue-Related Accidents. (n.d.). In National Transportation Safety Board. Retrieved April 7, 2016, from http://www.ntsb.gov/safety/mwl/Pages/mwl1-2016.aspx
I have to agree that loss of control is a vital issue that has to be addressed. At the 40% of total general aviation accidents, a remedy could have a large benefit over general aviation accidents. The point you made of the cockpit image recorders being a large distraction is a good point. I can certainly see the increase in stress and tension in the pilots because of the implementation of cockpit image recorders. Especially when they are first installed. There is not a substantial benefit from them compared to the current system. Lastly, they would cause an increase in a number of human factors pertaining to the crew.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that cockpit image recorders should be removed from the list. It is a passive, reactionary measure that will likely provide little benefit to accident investigators. I feel the FAA should focus more proactively on preventing accidents instead of cleaning up the mess after the fact. I also agree that technological advancements in aviation should receive more attention. The FAA needs to improve their response time to technological advancements in order to preserve and improve safety.
ReplyDeleteI have the same ranking with you, I do think prevent loss of control is most important within the blacklist, it is important to make sure pilots are known how to recover from stall, accident like AF 477 causes a big amount of fatalities, and it is definitely avoidable. Also, i agree that there are lot of technology could make our aviation system more advanced and efficient, however it took forever to be approve and put into operation.
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