Cause and Risk Factors of Maritime-Related Accidents for Aircraft

With the growing number of cross-sea flights, the occurrence of maritime-related accidents, which have a high fatality rate, has become increasingly critical. This study is aimed at highlighting the causes of maritime-related accidents and identifying the risk factors that led to fatal crashes in the period 2009-2019. A total of 207 maritime-related accidents, the final reports of which are available in the online database of the National Transportation Safety Board, were considered. The accident cause distribution was obtained from the final reports. A two-step approach, involving uni-variable and multi-variable analysis logistic regression, was implemented to select the significant risk factors from 27 parameters. Results showed that the four main causes of maritime-related accidents were personnel issues (69.6%), aircraft-related aspects (60.4%), environmental issues (36.7%), and organizational issues (3.9%). The following three parameters were identified as risk factors: weather conditions, light condition, and purpose of flight. Instrument flight (odds ratio [OR] = 18.451) and night flight (OR = 4.808) operations corresponded to an increased risk for a fatal outcome, whereas personal flight (OR = 0.208) corresponded to a diminished risk. The findings can help analyze the characteristics of maritime-related accidents and formulate corresponding measures to reduce the fatality rate.