Interestingly, there was a bigger surprise waiting when I read the report. Apparently, the Thai Airways aircraft was cleared for takeoff from Runway 29 at Delhi by the air traffic control. Even before the preceding aircraft AI014 had vacated the runway. Why did the investigators fail to notice this error?
Startle vs Surprise and flight crew training
Background Startle and surprise are often cited as potentially contributing factors to aircraft incidents due to their possible negative effects on flight crew performance. In the past, these terms have often been used interchangeably; however, there are distinctive conceptual, behavioural, and physiological differences between the startle reflex and the surprise emotion. The prevalence of startle […]
It takes two to tango, Jet Airways runway excursion analysis
The root cause of this event was the initial difficulty to control the aircraft laterally due to the rapid asymmetric thrust increase at low speed. We will analyse this phenomenon in the following paragraphs and explain how the pilots can ensure a symmetric thrust increases to ease the lateral control of the aircraft in the early takeoff roll.
GoAir passengers survived a wrong engine shutdown, where British Midland and TransAsia couldn’t
Errors in Aviation Decision making, bad decisions or bad luck!
Study reveals serious deficiencies in instrument scan by Pilot Monitoring
French (BEA) study on approach and go-around reveals that many pilot monitoring (PM’s) do not know where and when to look during a go-around.
The sticky slide, Air India evacuation
Emergency evacuations are plagued by escape slide failures.
Medical perils of extending the range of single-aisle aircrafts
WHO findings of the epidemiological studies indicate that the risk of venous thromboembolism is increased 2- to 3-fold after long-haul flights (more than 4 h)
A cognitive view of 100 Tonne takeoff weight error, close shave for AirFrance
A 100 Tonne error in take off performance. We continue to believe that an engineering control will prevent a future incident. We need to ensure that flight crew perform NORMAL actions/procedures consistently and with accuracy. Human factors should be the point in focus.
Visual illusion in fog, Spicejet heavy landing saga
How can a combination of surprise event, visual illusion and cognitive lockup lead to a heavy landing? Fog creates visual illusion. Other factors like tight coupling of events and cognitive lockup can lead to incidents.
ISASI 2019 Global Investigators meet: mindFly
I will be speaking on day 1 of the ISASI