Table of Contents
Scenario 1
Aircraft in mid-air making its way to destination. It runs into thunderstorms, icing and strong winds. The weather continues to get worse and they are short on fuel to turn back.
Common Pilot Errors
- Overconfidence & Social Pressure
- Fly into Microbursts
- Fly into cloud and lose control (VFR into IFR)
- 80% Fatality
AI Technique(s) Used
- Inference Engine
- Expert Systems
Type of Crash Avoided
Delta Airlines Flight 191 – “The pilots were unable to successfully escape the weather event, and the aircraft impacted the ground over a mile short of the runway. The flight hit a car driving north of the airport and impacted two water tanks, disintegrating. The crash killed 136 on board, 128 of the 152 passengers and 8 of the 11 crew, as well as the driver of the car. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that the crash resulted from the flight crew’s decision to fly through a thunderstorm, the lack of procedures and training to avoid or escape microbursts, and the lack of hazard information on wind shear” (Source: Wikipedia)
Scenario 2
Aircraft is preparing to land according to plan. They observe a hardware failure – Landing Gear Hydraulics Failure. They are in pressure to land owing to low fuel in the Aircraft.
Common Pilot Errors
- Social Pressure
- ATC Issues
- Misinformation or Delayed Information
- Run out of Fuel in Mid-Air
- Performance Issues on other aspects
AI Technique(s) Used
- Inference Engine
- Neural Network Systems
Type of Crash Avoided
United Airlines Flight 173 – “Suspecting a fault in the landing gear, the pilot of United 173 decided to abort landing and assess the situation. Though this was a prudent move, it proved costly. The crew became so absorbed with the suspected problem that they failed to properly monitor fuel levels. The plane ran out of fuel and went down in a suburban Portland neighbourhood, killing two crew members and eight passengers” (Source: Wikipedia).
Scenario 3
Aircraft about to take off. It takes the runway assigned to it and starts engine. The aircraft is on full throttle and makes its way through runway and climbs as planned. Immediately after take-off, one of the engine stops running. The pilot is forced to make an emergency landing by turning plane around.
Common Pilot Error
- Distraction
- Social Pressure
- Wrong Decision-Making
AI Techniques Used
- Fuzzy Logic
- Expert Systems
- Inference Engine
Types of Crash Avoided
TransAsia Flight 235 – “Two minutes after take-off, one of TransAsia 235’s engines suffered a type of failure known as a flameout. Ordinarily this would not lead to a crash, as modern aeroplanes are designed to run on one engine if necessary. Unfortunately, the pilot mistook the functioning engine for the malfunctioning one and shut it off. This left the plane powerless as the crew desperately scrambled to restart the engine and avoid the heavily populated cityscape below. One of the wings clipped a bridge and the plane crashed into a nearby river. Dashcam footage reveals just how close it came to wiping out the bridge out entirely” (Source: Wikipedia).
AUTHOR
Roshan Roy Jonnalagadda – University of Auckland – ISOM Student