Abstract
The global pandemic has significantly accelerated the need for remote monitoring and diagnostics of airline operations and assets. As passenger and cargo flights are impacted from all directions, maintenance can be the steady, reliable part of the puzzle that helps get things back on track. This chapter explores the aircraft safety challenges that can be addressed with better maintenance technology and human factor modeling. Aircraft safety relies heavily on maintenance. During the COVID-19 recovery phase, airline operators need to focus on the application of a robust management of change process to implement better maintenance technology, identify new aircraft safety risks, determine effective mitigation measures, and implement strategies for deploying changes accordingly. For years aircraft maintenance routines have been carried out in the same manner without change, now with international travel restrictions, social distancing, reduced staff, and limited maintenance funding, the need for smarter ways of doing maintenance is obvious. In this regard smart technology has an important role to play. For instance, IoT data generates the capacity for predictive aircraft maintenance, AI introduces the capacity for smart, deep-learning machines to make predictive maintenance more accurate, actionable, and automatic. AI-enabled predictive maintenance leverages IoT data to predict and prevent aircraft failures. While smart technology enhances aircraft safety through better maintenance performance on the one hand, there are technical and human factor problems induced by COVID-19 on the other. The Safe Aircraft System (SAS) model, based on the Dirty Dozen and SHELL human factor models, is an initiative proposed to minimize such COVID-19 problems. This work shows through a case illustration that SAS modeling is a useful tool in identifying potential hazards/consequences associated with any major or minor changes in flight operations. Hence the synergistic effect of smart maintenance and the SAS model in enhancing aircraft system safety are demonstrated.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Abbreviations
- ACI:
-
Airports Council International
- AI:
-
Artificial Intelligence
- Airworthy:
-
The status of an aircraft, engine, propeller, or part when it conforms to its approved design and is in a condition for safe operation
- AME:
-
Aircraft Maintenance Engineer
- AMO:
-
Approved Maintenance Organization
- AR:
-
Augmented Reality
- Continuing airworthiness:
-
The set of processes by which an aircraft, engine, propeller, or part complies with the applicable airworthiness requirements and remains in a condition for safe operation throughout its operating life
- CBM:
-
Condition-Based Maintenance
- COVID-19:
-
Coronavirus Disease of 2019
- DD:
-
Dirty Dozen Human Factor Model
- FAA:
-
Federal Aviation Administration
- ICAO:
-
International Civil Aviation Organization
- IoT:
-
Internet of things
- MRO:
-
Maintenance and Repair Organization
- NTSB:
-
National Transportation Safety Board
- OEM:
-
Original Equipment Manufacturer
- OSHA:
-
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
- RAMS:
-
Recovery and Modifications Services of Boeing
- SAS:
-
Safe Aircraft System
- SHELL:
-
Software, Hardware, Environment, Liveware & Liveware (a human factor model used to analyze the interaction of multiple system components)
- SOP:
-
Standard Operating Procedure
- Smart Maintenance:
-
An intelligent maintenance system brings together technology, data, analyses, prognosis, and resources aiming for the aircraft and systems to achieve highest possible performance levels and near-zero breakdown
- VR:
-
Virtual Reality
References
Guidance for Air Travel through the COVID-19 Public Health Crisis. Int Civil Aviation Organis. https://www.icao.int/covid/cart/Pages/CART-Take-off.aspx. Accessed 18 July 2021
Human factors in aviation maintenance technician handbook—General. Federal Aviation Administration. file:///C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/Temp/amt_general_handbook.pdf. Accessed 18 July 2021
Driskill M (2020) Cathay pacific to cut 6,000 workers and kill off Dragon affiliate to survive COVID-19 pandemic. Asian Aviation. https://asianaviation.com/report-cathay-pacific-to-cut-6000-workers-and-kill-off-dragon-affiliate. Accessed 18 July 2021
Wyman O (2020) COVID-19 Impact on commercial aviation maintenance. https://www.oliverwyman.com/our-expertise/insights/2020/mar/COVID-19-Impact-On-Commercial-Aviation-Maintenance.html. Accessed 18 July 2021
Smart glasses in aid of maintenance. The Agility Effect. https://www.theagilityeffect.com/en/article/smart-glasses-aid-maintenance/. Accessed 28 June 2021
Crescenzio FD, Fantini M, Persiani F, Stefano LD, Azzari P, Salti S (2010) Augmented reality for aircraft maintenance training and operations support. IEEE Comput Graph Appl 31(1):96–101
Big Data in the hangar: virtual damage assessment & repair tracking forF-35 andF-22 aircraft. Industrial Internet in Action Case Study. Industrial Internet Consortium. file:///C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/Temp/NGRAIN_Lockheed_Martin_case_study-1.pdf. Accessed 18 July 2021
RAAF uses HoloLens mixed-reality device for C-17A maintenance. Airforce-Technology. https://www.airforce-technology.com/news/raaf-uses-hololens-mixed-reality-device-for-c-17a-maintenance/. Accessed 28 June 2021
Po KK, Wong ET (2020) A DD-SHELL HF model for bus accidents. In: Pham H (ed) Reliability and statistical computing: modeling, methods and applications. Springer, pp 151–166.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43412-0
The Human Factors “Dirty Dozen”,. Skybrary. https://www.skybrary.aero/index.php/The_Human_Factors_%22Dirty_Dozen%22. Accessed 18 July 2021
International Civil Aviation Organisation (2018) The safety management manual (Doc 9859), 4th edn
UK Civil Aviation Authority (2002) CAP 718: human factors in aircraft maintenance and inspection, 1st edn. The Stationery Office (UK)
International Civil Aviation Organisation (1993) Human factors digest no 7: investigation of human factors in accidents and incidents, 1st edn
Man WY, Wong ETT (2020) Developing alert level for aircraft components. In: Pham H (ed) Reliability and statistical computing: modeling, methods and applications. Springer, pp 85–106. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43412-0
International Air Transport Association (2020) Guidance for the transport of cargo and mail on aircraft configured for the carriage of passengers, 3rd edn
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Wong, E.T.T., Man, W.Y. (2023). Smart Maintenance and Human Factor Modeling for Aircraft Safety. In: Pham, H. (eds) Applications in Reliability and Statistical Computing. Springer Series in Reliability Engineering. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-21232-1_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-21232-1_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-21231-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-21232-1
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)