An accident is an event out of no one’s volition (Allward, 2001). For an event to qualify as an accident, it must be identifiable and unintended, moreover, the time frame and the exact scene must be aspects that can be easily determined. Therefore, accidents have no deliberate or apparent cause but their effects are quite noticeable (Allward, 2001). From a mathematical view point, there are circumstances in which the likelihood of occurrence of such unpleasant circumstances could have been minimized had some measures been implemented. One key feature of accidents is that they always leave the affected parties with a scar that will take some time to heal. The effects can be so diverse and the loss more painful in consideration of psychological, social and financial well being of individuals.
This definition of an accident may seem overrated and lacks in certain aspects, though there have been advancements in technology some accidents still have unclear causes (Allward, 2001). One of the main reason for the investigation of accidents is to identify their cause so that they can be contained in future. The investigation goal is hindered in cases where the cause of the accidents cannot be ascertained conclusively.
Introduction
With the improvement in living standards and globalization, flying has become one of the most commonly used means of transport especially in the first world (Allward, 2001). Flying within nation and across nation have become so common and so have the nature of the accidents and the casualty rates (Allward, 2001). Flying may be the most comfy and fast means of transport but it also records the highest percentage of casualties in case of an accident.
The Term Paper on Major Airline Safety Airlines Accidents
The Safety Problem in Americas Commercial Airline Industry By Dale Allen November 30, 1998 1989 has been a year in which both aviation experts and spokesmen. For the flying public have expressed intensified concern over what they perceive to be a substantial deterioration in the safety of Americas passenger airline operations. In the first nine months of 1989 alone, there have been ten fatal air ...
air safety is a very wide topic and covers theories, categories and investigation of failure that are associated with flying. The area of air safety also deals in aspects of training and education as means of averting disasters or dealing with them. Air safety is thus a broad subject that may take several hours to fully review, this paper touches on the core aspects of air safety and discusses them at considerable length.
Certification
In view of the danger that unregulated flying causes to lives many countries have put up authorities that are charged with the implementation of policies that are aimed at regulating and controlling aviation activities (Allward, 2001). Such aviation authorities work hand in hand with the major commercial manufacturers and some of minor ones in certifying the airliners that are allowed to fly within the said region. In certification, planes are checked for some key characteristic and then compared to the standards that have been set by the responsible authorities.
The standards or codes have some characteristics similar and some that differ with the standards set with regard to equipment and environment. The standards are in such a manner that the policies that are aimed at their implementation ensure that planes are continuously monitored to ensure that they uphold the standards. Therefore, it is common for the policies to involve such aspects as maintenance, repair and have in some occasions covered operations.
Navigation and Instruments
When flying was still in its early years, airfield lighting was introduced in the mid 1920’s to assist pilots in landing especially when the weather was poor or low visibility. A further development in navigation came in the 1930’s with the development of an approach indicator whose main task was the precise determination of the path (Faith, 2002). This device later became an internationally accepted requirement for flying planes. Jimmy who was also referred to as Doolittle did enough to the aviation world when he introduced instrumental flight to the flying fraternity in the late 1920’s (Faith, 2002).
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Radio technology was quickly absorbed into several mainstream technological areas, by the late 1920’s, radio aided devices were being used together with some cockpit instrument to aid landing of crafts. The radar came into play during the second world war and was a further addition to the development of navigation and thus safety. Aided with technology that ensured distance measurement, the radar was one of the most commonly used tool in flying by mid 1950’s (Faith, 2002).
The physics revolution that characterize the mid 20th century brought immense contribution to air navigation as radar with the support of VHF rays that could move in all directions made navigation more easy in that determination of the distances and detection of an intruder were no longer done in one dimension (Faith, 2002). The global positioning system (GPS) is a major invention by man as it aids the tracing of the exact position of a plane or an item with reference to some fixed point. This technique made it possible for the development of a more precise system of positioning.
This system is supplemented by the Wide Area Augmentation System that makes it possible to identify and determine the exact position in both vertical and horizontal dimensions. The GPS has been cited in many occasions as being largely unreliable for it is under the control of the US. military who reserve the right to its usage and can therefore switch it off at any time they deem suitable for their benefit (Faith, 2002).
Lightning
On average two plane are struck by lightning in a year (Allward, 2001). This may seem bad enough in consideration of the capacity that modern planes are capable of. The good news is that technological development have made it impossible for planes to handle ordinary lightning well enough (Allward, 2001). In the past lightning was an aspect that was largely ignored by the aviation industry, the destruction of the girder in the late 1999 by lightning brought a new perspective to air safety (Allward, 2001). The effects of lightning on the normal aluminum body aircraft is an issue of common knowledge in flying.
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Halfway There People. Droves of them, hustling off to their appointed gates with seventeen suitcases strapped to themselves like pack mules. All scowling, furrowing their brows. Hoping to get to where they want to go, and with all seventeen suitcases they came with. Me I only had two bags, but one of them was large enough to be a body bag. Beside me was my cousin, a tall 16-year old, the jock ...
The current developments in the flying industry, that have led to the modification of the exteriors of some commercial planes such that they are made of non-conducting materials, have led to a new dimension to the problem as their exact reaction to lightning is unknown. Therefore, for the safety of aircraft, research into this areas should be done and additional design and testing efforts made.
Ice and Snow
Unpleasant weather conditions are a frequent source of airline accidents (Allward, 2001). The main considerations in this factor are the snowy and icy weather conditions that typically affect visibility and traction. In December of 2005, an air plane slid of the runway due to the heavy snow conditions that made steering a nightmare to every cabin member. Braking is made impossible as the traction force needed is minimal due to the reduced friction (Allward, 2001).
Weather conditions that are cold and snowy lead to the icing of wings, a small amount of ice on the wings of a plane is enough to cause considerable problems in development of the thrust force that is responsible for lifting the planes. This is therefore a major danger in taking off, as seen in the October 1993 Florida accident that led to the loss of over 60 lives (Allward, 2001). Airports and lines have taken effort in ensuring that their planes are properly de-iced before they leave the hangars and just before they take off. Development in technology has brought mechanisms that can effectively minimize the risk of icing in planes especially in the engine tails.
This is achieved by two mechanisms: Hot air from the engines are routed to the wings for machines that use the jet engine for propulsion and in slow aircraft a rubber tube that is inflatable is included in the design so that air can be pumped into the tube, which will then make it expand and exert pressure on the ice and break them. Another approach used in dealing with the icing problem is keeping vigil on the routes that the planes used, advancement in technology have made it not only possible to determine the exact weather condition of a remote place but also to forecast and determine any changes that may be due with considerable levels of accuracy (Allward, 2001).
The Term Paper on Swot: Ice Cream and Jerry
1.0 Introduction Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, founded in 1978 by two upstarts; Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, is now one of the best homemade well known as a premium ice cream brands. It was firstly started in Burlington, Vermont which has a longer winter season as compared to summer season. It seemed as the worst idea ever to start an ice cream business in such a cold place. However, Ben and ...
Therefore, traffic comptrollers can guide the pilots in-flight by suggesting possible alternatives to their destination with the main objective of helping them avoid bad weather conditions (Allward, 2001). Technology has also made it possible to include such instruments as ice detector which ensure that the pilots are aware of icy conditions and thus avoid them in future or take appropriate measures to control the situation.
