RETHINKING HUMAN ERROR IN AVIATION ACCIDENTS: REGULATORY AND STANDARD PRACTICES IN THE NIGERIAN AVIATION INDUSTRY

Abstract

Aviation accidents reports, the world over have attributed air mishaps to either a single causative factor, but oftentimes a combination or interplay of several factors. A recurring cause of such accidents is human error or more described with particularity as pilot error. Advances in aircraft manufacturing processes has seen to a drastic reduction in aviation accidents as a result of mechanical malfunctions in aircraft. This reduction has however led to an increase in accidents attributed to human factors or more precisely pilot error. In appropriate terms, human factors should not be circumscribed to crew error alone. This is because human factor as a causative agent in aviation accidents evinces an interplay of a systematic sequence of facts ultimately pointing to the error and the consequential accident. This paper examines in extenso the concept of human error in aviation accidents against the backdrop of extant provisions, regulations and standard practices in the aviation industry.