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Air France Flight 447, References - Coggle Diagram
Air France Flight 447
Workplace Environmental Factors. Used tools for the line of inquiry, taxonomy tool, link analysis and hierarchical task analysis. Linking the control design with the cognitive analysis of the pilots.
Control room factors
From each control seat in the cockpit, the pilots were unable to see the control stick of the other pilot which assisted in the confusing of what actions the other pilot was conducting.
This lack of visibility of the other control stick contributed in the stall due to both pilots cancelling out each others controls.
There was no direct or visible alarm or notification of the control cancelling each other out. The Captain only discovered what was causing the stall when it was too late.
Restricted visibility from the severity of the storm and the CVR confirmed the sequence of events began at 00:15. Night visibility also contributed to the restricted visibility for the pilots. (Bureau, 2012)
Once the autopilot disengaged and the control were displaying false reading the pilots were flying blind almost losing complete perception of direction of travel.
Equipment design, controls, communication, alarms and warning systems all contributed to the pilots being set up to failure.
When the auto-pilot disengaged due to the airbus entering extremely cold temperatures which lead to the turbulence causing the plane to roll slightly to the right.
The second pilot took over the main controls at this point attempting to re correct the roll and pulled the stick to the left. Creating an unstable roll between the left and right side.
The second pilot then overcorrected then for an undetermined reason positioned the stick in the nose up direction ascending the aircraft into colder temperatures.
The airspace they were entering was a Dead-zone which meant the aircraft left the Brazilian Atlantic Radar, leaving them without any communication of assistance from outside the plane. (Bureau, 2012)
The aircraft was forced into the storm cloud, allowing it to enter an airspace which the aircraft was unable to operate in and left them without the option to go above and avoid the environmental hazard. It was undetermined why they did not turn around, fuel may have been a contributor to the decision by the Captain. The transfer of information links this line of inquiry to the cognitive factors of the Captain when he left his control seat to the other officers without direction or further information/ guidance. (Bureau, 2012)
Noise from the lighting also may have effected their ability to concentrate on the alarms and communicate between each other.
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People, lines of inquiry tools used. Human factors investigation tool, hierarchical task analysis, cognitive reliability, workload analysis and link analysis. Assessing workload and situational awareness. Also cognitive analysis of the Pilots
Captain, Marc Dubois
Total of 10,988 flying hours. (Bureau, 2012)
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Hold the type rating for A300, A320, A330 and A340.
Considered a very experienced Pilot in the industry, although the experience was majority on less automated aircraft's. (Bureau, 2012)
Cognitive factors
Fatigue after flying for close to the 10 hours, he decided to take his scheduled rest break while ascending towards an electrical storm and passing over a communication dead zone.
Fatigue may have contributed to his reaction time once entering back into the cockpit after being woken by the First Officer. By the time he realised the reason for the stall it was too late to correct.
Found in the CVR his voice came across calm when communicating to the cabin crew and other pilots. (Bureau, 2012)
Poor decision making and lack of ability to transfer information to the Second Officer taking his seat in control.
Therefor when the Second Officer took over controls he was unsure how to approach the storm. (Bureau, 2012)
This could be considered setting the Second Officer up for failure from the point he took over the Captains seat.
First Officer, David Robert
Total of 6,547 flying hours.
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Holds the type rating for A320, A330 and A340
Graduated from a high end flight school in France, also is a qualified air traffic control engineer. (Bureau, 2012)
Cognitive factors
Stress and panic as found on the CVR he attempted to wake the Captain once the sequence of events begun and he realised they needed assistance.
Found during the investigation of the CVR he was very quiet and seemed frustrated at the initial warning alarms but remained respectful when communicating with the Second Officer. (Bureau, 2012)
Second Officer, Pierre-Cedric Bonin
Total of 2,936 flying hours.
cognitive factors
He has a young family two boys the ages of 4 and 8, may have contributed to his stress levels wanting to return home to them. (Bureau, 2012)
He got married at a young age and was known to be extremely in love with his wife. Also contributing to his stress levels.(Bureau, 2012)
Once the sequence of events and warning alarms begun, his situational awareness may have been compromised due to his family life. (Bureau, 2012)
While having control over the aircraft during the accident sequence he made poor decisions and acted in a way of panic steering the controls in the wrong direction which contributed to the aircraft stalling. (Bureau, 2012)
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Management investigation tools included, hierarchical task analysis, taxonomy tool, link analysis and workload analysis which linked the workplace factors with the actions of the pilots by analysing the functionality of transferred data, the access the pilots had to the data and how it presented within the cockpit. My research included the use of the risk analysis tool which linked the facts of what occurred with the sequence of actions determining the result of the causal factors.
Training
The type of stall which was a result of the workplace factors and actions of the pilots was not a trained skill to allow the pilots to have the ability to correct. (Bureau, 2012)
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Were the co-pilots competent enough to be assigned this work task, knowing that at some point during the duration of the flight the Captain would require his break and not be present in the cockpit.
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Information transfer.
Was there a forecast of predicting bad weather and why were they not alerted sooner of the potentially damaging energy ahead.
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Design Failures
Aircraft
The A330 was a new aircraft addition to the Air France fleet, with new automated technologies. Potentially unfamiliar to pilots.
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The three pitot probes became blocked by the ice crystals when entering the storm combined with the aircraft ascending into the colder temperatures. (Bureau, 2012)
This increased the likelihood of failure within the operating systems of the pitot probes. Effecting the flight control system.
The pitpot probes are equipped with a heating system to prevent the system freezing or becoming blocked. In the case the low performance of the model F-GZCP on the aircraft contributed to the system failing.(Bureau, 2012)
This model had been previously known to fail but had not yet been the result of an incident on a larger scale of investigation.
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References
- Barbara, F, 2013, Four minutes, 23 seconds, p. 2-38, viewed 16th August 2020, http://understandingaf447.com/extras/18-4_minutes__23_seconds_EN.pdf
- Bureau, D, 2012, Final Report, p. 19-217, viewed 16th August 2020, https://www.bea.aero/docspa/2009/f-cp090601.en/pdf/f-cp090601.en.pdf
- David, E, Claire, B, Phillip, M, Jim, P, 2006. Workload Analysis “Development of a Human Cognitive Workload Assessment Tool,” viewed 3rd of September, open here
- Douglas A, W, Scott, A, S, 2017 “A Human Error Approach to Aviation Accident Analysis: The Human Factors Analysis and Classification System, Douglas.
- Elsevier, H, 1998, “Cognitive Reliability and Error Analysis Method”.
- GAIN 2003 “Guide to Methods & Tools for Safety Analysis in Air Traffic Management”, First Edition pg 87 – 110, viewed 7th September 2020, https://moodle.cqu.edu.au/pluginfile.php/836169/course/section/147478/Wk7-GAIN2003-methods_tools_safety_analysis%281%29.pdf
- Health and Safety Executive, Control Systems, webpage, viewed 8th September 2020, https://www.hse.gov.uk/comah/sragtech/techmeascontsyst.htm
- Human Factors Bulletin 2008, Human error? Consider Human Factors, Worksafe BC p. 1-2, viewed 18th August 2020, file:///C:/Users/brody/Downloads/hf_2008_02-pdf-en.pdf
- John, A, 2003, “Hierarchical Task Analysis, Handbook of Cognitive Task Design”, viewed 5th September, open here.
- Kirwan, B, Ainsworth, LK 1992 “A guide to task analysis” pg 81-147, viewed 1st of September 2020, https://moodle.cqu.edu.au/pluginfile.php/836169/course/section/147478/A%20guide%20to%20Task%20Analysis.pdf
- O. Veronika Prinzo 1996, ”An Analysis of Approach control/ Pilot Voice Communications”, viewed 1st of September, https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a317528.pdf
- U.S Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Human Factors, “Link Analysis”, Author Unknown. Viewed 3rd of September, open here
- WorkSafeBC, Human Factors org, viewed 18th August 2020, https://www.worksafebc.com/en/health-safety/hazards-exposures/ergonomics/human-factor