{"id":926,"date":"2026-10-02T20:30:31","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T20:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thrusttech.com\/blog\/?p=926"},"modified":"2026-10-02T20:37:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T20:37:15","slug":"nothing-is-more-critical-to-aircraft-safety-than-human-factors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thrusttech.com\/blog\/nothing-is-more-critical-to-aircraft-safety-than-human-factors\/","title":{"rendered":"Nothing is More Critical to Safety Than \u2018Human Factors\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
Safety is No Accident<\/em> <\/strong><\/h5>\n

When it comes to numbers, air travel is incredibly safe. “Certainly, new and enhanced technology, preventive maintenance, evolving aircraft design, and other operational elements all contribute to flight safety, but nothing is more critical than the study and implementation of ‘human factors,'” believes Stanley Kowlessar, Sr., president and general manager at Thrust Tech Accessories (TTA), an experienced MRO (maintenance, repair, and overhaul) company near Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport in South Florida.<\/p>\n

“Even in such a high-tech world and one overflowing with A.I. solutions, it’s the people who truly do make the difference in the aviation safety equation,” he emphasizes. When employees are alert, aware, team-focused, and well-trained in the tenets of human factors, and when companies and organizations support those efforts via good policies and procedures, it’s a potent combination for safety.<\/p>\n

The concept of human factors in modern aviation is premised on understanding how the psychological, physiological, and ergonomic principles influence the behavior and performance of pilots, air traffic controllers, maintenance technicians, and other personnel involved in flight operations in order to reduce human error during engagement with equipment, software and team members. It is now integrated into aircraft design, maintenance procedures, flight operations and certification standards.<\/p>\n

“The overarching goal is safe air travel for passengers and crew members,” says Kowlessar, “and ensuring that companies operating air flights protect their valuable aircraft assets.”<\/p>\n

Human Factors \u2013 Historical Context<\/strong><\/p>\n

As far back as the late 15th and early 16th centuries, Leonardo da Vinci studied the interaction between human body proportions (anthropometry) and flight mechanics. His groundbreaking work was visionary and amazingly foreshadowed modern scientific and engineering principles.<\/p>\n

It was the 20th century, though, as we know, when flight truly took off. The first-flight era of the Wright Brothers was followed by the infancy of military flight operations during World War I. Many commercial airlines launched in the 1920s and 1930s, succeeded by the significant use of military aircraft in World War II. The ensuing decades saw booming airline and air service growth.<\/p>\n

In March 1977, however, at Tenerife airport in Spain’s Canary Islands, 583 people were killed and 61 others injured in the world’s deadliest airline accident \u2013 a runway collision between two Boeing 747 commercial aircraft flights operated by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Pan American World Airways. This tragedy truly brought the importance of “human factors” front and center.<\/p>\n

The post-accident investigation uncovered unlikely human errors as well as ineffective human and organizational behaviors taking place at crucial moments. “This accident was the ‘light going off,’ so to speak, signaling the need for the importance of formal human factors training, policies and procedures throughout the aviation industry, and in all levels, jobs, and skill sets,” notes Kowlessar.<\/p>\n

Human Factors Approaches<\/strong><\/p>\n

Starting in the late 1970s, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the European Union Safety Agency (EASA), and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), among other international air safety groups, began placing a higher value and stronger focus on human factors as critical to safe aircraft operations and accident prevention.<\/p>\n

The aviation industry as a whole did the same. “Human factors training shifted far beyond cockpit operations to the cabin, control tower, and maintenance facilities,” emphasizes Kowlessar. For instance, he cites the development of both Crew Resource Management (CRM) and Threat and Error Management (TEM), which have become global standards.<\/p>\n

Those are now integrated into the operations of many commercial airlines, cargo companies, and corporate operators. On the maintenance side, human factors training is also typically a part of the ongoing training efforts for both line maintenance and heavy maintenance employees.<\/p>\n

And over the years, the human factors focus has extended further into the industry’s support infrastructure, such as outside MRO services. For example, TTA \u2014 which develops creative parts solutions, repairs and overhauls aircraft parts, provides new parts to aviation clients, and assists with other MRO needs \u2014 approaches its work through a human factors lens.<\/p>\n

“We view our internal team members as an exceedingly important part of the overall pre-flight process to help create a safe, reliable flight,” explains Kowlessar. “So, we’ve adopted many human factors elements into our training, policies and procedures.”<\/p>\n

Overcoming “The Dirty Dozen”<\/strong><\/p>\n

In reality, aviation accidents rarely occur because of just one issue or mistake. Post-accident investigations typically cite a series of missteps \u2013 a combination of factors, some that on the surface may even seem innocuous.<\/p>\n

So, let’s look at the so-called “Dirty Dozen,” the most common human error precursors often cited by international aviation safety groups as contributing to accidents and safety problems. Among them are:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • A lack of communication<\/li>\n
  • Complacency<\/li>\n
  • A lack of knowledge<\/li>\n
  • Distraction<\/li>\n
  • A lack of teamwork.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    “Critically important within any aviation job are effective coordination, collaboration and teamwork, so over the years, we’ve adjusted our training, procedures and policies to reflect the importance of all those concepts,” says Kowlessar. “Simply put, when people fail to work well together, there’s room for error.”<\/p>\n

    Other “Dirty Dozen” issues include:<\/p>\n

      \n
    • Fatigue<\/li>\n
    • A lack of resources<\/li>\n
    • Pressure<\/li>\n
    • Lack of assertiveness.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      To prevent the latter, “we stress to our employees the importance of speaking up when they hear or see something \u2013 even something small — that might result in an unsafe practice or situation,” says Kowlessar. “It’s really critical that companies listen without judgment to any concerns that are surfaced and train their employees to do that with co-workers too.”<\/p>\n

      Rounding out the final “Dirty Dozen” of human factors are:<\/p>\n

        \n
      • Stress<\/li>\n
      • A lack of awareness<\/li>\n
      • <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        “Doing something the way it’s always been done isn’t always the best way to go,” Kowlessar acknowledges. In fact, it may even be a bad decision. “Our employee team members are watchful for anything becoming a norm that shouldn’t be.”<\/p>\n

        Yes, of course, enhanced technology, high-quality aircraft parts, preventive maintenance, and other factors are also important to ensuring aviation safety. But paying attention to the small nuances to prevent the Dirty Dozen of human factors along all steps in the entire pre-flight process is vital.<\/p>\n

        “Keeping people safe must take top priority,” Kowlessar stresses. “That’s why TTA encourages a strong safety culture among our MRO services team on all fronts. It’s top of mind. That’s not just good business. It’s the right thing to do.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Safety is No Accident When it comes to numbers, air travel is incredibly safe. “Certainly, new and enhanced technology, preventive maintenance, evolving aircraft design, and other operational elements all contribute to flight safety, but nothing is more critical than the study and implementation of ‘human factors,’” believes Stanley Kowlessar, Sr., president and general manager at Thrust Tech Accessories (TTA), an experienced MRO (maintenance, repair, and overhaul) company near Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport in South Florida. “Even in such a high-tech world and one overflowing with A.I. solutions, it’s the people who truly do make the difference in the aviation safety […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":928,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","post--single"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thrusttech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thrusttech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thrusttech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thrusttech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thrusttech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=926"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/thrusttech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/926\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":933,"href":"https:\/\/thrusttech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/926\/revisions\/933"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thrusttech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thrusttech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thrusttech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thrusttech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}