Human Factors in Maintenance Essay

Nation publicize DC-8 career 2120 took the lives of 247 passengers and 14 crowd members 261 in all(prenominal) during takeoff on July 11, 1991. The jet was owned by Canadian skyway Nolisair, and was organism operated by a Nigerian comp all to transport Nigerian pilgrims in and out of Mecca. The DC- 8 caught educe during take-off from Abdulaziz International Airport, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Pilots observe problems during early stages of take-off and only made it 671 meters in elevation before attempting to round of drinks around for a nip landing. It was too late the under lofty tires had everywhereheated began to catch fire.The fire grew and blew out the hydraulics which made the emergency landing impossible. This was the worst wreck a DC-8 had ever experienced and has held the render for many a(prenominal) years following. The NTSB concluded that the fire could give been handled by divergence the landing gear extended and away from the plane. Although the take flights f ailed to make the right conclusiveness, and added on the dot unitary more charitable error to the equation, it was the obvious neglect by the criminal sustenance group up that caused this horrific accident.There argon many benignant factors which vie a rattling role in the crash. The maintenance team failed to inflate the 2 and 4 main gear tires after recognizing the tweet during the pre-flight. An attempt to inflate the tires failed because on that point was no nitrogen available at the location. Further investigation shows later that the maintenance team recognized and had write up the tires during a previous A inspection but was subscribe off and overlooked more than twice before the incident. valet Factors interlockingThere are many human factors that caused the Flight 2120 crash, and most of them are maintenance related. There was a Liveware-Liveware problem with the miss of talk amidst the forego mechanic and Director of Production. The Director of Producti on never questioned the lead mechanic and was said to set out little contact with the him prior to this happening. Liveware-Hardware issues essential because of miss of qualified personnel amongst the maintenance team. The maintenance team did not create a qualified person to sign off the jet, difference the task to the flight engineer who was not in tune with the maintenance team.The function should have landed in the lead mechanics pass to sign off the maintenance write ups and the Director of Production should have been more involved by communicating with the lead mechanic and being more involved. There was a break down in maintenance even in the early stages of this TDY. The tires had been already recognized and written up during prior inspections, but pressure from the Project Manager to make the charge influenced the maintenance team to overlook minor maintenance issues at that beat. Although discriminatemingly minor at the time, the issues would later be the ultim ate downfall and distress of the mission.Lack of communication and pressure caused the maintenance team to not see the importance of inflating the tires to the standard before going on a eagle-eyed mission. The minor task of inflating the tires to the standards before going on the long sallying forth would have negated the tires overheating and causing the plane to catch on fire and crash. The maintenance team was not the only factor which added to the human factors. The air crew is also responsible for some bad decision reservation skills also. During take-off one crew member was recorded stating that he thought he heard a main landing gear tire blow.The navigate failed to act upon and acknowledge this and carried on with the task. Pilots failed to recognize admonition lights designed to swear the pilot of landing gear issues. While taking off the crew failed to use decent radio procedures regulations that kept them in contact with the tower. The iniquity before the crash the pilots were out shopping and eating and not move home until hours before take-off.The lack of crew rest could have played a role in decision making abilities amongst the crew. The crew showed up to the aircraft late which pushed maintenance to hurry and complete the pre-flight, giving them no time to perform a good complete inspection. Lack of leadership in the cockpit added to the advancement in takeoff. If the copilot trusted his own judgment and realised there was a problem in the main gear he could have s hintped the aircraft from taking off.Safety NetsThe crash of flight 2120 could have easily been avoided by simply following standard procedures set by international and local organizations. The maintenance holds the bulk of the responsibility in name of human factors. The communication between the lead mechanic and AME could have been work by following the chain of command. The ingestor of production had very little communication with the lead mechanic. This caused fo r a lack in communication from the there up the chain. The communication was broken at this prone point in the chain of command and gave little information which is vital in aviation.The AME had direct responsibility to sign off the final for flight and it was handed over to the flight engineer whom had little knowledge of the maintenance operations. The maintenance team failed to complete given checklists and follow standards set by the FFA and international organizations. With the lack of communication, personnel, and leadership, along with added pressure, the aircraft was not mission ready and should have been better managed from top to bottom.The maintenance crew has very stringent tire pressure requirements and the responsibility lies in even the lowest level of operations to complete the task. The warning lights indicated to the cockpit flight crew that problems have arouse and they chose to ignore them. By receiving proper crew rest the night before, they might have had bett er decision making skills and could have made the right decision at the given moment. They also became complacent and did not use the communication procedures with the tower.ConclusionHuman factors is the cause of most aircraft accidents and this one is a major example of how many human factors can play such a vital role. Flight 2120 shows the importance and how human factors can directly affect everything involved. The importance of being alert and aware of your environment can come down to one decision which can be the determining factor in any situation. The maintenance and air crew failed to follow written guidelines and standards of operation to nurse the lives of those on board. The mission was doomed from the start by the maintenance communication breakdown.The lack of qualified personnel should have been one of the first going flags. The decision to not fix the problem and over look it several(prenominal) times put them in an environment where the tools needed for the job was not present. The lack of leadership from the bottom level of the maintenance crew to the pilot was a major issue. The lowest level maintenance personnel could have stepped up and brought about the problem. The flight of Nigerian Airway 2120 was that caused by human error. The horrific event shows the importance of following set standards and regulations. The crash exposes the vital role in the chain of command and how human error and lack of communication can break down at any level.ReferencesAviationsafetynetwork.comAmerican-bankruptcy.us.gov