Human factors play a vital roll in aviation operations and are a contributing factor in most aviation accidents, it is impossible however to blame plane crashes on one reason since events leading up to an accident are so varied. Reasoning for plane crashes can be placed in a broad number of categories. Even though plane crashes can be quite tragic, much can be learned from each accident to over all decrease the number of accidents and deaths that occur in aviation. I will discuss and give examples of some of the most common reasons why airplanes crash and show that most plane crashes are a result of human error in combination with other contributing factors.

Plane crashes occur for a number of reasons. There seems to be a consensus with the general public that flying is dangerous, engines fail and planes crash. That is true some times, although the majority of plane crashes occur largely due to a combination of human or pilot error and other factors. Some of the other major reasons for plane crashes that I will touch on are the environment, mechanical failure, poor maintenance, improper procedure or no procedure for the circumstances for that matter. All of these can

On August 2, 1985 a Delta L-1011 departed Fort Lauderdale in route to Dallas / Fort Worth. While approaching the airport the flight crew noticed lightning coming from a storm cell directly in their flight path. The crew was aware of the potential danger of low level wind sheer or micro bursts associated with thunderstorms but they continued their approach in to Dallas / Fort Worth. The first officer piloted the L-1011 in to the rain; increasing headwind caused the aircraft to balloon above the glide slope. The experienced captain recognized the first sign of wind sheer and began issuing instructions to the first officer. Soon after, the aircraft was hit by a downburst which caused it to lose 44 knots of IAS in 10 seconds then immediately after that, the airplane was hit with intense wind gusts which turned the plane almost completely sideways. At that point the crew could no longer regain control of the L-1011. The aircraft struck the ground at 170 knots killing 134 on board (Jeppeson). Is this accident a result of poor weather or bad judgment of the flight crew for steering the plane into severe weather? A combination of poor weather and pilot error caused this tradgedy. As a result of this accident low level wind sheer alert systems (LLWAS) have been installed in strategic locations at many airports to detect variances in wind readings. This alerts flight crews and ATC of the presence of downbursts.

Plane Crashes and Their Contributing Factors 5

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