Mechanical and Structure Factors in Aviation Safety - Essay Example

Mechanical and structure factors in aviation safety During the time of Michael de Nostradamus where he predicted that there will come a time that " Man will travel safely by air" , no one seems to believe him as most of the people then have no experience to travel by means of air. A lot of attempts where made in order for man to travel by air including da Vinci who made a wings made of wax in order to have a flight in the air. However, no one seems to succeed and traveling by air is a far-fetched dream and was regarded as a feat that is next to impossible. However, "On Dec. 17, 1903, the Wright brothers produced the first manned, power-driven, heavier-than-air flying machine near Kitty Hawk, N.C. The first flight lasted 12 sec, but later flights on the same day were a little longer; a safe landing was made after each attempt. The machine was a biplane (an airplane with two main supporting surfaces, or wings) with two propellers chain-driven by a gasoline motor (answers.com 2004)." Since then, the idea of having a safe travel by air is a myth no more. A lot of developments have been made and people from all over the globe were fascinated by the idea of having their travel via air. During these developments, it was also made to the knowledge of many that travel by air is much faster than transportations both in land and in water. With the demand surging continuously, the development of Airplane as a means of transportation was embraced. Mechanical and structure factors in aviation safety 2 Up to present wherein a lot of models where introduced transporting tremendous amount of goods and people are being transported day after the other, flight or aviation safety is still a vital concern for the people who utilize airplanes and other related air transport vessels. For several years, air mishaps, crashes, engine malfunctioning has been recorded and was attributed for the loss of properties, resources and lives over the past several years. Due to these kinds of incidents, a lot of experts has been studying how to lessen and to formally eradicate this kind of tragedies by formulating remedies to solve these kinds of queries. Baron R (2005) has reported several aviation tragedies that were recorded and was regarded as the worst in the history. "In 1977, at Tenerife in the Canary Islands, heavy accents and improper terminology among a Dutch KLM crew, an American Pan Am crew and a Spanish air traffic controller led to the worst aviation disaster in history, in which 583 passengers perished " and "In 1990, Colombian Avianca pilots in a holding pattern over Kennedy Airport told controllers that their 707 was low on fuel. The crew should have stated they had a "fuel emergency," which would have given them immediate clearance to land. Instead, the crew declared a "minimum fuel" condition and the plane ran out of fuel, crashing and killing 72 people." While the aforementioned examples deals with either pilot error or ignorance with some aircraft devices, we cannot also discredit the fact that some aircraft mishaps were due to mechanical failures of the aircraft and sometimes lead into horrible accidents. Mechanical and structure factors in aviation safety 3 Before venturing into air accidents and tragedies caused by mechanical malfunction, it is vital to know the mechanical structure of an airplane for the awareness and analysis of the factors that might trigger accidents during flights and on-ground instances. "The airplane has six main parts-fuselage, wings, stabilizer (or tail plane), rudder, one or more engines, and landing gear. The fuselage is the main body of the machine, customarily streamlined in form. It usually contains control equipment, and space for passengers and cargo. The wings are the main supporting surfaces. Modern airplanes are monoplanes (airplanes with one wing) and may be high-wing, mid-wing, or low-wing (relative to the bottom of the fuselage). At the trailing edge of the wings are auxiliary hinged surfaces known as ailerons that are used to gain lateral control and to turn the airplane (answers.com 2004). These are the areas where most of mechanical failures of a certain airplane happen. For years, failure involving these parts was said to be causes of malfunctions that later resulted into malady. The explosion of several airplanes due to rise of temperature in engine deck could also be regarded as among those that are included in mechanical failures that leads to air accidents. Basically, the tanks were the engines are stored are designed to withstand excessive heat, however there are instances that these tanks were beyond its capacity to contain heat. Mullin (2003) suggested that At sea level pressures and with no sloshing or vibration present, Jet A fuel, the most common commercial jet fuel in the United States, and Jet A1 used in most portions of the world, have flammability characteristics that tend to make the fuel vapor-air mixture too "lean" to ignite at temperatures below approximately 100F, and too "rich" to ignite at temperatures above 175F. This range of flammability (100F to 175F) is reduced to cooler Mechanical and structure factors in aviation safety 4 temperatures as the airplane gains altitude due to the corresponding reduction of pressure. For example, at an altitude of 30,000 feet the flammability temperature range is approximately 60F to 120F." In this case, explosion of the aircraft due to reaction of fuel to high temperature is also could be credited as mechanical fault. The perfect example of this is the event happened in 1996. May 11th, a ValuJet Airlines DC9-32 had its fatal flight near Miami, Florida. " The aircraft was on a domestic flight from Miami to Atlanta. A fire had started in one of the cargo compartments at some point after the cargo had been loaded. Shortly after departure, the crew reported smoke in the cockpit, and soon lost control of the aircraft. The aircraft went into a steep dive, crashing into the Florida Everglades about 15 miles (24 km) from the airport. All 105 passengers and five crew members were killed (airsafe.com 2006)" The wings of the airplane could also be attributed to some of aviation accidents. It is an established fact that the wings of an airplane are where it gains its balance. Also, modern-day airplanes have its engines attached to the wins. In this case, the wings of the airplane must be properly taken cared of. For several years, evolution of airplane's wings has been noted. To further analyze the mechanical structure of a certain aircraft and the assurance of safety, dealing with Boeing 747 jets is vital for it is the most commonly used aircraft for transport. Mechanical and structure factors in aviation safety 5 From 1970to2005, The Boeing 747 "Jumbo Jet" was thelargestpassenger jet in the world. The said aircraft was design to accommodate huge number of people and having such a distinction means its mechanical make-up is much complicated. But the manufacturer of this aircraft implied that "Safety was a top priority. If a 747 crashed, morepeople would be killed at one timethandiedinairplaneaccidents over an entire year. Boeing used a new method of spotting potential hazards known as "fault tree analysis," where engineers could easily see the impact of afailure of one part or system on otherparts. The747became the first airplane to use this accurate method of forecasting possible trouble. (Wilson S. (1999)" And what is this new development in Boeing that makes it "mechanically" safe compared with the other aircraft The engine of a 747 jet is comparable to four engines of early passenger airplane. This means that the speed as well as the ability of the aircraft to carry tremendous amount of people would be made possible and much safer as bigger engine would carry bigger and heavier loads. Also, bigger engines would seldom experience mechanical defects as it has segmented parts that are missing in the earlier ones. Also, the problem on streamlines was addressed due to the fact that fuselage of these aircraft when pressurized has the ability to hold even a ton of air. Unlike the earlier models, the engine is now installed in its wings which enables it for easy maneuvering of aircraft which is vital in ensuring safety of the aircraft when emergency comes which in return would pave its way in saving more lives. Mechanical and structure factors in aviation safety 6 In having such features, mishaps would be prevented like that event happened on the 31st of January involving Alaska Airlines. The aircraft was on a flight from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to San Francisco when it crashed into the Pacific Ocean about 20 miles (32 km) northwest of the LAX airport. Reportedly, the aircraft was diverting to Los Angeles and started a rapid descent from about 17,000 feet. All 83 passengers and five crew members were killed.( airsafe.com 2006)" In this case, we can be aware that this issue is where we can address maneuvering and gliding of aircraft whenever an engine fails and for the survival of the airplane. Also, the same website reported that in May 2000, the "Executive Airlines BAe Jetstream 31The aircraft crashed about eight miles (12.8 km) from the airport while maneuvering for its second landing attempt. The second landing was attempted during a period of reduced visibility after a charter flight from Atlantic City, NJ. Both crew members and all 17 passengers were killed." Analyzing the Mechanical safety and capability of the aircraft on the issue of aviation is essential in determining the possible remedies to rectify these kinds of accidents for it is a common trend that whenever an aircraft experienced accident, it is a common trend that almost a hundred percent mortality rate were recorded and with a little amount of survival rate. If the aviation personnel can crackdown the main reasons why such mechanical failure happens, then these accidents would be minimized and would be eradicated in the future. Mechanical and structure factors in aviation safety 7 In dealing with the right mechanical structure of a certain aircraft, then the proper gauge in mechanical set-up must be established. In this case, the parameters must be set by proper authorities in order to know if the aircrafts that are flying in the skies with regards to their safety as well as to prevent tragic accidents. However, the classification of aircraft whether a passenger or a business one is also a factor in determining the safety of a certain aircraft. Also, mechanical aircraft maintenance is also vital in determining aviation safety. Of course, despite new technologies in aviation particularly the mechanical ones, it has to be maintained and be given enough attention for the quality of the mechanical feature of an airplane could deteriorate from time to time. Having personnel who has the expertise in mechanical failures and problems would ensure safety of the aircraft while in flight. In the case of Federal Aviation Association, "Scheduled maintenance is not always enough to ensure safety, so the FAA issues airworthiness directives to correct problems that may appear during the service life of an airplane. These directives order mechanical, procedural, or inspection changes covering virtually any condition that could affect the ability of a plane to operate safely FAA personnel conduct periodic inspections to monitor how well airlines comply with airworthiness directives and other regulations (FAA 2007). Basically, mechanical factors and features of a certain aircraft are useless without knowledge and expertise of a certain individual who would assess the competency and the capability of the aircraft to travel. Mechanical and structure factors in aviation safety 8 The structure of a certain aviation transport like the example of Boeing 747 jet is indeed vital in achieving the safety and airworthiness of a certain aircraft as the standard of the aviation authority and manufacturers' stand that the bigger the aircraft, the more stable the structure should be as the bigger the aircraft, the more goods and people it can transport. All in all, Structure and Mechanical content of a certain aircraft is indeed vital in order to assure the safety of the transport of goods and people because in the end, it would save lives and resources. Of course, dealing with these two subjects is a complicated one as this kind of study requires and intensive and thorough studies in order to pin down and formulate strategies that would totally eradicate accidents concerning aircraft. Reference: 1) answers.com(2004), Developments in Airplane Design. Opened February 19, 2007, URL available http://www.answers.com/topic/airplane 2) Baron R (2005), Barriers to Effective Communication: Implications for the Cockpit, opened February 19,2007, URL available http://airlinesafety.com/editorials/BarriersToCommunication.htm 3) answers.com 2004, Parts of an Airplane, opened February 19, 2007, URL available http://www.answers.com/topic/airplane 4) Mullins (2004), Proposed Special Condition 5) Airsafe.com (2006), Fatal Airliner Events During 1996, opened February 19,2007, URL available http://www.airsafe.com/events/fatal96.htm 6) Wilson S. (1999), Aerospace Publications Pty Ltd, Airliners of the World. ISBN 1-875671-44-7 7) FAA (2007), Assuring Aviation Safety. Opened February 20, 2007 URL available http://www.faa.gov/asw/asw050/av_safety.html Read More