Airline and Pilot Safety - Thesis Example

Given the devastating potential of lack of safety in the aviation and aerospace industry, it is irrefutable that airline and pilot welfare should be prioritized.  One of the key considerations in the bid to ensure that accidents do not impede profitability in this high-risk sector entails identifying the causative factors of danger. According to Patankar, Brown, Sabin, and Bigda-Peyton (2012), at least 80 percent of aviation accidents are associated with human errors. It is imperative to take into account the fact that, current Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) surveillance standards for oversight at air carriers are undergoing rapid growth.

The rapid development and increased complexity of operations do not, however, guarantee that any challenges encountered by the carriers will be appropriately mitigated (Frontline, 2010).Since the advent of flying and the subsequent emergence of aircraft accidents, many scholars have made attempts to explicate and identify specific causes of these often tragic phenomena. Research into causative factors of accidents has been fairly methodical over time. Initially, most accidents were attributed to system failures and equipment unreliability.

During this phase, also referred to as the technical era, the majority of aircraft accidents were deemed to have occurred as a result of the mechanical malfunction of airplanes systems (Wiegmann & Shappell, 2001a). As time progressed, accident investigators and aviation researchers increasingly recognized the significant contribution of human errors to aircraft accidents. These mistakes played a role in system failure and consequent mishaps. In the recent past, recognition of the human-technology dynamic as an aviation accident causative factor has garnered significant attention and support.

Referred to as the sociotechnical standpoint, this perspective on safety proposes that human interaction with aviation equipment is responsible for a considerable proportion of aircraft accidents (Wiegmann et al., 2004).