Safety in commercial aviation
Chapter 1
Q1. What are several reasons why aviation professionals care about commercial aviation safety?
Professionals care about commercial safety because it involves a large number of human lives. This involves individuals such as pilots, passengers, flight attendants, and bystanders. Due to this reason, commercial aviation safety is essential to prevent the loss of lives as a result of accidents. Also, the occurrence of accidents is associated with the development of financial losses. This situation includes aspects such as loss of profits due to grounding of planes, insurance claims from the involved parties, lawsuits, and instability in the company’s stocks. This aspect is based on the fact that one of the main aims of commercial aviation is profitability.
Q3. In the African airfield scenario with crocodiles, what are some other ways of reducing the risk that was not mentioned in the chapter?
One of the main ways to reduce the risk of crocodiles in the runways is to create a fence on the airport’s eastern side to prevent the crocodiles from coming to the sun in the runways. The airport can also liaise with the wildlife authority to create a crocodile conservation park where the crocodiles can be managed, and their movements monitored. The airport authority can also install movement detectors and surveillance cameras along the runways to ensure that they can detect the movement of crocodiles along the runways and also be able to check the runways before they direct fly takeoffs and landing respectively.
Q4. Which safety misconception surprised you the most, and why?
The misconception that surprised me is the one which states that “Accidents happen to stupid people” the basis of this misconception is baseless as accidents happen to everybody irrespective of their level of knowledge. In some cases, accidents are a result of external forces that individuals do not have control over. Due to this reason, such accidents are not in any way influenced by the level of knowledge of the individuals involved. Therefore, accidents can happen to anybody based on different circumstances in which human experience may be limited and not due to stupidity.
Q11. Imagine that you are a professional in the airline industry, and you witness a catering agent leaping between a catering truck and an aircraft being serviced, placing herself at significant risk. What would you do about the situation?
I would report the incident to the relevant authorities to take the necessary measures towards the catering agent. The authorities should take responsibility for enforcing safety measures to the airport staff and ensure that whoever risks their lives and others’ lives are held responsible for their actions. The action taken should serve an example to other staff measures to ensure that safety is made a priority in the airport for both the professionals and the users of the facility.
Chapter 5??
Q3. Discuss the ICAO Rulemaking Process, including the role of SARPs, PANS, and SUPPs.?
ICAO’s rulemaking process involves a language that focuses on international standards and has a lexicon of its own. Such provisions and standards are developed in different categories. Stands and recommendation practices (SARPs) are specifications that are formulated in broad terms and are restricted to essential requirements. On the other hand, Air Navigation Services (PANS) procedures comprise operating material and practices that are too detailed for recommendation practices or standards. Supplementary Procedures or regional Supplementary procedures (SUPPS) are applicable to the respective ICAO region. This aspect means that SUPPS does not have a worldwide application as it is adapted to suit a specific area.
Q5. List three major functions of the FAA and discuss some of the activities that support these functions.
- FAA is responsible for regulating civil aviation to promote safety. In this case, the FAA provides regulations that civil aviation utilizes to enhance its operations’ safety measures.
- FAA is also responsible for the encouragement and development of aeronautics. This aspect includes the development of new aviation technology for the enhancement of aviation experience.
- Development and operating a system of air traffic control (ATC). Such a system is used to control both civil and military aircraft.
Q6. How has inspector workload been affected since airline deregulation? Why has it been difficult attracting inspectors to major metropolitan areas?
The Inspector workload has been dramatically affected the process of airline deregulation. This aspect is based on the fact that every time a new airline is formed, the airline places a new type of aircraft into service. Also, the process of merges of two airlines has influenced the inspector workload. This situation has led to an increased need for approval, which requires more resources. The page to page approval of the newly formed airline or merged airline maintenance and operations manuals, check rides for senior pilots of the airline, and assessment of actual operations of the flights for certification has greatly affected inspector workload. Due to this reason, it is challenging to attract inspectors to major metropolitan areas.
Opinion on safety in commercial aviation
Safety in commercial aviation should be taken with great care as an accident can significantly affect both the plan users and service providers. Since commercial aviation is mostly undertaken on a large scale, the process involves many people who use the services. Also, because accidents are due to different causes, strict safety measures should be put in place to prevent any possible causes that may lead to the development of an accident. Plane inspection should be often undertaken to ensure that the planes are safe to take off.
Reference
Cusick, Stephen K., Antonio I. Cortes, and Clarence C. Rodrigues. Commercial Aviation Safety, Sixth Edition.McGraw-Hill Education, 2017