After reading about the NTSB’s most wanted list I don’t necessarily agree with the ranking they provided. The NTSB’s raking was first cockpit image recorders, second prevent loss of control in flight, third fatigue related accidents, fourth reducing distractions, and fifth medical fitness (Bellamy). This is the raking of the NTSB thinks the improvements are needed to that specific area in the aviation industry. My personal ranking would be first reducing distractions, second prevent loss of control in flight, third fatigue related accidents, fourth cockpit image recorders, and fifth medical fitness. I placed reducing distractions at the top of the list because I think this may be a larger problem than we really know. According to a Flying article by Jay Hopkins, distractions are causing problems, “A NASA study of crew error accidents and ASRS reports determined at least 34 different types of competing activities preoccupied or distracted pilots, causing them to neglect an important task at a critical moment. More than half of the incidents involved a failure to monitor the current status or position of the aircraft or failure to monitor the actions of the pilot who was flying or taxiing. (Hopkins)” It really doesn’t matter what pilots are doing in the cockpit if it is something other than focusing on flying they can be considered distracted. The article goes on to say, “People in aviation are just as susceptible to distractions, have more opportunities than most people to lose their focus on the most critical areas at the time and suffer more drastic consequences when it happens. (Hopkins)” Distractions are a real problem and I think we don’t know about them because they are not reported to agencies or airlines. I also moved cockpit image recorders down to number four because while I think that they could beneficial it would take a lot of new technology and we are not really learning anything new that the other recorders are reading. I did find an article by Brian Zinchuk which said “It is recommended that the European Aviation Safety Agency introduces a requirement for the installation of cockpit image recorders, in aircraft required to be equipped with flight data and cockpit Voice recorders, to capture flight crew actions within the cockpit environment. (Zinchuk)” Which goes to show that other aviation agencies have brought up this idea also, which means it could become a new global standard. I left the other improvements in the same places because I think they are all equally important should all be addressed in the order it is needed.
An item that I don’t think needs to be on the list is medical fitness. Overall I think that medical issues are not really a major topic of improvement and what can be done to improve the area. Overall I think that the FAA has established a pretty good system of testing for medical fitness as there hasn’t been many problems in the past. In the medical area if something needs to be tested or changed I would think a directive could just be sent out to medical examiners, not necessarily make the most wanted list.
An item that I think needs to be addressed would be enforcing regulations or operating producers. After looking at different aircraft crashes and using my own opinions most have in common that a regulation was broken or standard operating procedure is not followed. If the FAA put stronger emphasis on pilots following the rules per say I think a number of accidents could be reduced.
Overall I actually think the FAA will respond to the cockpit image recorders because they see the benefit side of them, and answers in crashes or incidents could be found. Also like the article I found about the European agency discussing it shows that it is on the radar of more than just the NTSB. I think that if the FAA would to pursue the issue though, they are going to have a strong negative response from pilots so they might take some convincing to prove these cameras are worth while. So we will have to wait and see if they respond to any of the issues, but I would expect to hear about cockpit image recorders in the near future.
Resources
Bellamy, W. (2016, January 04). Avionics Today. Retrieved April 07, 2016, from http://www.aviationtoday.com/av/commercial/NTSBs-5-Most-Wanted-Aviation-Safety-Improvements-in-2016_86948.html#.VwcSOaQrLIV
Hopkins, J. (2013, March 8). The Human Factor: Dangerous Distractions. Retrieved April 07, 2016, from http://www.flyingmag.com/technique/proficiency/human-factor-dangerous-distractions
Zinchuk, B. (2016, March 29). Dash cams for cockpits. Retrieved April 07, 2016, from http://www.preecevilleprogress.com/news/local-news/dash-cams-for-cockpits-1.2219617
I agree that the current NTSB list does not portray the proper order of importance of the listed issues. I believe you are on track as it pertains to reconfiguring the list. I would say that the cockpit image recorders would have to be moved lower on the list. It has less of a direct benefit, compared to the other issues. However, your assertion that medical fitness should be taken off the list is off base. With an increase in the max pilot age, and overall need to ensure there are no medical issues in the cockpit while flying. I find that there should always be an emphasis on proper medical screening and practices.
ReplyDeleteI think that the idea of having image recorders makes more sense in other modes of transportation that the NTSB is involved with, ie Trains, but I don't see them adding any benefit to the cockpit of an aircraft. I also think that medical fitness is a good thing to monitor, but they need to do more monitoring and less enforcement. It is the fear of losing your medical and career that keeps people from reporting minor medical conditions and keeping them from getting worse.
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