Essay on Elements of Safety in the Aviation Industry

Training for accuracy, precision, and proactivity are critical elements that ensure safety in the aviation industry. Before aircraft go airborne, proper mechanical checks are conducted to prevent any potential eventualities that may arise due to flaws. However, even with a mechanically safe airplane, the activities of the pilot and his crew determine the safety of flight. The mistakes committed by the pilot that result in a tragedy are called human related errors. The Beech King Air 200 crash that happened near Martinsville in 2004 is primarily attributable to the lack of situational awareness by the pilot during their attempt to execute the localizer Runway 30 approach.

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The pilots caused the accident by inaccurately trying the localizer Runway 30 approach. Throughout the process of implementing the approach, the pilots kept the plane at a distance different from that which the 10,000-hour captain and 2,000-hour first officer though they were. In essence, they maintained an apparent five miles distance from the place the officers thought the plane was located. Two instances of missed accuracy in craft location between the control officers and the pilot information were at the Locator Outer Marker and Missed Approach Point. Ideally, the plane should have been flying at the height of approximately two thousand six hundred feet as opposed to four thousand at the outer locator marker. On the other hand, it ought to have been one thousand three hundred and forty feet, and not two thousand six hundred feet at the missed approach point. At the MAP, the pilot erred in descending King Air from two thousand six hundred feet and leveling off at one thousand four hundred feet instead of making a right back turn climb to the Locator Outer Marker.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) rightly exemplified that the most visible cause of the fatal crash that claimed ten lives, including that of the crew, was the failure of the flight team to execute the various procedures properly. For instance, they did not proactively use the published missed-approach procedure. This mistake contributed to a controlled fight into a dangerous terrain. Moreover, the pilot and his team failed to use all the navigation equipment fitted in the plane to monitor the position and location of the aircraft during the implementation of the localizer Runway 30 approach.

Motorsports Inc. failed to subject their flight crew to a rigorous practice of skills and knowledge acquired through certification training. For instance, the captain had training in single engine land, multiengine land, and common ground and air simulator training; he had no history of assisted training in critical procedures such as localizer runway 300 approach. From the provided information, it seems that the tragic crash of King Air 200 was the captains first duty involving the actual execution of localizer runway 300 approach.

If it was not due to personal negligence that the flight crew used GPS while moving to the IOM instead of using ADF, it can be construed that it was a culmination of Inadequate training by the employer motivated them. They should have been aware that the Bendix/King KLN 90B GPS fitted in the plane was primarily a backup only. It was supposed to be solely used to determine position but not direction as the crew that was on board the accident airplane had used it. Lack of this important information led to inaccuracy in knowing the movement and distance needed by the traffic control agents.