21st Congress of International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences, Melbourne, Australia, 13-18 September, 1998
Paper ICAS-98-1.9.1

A SYSTEMATIC INVESTIGATION INTO AUSTRALIAN AVIATION SAFETY

Braithwaite G. R., Caves R. E.*, Faulkner J. P. E.
University of New South Wales, Australia; *Loughborough Univ., United Kingdom

Keywords: australian aviation safety

Aviation represents a complex socio-technical system in which a strong emphasis is placed upon safe operation. Advances in this area have traditionally been reactive following particular incidents or accidents. As the traditional accident causes (predominantly technical engineering factors) have become better understood, the need for proactive solutions to counteract the increasing contribution of human performance to accidents has grown. This paper presents the results of a systemic case-study investigation of the reasons behind Australia's good record for airline safety. Initial conclusions pointed to the existence of a number of natural environment factors which are perceived to have a beneficial effect on flight safety. However, deeper examination has suggested that there are a number of cultural factors within the human and operational environments which exist at professional, corporate, industry and national levels. These have contributed to the quality and quantity of risk countermeasures which have been instrumental in creating the good safety record. This paper explores the importance of these influences and how they may be changing in the current and future aviation environment.

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