Aviation is
greatly impacted by weather and the relationship between the two dates back to
the early 19th century beginning with the first flight of the Wright
brothers. Since then, weather has and continues to play significant role in the
number of aviation accidents.
This topic is significant current
issue because no other type of transportation is heavily impacted by weather
than aviation. Every aspect of aviation has the potential to be impacted by the
weather. Every day, dangerous weather conditions cause delays and cancellations
of flights and can turn flights into threatening
experience. But more than that, accidents caused by
weather have a major impact on the aviation industry. A paper by the European
Civil Aviation Union observed that 20% of aviation accidents are weather
related and approximately 8% of all fatal accidents are weather related. The
National Transportation and Safety Board say weather is the primary
contributing factor in 23% of all aviation accidents totaling $3 billion
dollars.
The future of weather and aviation
is hard to predict. However, with global warming becoming a grave environmental
problem, the future of aviation is likely to experience more hostile weather
problems. The aviation industry is
likely to face serious challenges in the future as a result of global warming.
This topic will greatly impact my
career in two major areas, safety and efficiency of operation. This means that
pilots will have to be more knowledgeable in weather and forecasts conditions. Thunderstorms, lightning, snow, ice volcanic ash, hail, heavy precipitation
wind shear and tornadoes will now become crucial for safe and efficient
operations.
References
The effects of
climate4 change on aviation safety (2010). Paper presented by European Civil
I believe many of these weather related accidents can be prevented, with a thorough weather briefing before stepping foot into an aircraft. Also, poor decisions are made by pilots in flight, such as descending below minimums.
ReplyDeleteEven though weather is very hard to predict, a lot of research has been done to improve current weather prediction software and hardware. Taking a reference from Star Trek, we may eventually see weather pattern adjustment systems that help provide a more temperate approach to our weather.
ReplyDeleteWeather will always be a problem in aviation. The fact that it is the leading cause of accident's to me means that sometimes there are mistakes in go/no decisions or in-flight mistakes by pilots en route due to pressure from management, lack of sleep, or any other problem you can think of.
ReplyDeleteWeather is key in the Aviation industry, a perfect example is hurricane/super storm Sandy it closed multiple airports and cost the industry millions of dollars.
ReplyDeleteWith all of the technology, forecasting, and research that has been done on weather, pilots must still respect it to a certain extent. It is simply mother nature and is one of the hardest things to accurately predict. We have accomplished much in the data gathering and prediction but we cannot fully trust those sources when weather patterns can change in a moment.
ReplyDelete