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Human Factors in Aircraft Maintenance: Lives Taking Care of Lives
Otavio Baroni • Mar 18, 2023
Human Factors in Aircraft Maintenance: Lives Taking Care of Lives
When the “human factors” word comes in, usually the first sight to many people are accident investigation scenarios, an cross with the SHELL model, symbols and gizmos attached into a large, complex panel and more of a psychodynamic analysis which manufacturers do, rather than a pragmatic approach that remain during all product lifecycle. Human factors are pillars of any modern aircraft development, not only to assure safer operation with a human-centered design, but to comply with product certification and airworthiness requirements.
In accordance with FAA’s Chapter 14 of AMT handbook, some of the important ways in which human performance and cognitive capability should be considered in a product lifecycle include behavioral and physical human needs, and most are common into different roles among operators, which above all, are human beings.
Comparing many other threats to aviation safety, a failure to comply with a maintenance task or activity may be harder to detect, due latent faults with potential to remain undetected for long periods of time and occur at any given moment of aircraft operation. Maintenance harsh environments may also affect people’s health, productivity and motivation, and also affect availability and usability of tools and equipment, as well as the whole effectiveness of maintenance planning and scheduling processes.
Reliability may be influenced by quality of work performed and standards compliance. Several regulations and policies of national authorities must be complied with to ensure effective airworthiness. Human and organizational factors sometimes may influence the adherence of those items by affecting the understanding and interpretation and record-keeping of maintenance activities, and in worst cases, by punishing or threatening people that report any unsafe condition.
Therefore, human factors must be considered in designing not only systems, but in a whole environment congregating maintenance procedures, training, and implemented safety protocols to prevent accidents and incidents. Organizational, administrative and cultural factors are nowadays considered in most MROs, where all people involved are often stimulated to report any occurrence of unsafe actions or problems in an honest and non-punitive environment. Training people and promoting a culture of compliance and continuous improvement is also part of risk mitigation efforts.
Communication is a key in avoiding serious problems, and some operators even create procedures to assure the proper understanding between all teams in different shifts and roles. This human-centered approach also considers individual needs, wellness and life context, as well as the common goal to achieve a balance between professional and personal needs.
Facts are: human factors are critical to the success of aircraft maintenance and should be considered at all stages of the maintenance process, from planning and preparation to execution and evaluation. What appears to be a costly solution and a hard reorganization in culture in the short term may be converted into efficiency, motivated teams and economy in a medium to long term, where safety is the common goal.
On May 2, 2024, a Hawaiian Airlines Airbus A321Neo that had just arrived from Kahului to San Francisco International Airport suffered damage to its left front door. The passengers had all disembarked before the jet bridge collapsed. No injuries were reported. The aircraft was taken out of service. Source: FlightMode Image: A Fly Guy's Cabin Crew Lounge
On April 26, 2024, a Delta Airlines Boeing 767-300 performing flight from JFK New York to Los Angeles encountered an issue and promptly decided to return to JFK due to reports of vibrations. The aircraft landed safely. An after-flight inspection revealed that the right-hand overwing emergency slide was missing. The crew, who responded swiftly and effectively, stated that they had received an indication about the emergency slide and that they had heard a sound from that side of the aircraft during the climb out. The location of where the overwing slide could be is still unknown. Source: Aviation Herald Images: JACDEC
On April 26, 2024, an Ethiopian Boeing 787-8 performing a flight from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to Goma, DR Congo, became disabled after landing due to a hydraulic leak that caused the aircraft to lose nose-wheel steering. The aircraft was towed off the runway, and clean-up crews cleaned up the hydraulic fluid. Fortunately, no injuries were reported. Source: AvHerald Images: Mafuta Kasongo & Flightradar24
On April 21, 2024, an American Airlines Airbus A321 was involved in an incident at Charlotte Douglas International Airport. The aircraft, which was under tow and had no passengers on board, experienced substantial damage when the tug lost control and struck the underside of the fuselage behind the nose gear. No injuries were reported. Source: FlightMode Images: twitter/goodbadugly_ap
On April 24, 2024, an ANA All Nippon Airways Boeing 787-8 performing a flight from Tokyo Haneda to Sapporo Chitose, Japan, experienced a hydraulic fluid leak upon landing, causing its number two Rolls Royce Trent 1000 engine to emit smoke. The aircraft stopped on the runway and shut both engines down. Emergency services responded, and no injuries were reported. The runway was closed until the aircraft was towed off. What caused the hydraulic leak is still unknown. Source: JACDEC, FL360aero, Aviation Herald Images: JACDEC, FL360aero, Aviation Herald
On April 22, 2024, an Aeroflot Airbus A330-300 performing a flight from Yekaterinburg, Russia, to Phuket, Thailand, suffered a severe loss of hydraulic fluid while landing at Phuket International Airport. The aircraft stopped and blocked the runway for over an hour until a tug towed it away. A team cleaned up the hydraulic fluid from the runway, and operations then restarted on the runway. No injuries were reported. What caused the loss of hydraulic fluid is still unknown. Source: FlightMode Images: AOT Phuket
On April 21, 2024, a Safair Boeing 737-800, under the skilled command of its crew, performed a flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town. Despite the unexpected loss of its left-outboard main wheel on departure, the crew demonstrated their professionalism by leveling off at FL220 and burning off fuel before performing a low approach at Johannesburg. The aircraft then finally landed on runway 21R, sustaining damage to its left main landing gear. However, due to the crew's swift and decisive actions, no injuries were reported. Source: AvHerald Images: Twitter/MDN News
On April 17, 2024, an Air Algerie Boeing 737-800 performing a flight from Algiers, Algeria, to Lyon, France, decided to return to Algiers after reaching cruising altitude FL340 because of a cracked outer window pane. The aircraft landed without any incident, and no injuries were reported. Another aircraft was used to take the passengers to Lyon with a 7-hour delay. The cracked window pane aircraft was repaired and returned to service 19 hours later. Source: AvHerald Images: JACDEC
On April 15, 2024, a Virgin Atlantic Airbus A350-1000 received minor damage at New York JFK Airport when a vehicle from the Gategourment catering service struck the number 1 engine nacelle of the Rolls Royce Trent XWB aircraft which was parked at the time. The aircraft had no passengers and was subsequently taken out of service. No injuries were reported. Source: Aviation Safety Network Image: JACDEC