A trainee checks-in, uses her/his retina or facial scan to enter the training session. From day one they are assisted by virtual trainers and...
Author: Amit Singh @mindFly
I’m a published author and airline captain with over 35 years in civil aviation and 18,000+ flight hours on the Boeing 777 and Airbus A320.
As the Founder of Safety Matters Foundation, I work to enhance aviation safety through training, research, and regulatory advocacy.
I’ve led safety, training and operations at IndiGo and AirAsia India, presented at ISASI and the Flight Safety Foundation, and hold a Fellowship from the Royal Aeronautical Society (UK).
📚 Author of published books: mindFly and Varaha
🔗 safetymatters.co.in
ET302, Pilots on a wing and a prayer: mindFly
ET 302 took off from Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia on 10th March 2019 and 06 minutes into the flight met with an accident. The aircraft was the Boeing's latest addition to the B-737 series, the B-737 8Max. The infamous MCAS(software) was to have played a role in the accident and nations all over the world, fearing the safety of the traveling passengers, banned the aircraft flying in their airspace. It soon became a world wide ban, thus grounding the MAX fleet. I will not critique on the crew action or inaction because their behaviour will need to be analysed in great depth after more details are released. Download the Preliminary investigation report ET302 10 Mar 2019 Boeing 737 has had rudder design issues in the 1990's when there were a series of accidents involving United, US Air and Silk Air. Read my blog on A question of Safety or Ethics:Boeing 737 mindFly . Boeing was quick to respond to it and wanted the editors to take the blog down but the evidence was over bearing and the blog survived.
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Need for Scientific risk assessment,6E-11 A320 NEO Engine failure:mindFly
The A-320 NEO PW engines have been plagued with engine failures ever since they were launched. While the Indian DGCA restricted the flights over water to mitigate the risk of ditching, their risk assessment apparently did not cover flights over mountains. On 29th March 2019, 6E11 on route from Delhi to Istanbul suffered an Engine Failure just as she had entered Iran airspace and prior to overflying high ground. The aircraft carried out the escape route maneuver to divert and land safely at Kuwait. While the risk assessment carried out by DGCA India has not been released for public viewing, it is apparent that a scientific methodology like the Monte Carlo simulation was not carried to determine the risk of engine failure and the acceptable risk. The state safety policy commits to ensuring that the acceptable level of safety are maintained. State Safety Policy Monte Carlo Simulation document. According to current norms, frequent checks on these aircraft including inspection of engines after every 1,000 hours, instead of 1,500 hours as sought by PW, and repeat inspection every 500 hours.
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Using Simulator data for evaluation and safety performance: mindFly
Every flight crew involved in an accident/incident is flying the aircraft due to the fact that they have undergone the necessary training and have demonstrated their proficiency/competency. Since the flight crew is the last line of defense and as Prof. Patrick Hudson puts it is the first person at the scene of the accident/incident. The question that naturally arises is, why did the crew not prevent the accident/incident if they were adequately trained and had demonstrated their ability to fly safely? In his 1931 book "Industrial Accident Prevention, A Scientific Approach", Herbert W Heinrich put forward the following concept that became known as Heinrich's Law: in a workplace, for every accident that causes a major injury, there are 29 accidents that cause minor injuries and 300 accidents that cause no injuries. This is commonly depicted as a pyramid (in this case with the number of minor incidents shown as 30 for simplicity):
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Multi-Crew performance when under evaluation: mindFly
The performance of flight crew when subjected to an evaluation under simulated or real conditions can be very different as compared to a normal line flight. It may deteriorate in some cases and may even improve in others. How do humans perform when working in a group and being judged at the same time, determines their performance. The three main factors that affect the performance are: Objective self awareness Social facilitation, and Anxiety These three factors each affect performance as a function of their magnitude and direction. In general, task performance is facilitated by a low anxiety state, presence of others, and-subjective self awareness. High anxiety levels, objective self-awareness, and absence of others tend to debilitate performance.
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It is not the critic who counts: mindFly
“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The...
Boeing’s design change process:mindFly
All aircraft, engines, and propellers must meet and maintain minimum standards for design, material, construction, quality of work and performance before they can be produced and operated. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) requires each contracting state to adopt airworthiness standards for the design and performance of aeronautical products. States must ensure that aircraft, including components (engines and propellers), meet these airworthiness standards. ICAO allows states to accept a product approved by another ICAO contracting state without further showing, or to validate another country’s determination that a product meets airworthiness standards.
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