Controlled Flight Into Terrain
Introduction
The aviation community generally defines CFIT as " any collision with land or water in which there was no detectable mechanical or equipment failure, where the pilot was in control of the aircraft but lost situational awareness and flew into terrain." (Bensyl, Moran, Conway, 2001, pg 1037) According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Flight Safety Foundation (FSF), CFIT can be caused by many factors. Nevertheless, it is primarily caused when a pilot or flight crew is unaware that a dangerous situation exists. Problems such as bad weather, information overload, instrument confusion, night flight, poor air traffic control communications, or malfunctioning ground navigational equipment all contribute to CFIT accidents. The purpose of this paper is to find whether flight instruments cause misinterpretations by the pilots leading to CFIT.
CFIT mishaps take place when a pilot is in control of the aircraft but unaware of the aircraft altitude, surrounding terrain elevation, or the aircraft position in terms of longitude and latitude. Without adequate warning of a problem, a pilot would be unaware that anything is wrong until it is too late. In past situations such as this, the ensuing crash is usually fatal. In a study done by Captain Dave Carbaugh of the Boeing Commercial Airplane Group titled "Avoiding-Controlled-Flight-Into-Terrain", he states " that in the days of propeller driven commercial aircraft; CFIT caused over half of the aviation accidents recorded." (Carbaugh, 1997, pg 98) He also states that since the late 1950s, the beginning of the jet age, more than 9,000 fatalities have been attributed worldwide to commercial aircraft inadvertently hitting the ground. These statistics prove that CFIT has been one of the leading causes of aviation disasters throughout history. Discussion There are six primary errors that lead to CFIT accidents. A primary error is a
The aviation community generally defines CFIT as " any collision with land or water in which there was no detectable mechanical or equipment failure, where the pilot was in control of the aircraft but lost situational awareness and flew into terrain." (Bensyl, Moran, Conway, 2001, pg 1037) According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Flight Safety Foundation (FSF), CFIT can be caused by many factors. Nevertheless, it is primarily caused when a pilot or flight crew is unaware that a dangerous situation exists. Problems such as bad weather, information overload, instrument confusion, night flight, poor air traffic control communications, or malfunctioning ground navigational equipment all contribute to CFIT accidents. The purpose of this paper is to find whether flight instruments cause misinterpretations by the pilots leading to CFIT.
CFIT mishaps take place when a pilot is in control of the aircraft but unaware of the aircraft altitude, surrounding terrain elevation, or the aircraft position in terms of longitude and latitude. Without adequate warning of a problem, a pilot would be unaware that anything is wrong until it is too late. In past situations such as this, the ensuing crash is usually fatal. In a study done by Captain Dave Carbaugh of the Boeing Commercial Airplane Group titled "Avoiding-Controlled-Flight-Into-Terrain", he states " that in the days of propeller driven commercial aircraft; CFIT caused over half of the aviation accidents recorded." (Carbaugh, 1997, pg 98) He also states that since the late 1950s, the beginning of the jet age, more than 9,000 fatalities have been attributed worldwide to commercial aircraft inadvertently hitting the ground. These statistics prove that CFIT has been one of the leading causes of aviation disasters throughout history. Discussion There are six primary errors that lead to CFIT accidents. A primary error is a
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