Why Airplanes Crash: Aviation Safety in a Changing World / Edition 1

by Clinton V. Oster, C. Kurt Zorn, John S. Strong

Overview

This work examines the causes of airplane accidents and what private and public policies are needed to improve aviation safety. It begins by examining the safety record of the United States commuter airline industry in the post-deregulation era characterized by increased emphasis by airlines on cost control and growing pressures on the air traffic control and airport system. The authors go beyond the safety of the scheduled airlines to examine the reasons for accidents in the nonscheduled and general aviation segments of the United States industry, where the bulk of fatalities occur and where airline pilots increasingly receive most of their training and experience. They then turn to an examination of aviation safety throughout the world, first with a detailed comparison of Canadian and American aviation safety, and then with a look at air safety in all regions of the world and the safety performances of all the world's major airlines. Three emerging issues are then examined in greater detail: assessing the margin of safety, worldwide aging of all airline fleets, and terrorism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195072235
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	05/28/1992
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	773,965
Product dimensions:	11.08(w) x 5.66(h) x 0.77(d)

About the Author

both of Indiana University

College of William and Mary

Table of Contents

	Tables and Figures	xiii
Chapter 1.	Risk in Air Travel	3
I	The Safety Record
Chapter 2.	The U.S. Airline Safety Record in the Post-Deregulation Era	19
Chapter 3.	Charter Service and General Aviation	41
Chapter 4.	A Comparison of Aviation Safety in Canada and the United States	61
Chapter 5.	The International Safety Record	75
II	Emerging Safety Issues
Chapter 6.	The Margin of Safety	103
Chapter 7.	Aging Aircraft	127
Chapter 8.	Aviation Security	143
Chapter 9.	Summing Up and Looking Ahead	157
Appendix A.	Measures of Safety	169
Appendix B.	Definitions and Rules for Assigning Causes to Accidents	173
Appendix C.	Carriers Included in the Canadian Analysis	179
	Glossary	181
	Index	197

Editorial Reviews

"To those concerned with aviation safety, this book provides a complete examination of the topic."—Policy Currents

"This book should be on the desk of every airline and FAA executive concerned with safety; its conclusions should be the basis of a new aviation safety regulatory regime."—J.E. Murdock III, Baker, Worthington, Crossley, Stansberry & Woolf

"These widely recognized experts on aviation safety have provided some important analysis on the subject, putting to rest some concerns that airline deregulation has made the skies less safe, but raising some thought-provoking policy questions about the future of aviation safety in an increasingly globalized and technologically sophisticated air system. It is very readable and a must for policymakers, the aviation industry and all frequent flyers."—John E. Robson, Deputy Secretary of Treasury

"Why Airplanes Crash reports the results of a careful analysis of myriad statistics developed over the years concerning civil aviation safety. The material is well-presented both in text and data and is equally accessible to the aviation professional and the interested layperson."—Aaron Gellman, Northwestern University

"All true aviation professionals continually focus on safety. Safety relies on an integrated system of people, equipment, and procedures. A great deal of margin is built into aviation, so the key to safety is having the 'man-in-the-loop' well trained and continually vigilant. Why Airplanes Crash is a factual summary of the issues and incidents that have prompted more modern approaches to aviation safety in the cockpit, on the frontline, among our engineers, and in the board room."—T. Allen McArtor, President, FEDEX Aeronautics Corporation

From the Publisher