AIR TRAVEL

DEVELOPMENT, SECURITY
& SAFETY

Kishore Thomas John

Lakshmi S. Pillai
Civil Aviation History
• WW- I introduced the mass production of Aircrafts.
• Safety and security was developed following the war. Eg.
Navigation ,Parachutes and Distress Flares.
• Commercial and Civil aviation was less developed in the 20’s and
30’s.
• With introduction of Wireless Radio, air travel reached longer
distances and more sophistication.
• Development of Bombers in WW-II led to larger commercial,
cargo and passenger aircrafts.
• Civil aviation and Cargo aviation developed rapidly in the 60’s
and 70’s. Eg. Large Capacity Aircrafts and The Concorde.
• Development of Turbojet and Turboprop replaced propellors.
“Heavier -than -Air Flying Aircrafts are Impossible “
Lord Kelvin (1892)

• Development of Rocket Science in 60’s and 70’s introduced Solid

State Electronics, Satellite Communication, Computers and LED
systems aboard aircrafts.
• Satellite Navigation Systems were introduced in the 80’s and 90’s
following development of GPS by US military.
• Synthetic Vision, Composite Air-Frames and Better Fuels were also
introduced enhancing Air Safety.
• Major Civil Aircrafts manufacturers are: Airbus (Fr), Boeing (US),
Bombardier (Cn), Embraer (Br) and Tupolev (USSR).
• Flag Carriers of 70’s were replaced by Open Skies policy in the
80’s with exponential growth in Civil Airline Traffic.
• Likewise, Air Accidents have also risen and cause considerable
concern to governments.
Air Safety Systems
Air Traffic Control (ATC)
• ATC communicates with Air Crafts from ground to ensure
Separation between aircrafts in proximity.
(Both vertical and Horizontal)
• Coordinates the Visual Flight Rules(VFR) and Instrument Flight
Rules (IFR).
• 4 Main Types of ATC
1. Center Controllers: Controls Aircrafts between Airports
2. Control Towers: Controls aircrafts within small distance of the
airport. (10-15 Km)
3. Oceanic Controllers: Control aircrafts over oceans and between
continents, usually without radar.
4. Terminal Controllers: Controls wide span in busy airports.
(50-80 Km)
CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITIES
• Each signatory country has a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to oversee
the following areas of civil aviation:

1. Personnel Licensing — Regulating the basic training and

issuance of Licenses and Certificates.

2. Flight Operations — Carrying out Safety Oversight of Commercial

Operators.

3. Airworthiness — Issuing Certificates of Registration and

Certificates of Air-Worthiness to Civil Aircraft, and overseeing the
safety of maintenance organizations.

4. Aerodromes — Designing and Constructing Aerodrome Facilities.

5. Air Traffic Services — Managing the Traffic inside of a country's

Airspace.
Technological Developments
• Precision Approach Path Indicator: Indicates the Angle of Descent
to Pilots.
• Radio Technology developed Navigation Aids which can direct and
land Aircraft in Bad Weather. Instrument Landing System (ILS)- In
the Cockpit.
• Radar- Introduced Ground Control Approach (GCA) & Distance
Measuring Equipment (DME).
• VHF Omni-directional Range (VOR)- To calculate Radial in Degrees
with Respect to North and Slant Angle w.r.t Beacon.
• Global Positioning System – GPS
• Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS)- To enhance GPS to
coordinate Vertical Path in addition to Horizontal.
• Auto Pilot- Automatically Steers Aircraft after take off with help of
Preprogrammed controls and Waypoints.
Air Accidents- Overview, Statistics and
Causes
Air Accident Statistics
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 All

Cause
•  Pilot Error 40 32 24 25 27 25 29

•  Pilot Error  (weather related) 11 18 14 17 21 17 16

•  Pilot Error (mechanical related) 7 5 4 2 4 3 4

•  Total Pilot Error 58 57 42 44 53 45 50

•  Other Human Error 0 8 9 6 8 9 7

•  Weather 16 10 13 15 9 8 12

•  Mechanical Failure 21 20 23 21 21 28 22

•  Sabotage 5 5 11 13 10 9 9

•  Other Cause 0 2 2 1 0 1 1
Accident By Phase Of The Flight
 •Which type of flying is safer?

Which Type Of Flying is Safer?

Type of Flight
Fatalities per
million flight
hours
Airliner (Scheduled and nonscheduled Part 121) 4.03

Commuter Airline (Scheduled Part 135) 10.74

Commuter Plane (Nonscheduled Part 135 - Air taxi on 12.24

demand)

General Aviation (Private Part 91) 22.43

 Survival rate of passengers on
aircraft involved in fatal
accidents
SILLY STATISTICS carrying 10+ passengers
Decade % surviving
Odds of being on an 1930s 21
Odds of being killed
airline flight which 1940s 20
on a single airline
results in at least one 1950s 24
flight
fatality 1960s 19
1970s 25
1980s 34
Top 25 airlines with the Top 25 airlines with the
1990s 35
best records best records
2000s 24
 1 in 8.47 million   1 in 13.57 million 

Survival rate of
passengers on aircraft
Bottom 25 with the worst Bottom 25 with the 53%
ditching during controlled
records  worst records  flight
 1 in 830,428  1 in 1.13 million
Air Safety Topics
Natural Causes
1. Lightning: Can disrupt Navigational Systems and aircraft
Stability. Modern Air Crafts are now made of Non Conducting
Synthetic composites.
2. Ice & Snow: Can cause Skidding during take-off and landing. Ice
formation on wings during flights can affect aerodynamics and lift.
3. Engine Failure: Individual Engine controls can shut off
malfunctioning engine and divert power to remaining engines.
4. Metal Fatigue: Failure of aircraft body. Development of Non-
Destructive testing methods.
5. Stalling: Increased angle of attack such that wings cant produce
enough lift. Corrected by means of Autopilot and Voice Warnings.
Also Artificial simulation techniques.
6. Fire: Within Aircraft- Smoke wing and smoke hoods to ventilate.
Misting systems to douse fire. Fire fighting foam upholstery.
Outside of aircraft is fitted with Flame -Retardent composites.
7. Bird-Hit: Can damage turbines and cause engine failure. Modern
aircrafts refitted with stronger turbines to withstand multiple bird
strikes. Fatalities in case of fighters.
8. Ground Equipment.

Human Causes

1. Pilot Error: Misplanned navigation, and errors during take off

and landing.
2. Controlled Flight Into Terrain: Eg. Mountains and Tall
Structures in low visibility and altitude. Development of Auto
Level and Altimeter –Induced Voice Warning System.
3. Attack By Hostile Country: Eg. Shooting Down of Iran Air Flight
655 in 1988 By US Navy in the gulf of Aden.
Other Major Concerns

1. Airport Design: Evacuation Plan, Crash Land Recovery, Disaster

Planning, Fire Engines and Versatility and self sustenance .

2. Drunken and Paranoid Passengers.

3. Runway Safety: Must be periodically checked for debris and

damage.

4. Flight Safety Testing Ground Crew.

AIR INDIA’S DILEMMA
 Causes Of Air India’s Miserable Safety
Records
• Almost All large capacity long distance Aircrafts purchased during the Indira
Gandhi Era.
• Poor Maintenance and Availability of Spares for Obsolete Aircrafts.
• Lack of Efficient ground crew, safety engineering and inspections before
flights.
• Till date, around 2176 cancelled flights or delays due to technical glitches.
• Lack of sufficient Hangers and Aerodromes in frequent flying foreign
destinations to do maintenance and testing.
• Air India was Kicked out of IATA in 2006 for failing to keep up established
safety norms and procedures. This has severely reduced the travel among
foreign passengers in the airline.
• Two crashes and a hijacking has severely affected the reputation of India’s
flag bearing airline.
AIR INDIA’S
AGEING
FLEET
“This is The Captain Speaking. Prepare to Crash Land
My Darlings….”
INDIA’S MILITARY WOES
 The Air Marshall’s Dilemma
• Mainstay of India’s Air Force is the MiG 21 MK-1 which is about 700
and crashing…
• Most of the Aircrafts were bought in Batches in ’74, ‘78 and ‘82.
• The Aircraft is almost obsolete and is used only in a few African
countries.
• Following the breakdown of U.S.S.R, spares are unavailable and
most aircrafts are poorly maintained.
• MiG 21 is dubbed as the “Flying Coffin”, and India’s military crash
record is worse that that of the Pakistanis.
• Other Aircrafts are the MiG 23, Mig 25, Mig 27, MiG 29, Su 27, Su
30, Jaguar, Harriers and the Mirage 2000’s
• MiG 23,25 and 27 are being Phased Out. But contracting and
Tendering is causing tremendous delays and is compromising the
Country’s Air Superiority.
• Also good trainer Aircrafts are not available. Still using propellor
aircrafts which fly at Sub-Sonic Speeds.
VARIANTS
OF THE
MiG 21
Some Troubling Crash Statistics
Total Recorded Percentage
Aircraft Type

315 163(13) 52%

MiG-21

MiG-23     23 (3)  

MiG-25 04   02  

MiG-27     21  

MiG-29 07(1)   05 (0)  

Jaguar 23(1)   23 (1)  

03   03  
Mirage 2000
Analog Cockpit Of The MiG 21
WELCOME TO THE FUTURE
THE BEGINNING OF THE END

NO QUESTIONS PLEASE!!!

Don’t Trouble Yourself.