The human factor in maintaining safety

The need for safety systems and processes is crucial for every aspect of aerospace, with human experience and expertise melding with increasing computer power to pinpoint potential problems and increase efficiency.

Aviation safety has many facets, but the “human factor” is always the most important. Those two words cover human responsibility from the concept of a new aircraft through detail design of its myriad parts and components, its development, flight test, certification, and operation by an airline or an air force. It also covers a whole raft of disciplines that affects flight safety, from air traffic control (ATC) to weather forecasting.

“Human factors represent a particularly important aspect of flight safety from the perspective of maintenance and associated errors in the human chain,” said Steve Husher, Chief Engineer, Flight Engineering Services at the QinetiQ-managed UK Ministry of Defence facility at Boscombe Down. His role gives him responsibility for 31 aircraft-including those of the ETPS (Empire Test Pilots' School), ranging from Harrier and Tornado through BAC1-11 to a vintage North American Harvard. “But with the huge advances in computer technology, the aviation industry now has tools that allow it to apply the results of lessons learned from specific experience, to be put back into general processes to minimize the risk of those events recurring.”