General Aviation (GA) accidents constitute the majority of aviation related accidents. In the United States, there have been over 7,000 GA accidents compared to 190 airline accidents in the last 8 years. Flight data analysis has helped reduce the accident rate in commercial aviation. Similarly, safety analysis based on flight data can help GA be safer. The FAA mandates flight data recorders for multi-engine and turbine powered aircraft, but nearly 80% of General Aviation consists of single engine, of which only a small portion contain any form of data recording device. GA aircraft flight data recorders are costly for operating pilots. Low-cost flight recorders are few and rarely used in GA safety analysis due to lack of accuracy compared to the certified on-board equipment. In this thesis, I investigate the feasibility of using a low-cost Attitude and Heading Reference System (AHRS) to detect hazardous states in GA aircraft. I considered the case of roll angles and found that the low-cost device has significant measurement errors. I developed models to correct the roll angle error as well as methods to improve the detection of hazardous roll angles. I devised a method to evaluate the time accuracy along with the angle accuracy and showed that despite the errors, the low-cost device can provide partial hazardous state detection information.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1979. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND AERONAUTICS. / Includes bibliographical references. / by Christopher Graham McMuldroch. / M.S.

My final work should analyze aviation industry from an economic perspective, the main theme will be differences between traditional operators and low-cost operators. The most important part is analysis of the marketing mix, where the main part of air transport are undoubtedly product and price. Result of my work will be a product portfolio that summarizes all the findings in a summary table.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T20:19:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2008 - Flavia Luzia Oliveira da Cunha Galindo.pdf: 834918 bytes, checksum: 0d750029bb9ddb8854de320dde189f55 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-12-05 / Regarding the studies about the behavior of the consumer and crisis management reflects the numerous contributions of social sciences and humanities. The connection of these two areas of understandings was possible through the observation of experiences the consumers lived through, during the recent Brazilian aviation crisis, which made it possible to understand the inconstant trust of the executives after the crisis. The dissertation contextualizes how the executives from Rio de Janeiro think and act, compounding an extremely singular vision regarding their perceptions after the Brazilian aviation crisis. To support the field work expost facto, the theoretical reference includes authors linked to the marketing of services, consumer behavior, consumption and citizenship, trust and crisis management. From the economic and business point of view, the organizations understand the relevance of the study regarding trust when confirmed that the consumers want to trust their suppliers and have the expectation that the products, goods and services be unswerving to the ideas and aspirations that are developed in their lives. The elements of trust are classified into: i) factors linked to the authors decision to trust and support the singular mixture of personality, culture and experience; ii) situational factors that have to do with the aspects of specific situations and relationships between the parties. The work demanded: i) exploratory field work, ii) data collection from secondary sources (print and electronic media), iii) official information divulged by the institutions involved, iv) interviews with time sensitive users of a hypothetical deduction character with a qualitative approach, necessary to attract the perspective subjects in the investigation ex-post facto. The Contents Analysis method allowed to understand the world of the significant of the actions and human relations in their overall situation. In exploring a critical situation such as the one faced by the Brazilian aerial blackout , the work witnessed how the aviation crisis, complex and long-lasting, weakened institutions and the consumers belief was greatly affected. / Os estudos sobre o comportamento do consumidor e o gerenciamento de crises refletem as m?ltiplas contribui??es das ci?ncias sociais e humanas. A uni?o destas duas ?reas do conhecimento foi poss?vel atrav?s da observa??o das experi?ncias vividas pelos consumidores na recente crise a?rea brasileira, que permitiu compreender a vari?vel confian?a dos executivos ap?s a mesma. A disserta??o contextualizou o modo como os executivos do Rio de Janeiro pensam e agem, compondo uma vis?o muito singular sobre as suas percep??es ap?s a crise a?rea brasileira. Para ancorar a pesquisa de campo ex-post facto, o referencial te?rico conta com autores ligados ao marketing de servi?os, comportamento do consumidor, consumo e cidadania, confian?a e gerenciamento de crise. Do ponto de vista econ?mico e empresarial, as organiza??es compreendem a relev?ncia do estudo sobre confian?a quando afirmam que os consumidores querem confiar em seus fornecedores, e t?m a expectativa de que os produtos, bens e servi?os sejam fi?is aos ideais e aspira??es que desenvolvem em suas vidas (Roberts, 2005). Os elementos da confian?a se distribuem em: i) fatores ligados ao autor da decis?o de confiar e se ancoram na mistura singular de personalidade, cultura e experi?ncia; ii) fatores situacionais que tem a ver com os aspectos da situa??o espec?fica e do relacionamento entre as partes (Hurley, 2006). O trabalho demandou: i) pesquisa de campo explorat?ria, ii) coleta de dados em fonte secund?ria (m?dia impressa e eletr?nica), iii) informa??es oficiais divulgadas pelas institui??es envolvidas, iv) entrevistas com usu?rios time sensitive de car?ter hipot?ticodedutivo (Foddy, 1993), com abordagem qualitativa, necess?ria para captar a perspectiva dos sujeitos em uma investiga??o ex-post facto (Gil, 1996). O m?todo de An?lise de Conte?do (Bardin, 1977) possibilitou compreender o mundo de significados das a??es e rela??es humanas no seu contexto. Ao explorar uma situa??o cr?tica como a enfrentada pelo apag?o a?reo brasileiro, o trabalho evidenciou como a crise a?rea, complexa e de longa dura??o, fragilizou institui??es e afetou a credibilidade de consumidores intensivos.

The overall purpose of the study was to examine the aesthetic impacts of wind farm obstruction lighting. The research problems investigated in this study were; aviation safety regulations for wind farm obstruction lighting in different countries, obstruction lighting technology, and the public attitudes towards wind farming. The research was designed taking into account the research problems, questions, and the researcher experience. Hence, mixed method approach was employed to collect as much, and as diverse data as possible. The sample was drawn focusing wind energy project developers, operators, and the owners. Seeking to build a detailed narrative, a web-based survey was conducted to gather the thoughts, and opinions of the sample population, in addition, to a thorough literature review conducted earlier. The key findings of this study are that the lighting system should be efficient to operate in terms of technology with least aesthetic impacts. Out-dated wind farm obstruction lighting systems are annoying, and contributes to overall aesthetic impacts that triggers nagetive attitudes towards wind farming. In addition, for wind farms near any aerodrome, infrared integrated into light emitting diodes obstruction lighting have minimal aesthetic impacts. Whereas, the radar-activated obstruction lighting is a better choice for wind farms further away from aerodromes. The study argued that understanding the affecting components of attitudes would give various stakeholders a realistic understanding about attitudes towards wind farming. This study concludes that the optimization of lighting angle, intensity, color, and luminance will help reducing the aesthetic impacts under the prevailing regulations, and mapping affective components of attitudes will help in better understanding the public support towards wind farming.

Student Number : 9802206M - MA dissertation - School of Psychology - Faculty of Humanities / Before this study took place, the social psychology perspective of Attribution theory was yet to be fully utilised in South African research within the maintenance error landscape. Attributional approaches see the person on the street operating like a scientist, obtaining information from his or her social surroundings and discerning the causes and consequences of ongoing behavioural and environmental events (Harvey et.al.,1976). It is very possible that due to the unique South African socio-political and economic landscape, strongly influenced by Apartheid, new combinations of known and unknown error attributions are at play, that are unique to this landscape and have not yet been studied or uncovered. Thus, a better understanding of the South African landscape, through a study such as this, could have serious cost benefits to maintenance companies, benefits to staff in terms of reduced risk of injury, as well as form the basis of improved policies, procedures and equipment. Twenty-five team leaders and 125 minor maintenance staff at a South African Aircraft Maintenance Company formed the population group from which the sample for this study was drawn. Within each group, 5 individuals were interviewed on a personal basis. Further, for each group, one focus group was carried out consisting of two and four individuals respectively. The individuals who participated in the focus groups were different to those who participated in the interviews. In total 28 percent of team leaders participated in the study and 7 percent of maintenance staff, which calculates to just over 10 percent of minor maintenance employees at the organisation involved. The Qualitative data acquired through this in-depth interview and focus group discussion process, and subsequent transcription was coded and analysed using Thematic Content Analysis. Content analysis is a research technique for making replicable and valid inferences from data to their context (Krippendorf, 1980). The discussion of primary error attributions comparing maintenance staff and team leaders, focussed on the predominant primary error attribution theme and related attributions under the descriptor Organisational Culture which included both the dimensions of employee motivation and managerial culture. Finally, results of secondary error attributions comparing maintenance staff and team leaders raised the discussion around the theme, Tools and Equipment. This research is an exploratory study that brings together the field of attribution theory and maintenance error. Its main strength is that it provides a theoretical framework, upon which is based a methodology that explores the primary and secondary error attributions made by employees for maintenance errors in their work environment. In other words, it is felt that this methodology can be implemented in a range of maintenance environments to unearth the error attributions of staff in that environment. Information such as this is very beneficial to companies and organisations in their planning, strategising, problem solving and general organisational development.

This research compares methods for measuring pilot mental workload (MWL) from the electrocardiogram (ECG) signal. ECG-based metrics have been used extensively in MWL research. Heart rate (HR) and heart-rate variability (HRV) exhibit changes in response to varying levels of task demand. Classical methods for HRV analysis examine the ECG signal in the linear time and frequency domains. More contemporary research has advanced the notion that nonlinear elements contribute to cardiac control and ECG signal generation, spawning development of analytical techniques borrowed from the domain of nonlinear dynamics (NLD). Applications of nonlinear HRV analysis are substantial in clinical diagnosis settings; however, such applications are less frequent in MWL research, especially in the aviation domain. Specifically, the relative utility of linear and non-linear HRV analysis methods has not been fully assessed in pilot MWL research. This thesis contributes to aforementioned research gap by comparing a non-linear HRV method, utilizing transition probability variances (TPV), to classical time and frequency domain methods, focusing the analysis on sensitivity and diagnosticity. ECG data is harvested from a recent study characterizing spatial disorientation (SDO) risk amongst three candidate off-boresight (OBS) helmet-mounted display (HMD) symbologies in a tactically relevant live-flight task. A comparative analysis of methods on this dataset and supplemental workload analysis for the HMD study are presented. Results indicate the TPV method may exhibit higher sensitivity and diagnosticity than classical methods. However, limitations of this analysis warrant further investigation into this question.

Changes in the top leadership position in U.S. airports occur frequently. The purpose of the present phenomenological study was to understand the shared, lived experiences of senior managers who work in a U.S. airport and who have undergone a change in the top leadership position. Airports are of critical importance to their local regions and communities and are economic engines for their respective regions. The results of the study may provide positive social change for airport staff and the surrounding community by drawing attention to the complexity in leadership transition. The study was grounded in organizational stress, uncertainty theory of stress, and person-environment fit theories. A purposive sampling method was used to recruit 11 participants who were senior managers at a U.S. airport and experienced a change in the top leadership position within the last 6 years. The interview data were analyzed using interpretive phenomenological reduction methods of epoche, eidetic reduction, and imaginative variation. Findings revealed that transitional leadership resulted in positive effects such as self-efficacy beliefs, commitment, and job satisfaction; it also resulted in negative effects such as disengagement, which appeared to be mediated by the active roles leaders took in meeting employee needs. Participants who valued their skills and contributions were better able to cope with changes and were more confident about their employment ability. This study contributes to positive social change by providing information for airport board members and staff to improve the process of hiring a CEO.

Globally, the aviation industry supports 58.1 million jobs in related industries and U.S. airlines alone generated 11.8 million jobs. Airline performance, productivity, and profitability depend on employees. The purpose of this single case study was to explore the strategies that U.S. airline leaders use to improve employee performance. The study was grounded with the Harvard model of human resource management. A stratified purposeful sample of 14 managers and 10 frontline staff from a Florida airline participated in semistructured individual interviews and a focus group, respectively. The data from these interviews were analyzed using Moustakas's modified van Kaam method. The themes that emerged from analysis included: an emphasis on the individual interaction and verbal affirmations between managers and frontline staff, additional career development opportunities for employees, not only for performing in their role but improving performance and level of commitment to the organization. Furthermore, managers and employees arrived at the same conclusion about organization culture and commitment-individuals have to feel they are contributing to the overall mission and feel valued in doing so. For the latter to occur, leaders need to engage employees in continuous dialogue and be completely transparent, and employees need to be open to feedback and share their motivations and goals. Social change implications include improved management and labor relationships within the U.S. airline industry, which ultimately benefits the flying public through greater stability and better service.

Pilots are subject to varying levels of stress, workload, and fatigue during long flights. During different phases of a commercial flight, pilots are engaged in multiple tasks which include going through checklists, checking conditions at their destination, communicating with Air Traffic Control and dealing with other flight related tasks. The amount of work varies from the earlier stages until the end of the flight. It is not well understood how changes in the amount of workload can affect a pilot's ability to engage with important tasks that relate to safety of flight. The work shown in this thesis focused on the level of engagement displayed by flight crew as a function of level of workload. The principal hypothesis was that very low levels of workload may lead to crew disengagement and sub-optimal levels of performance. The degree to which pilots remain alert and are fatigued during a commercial flight is also not established in a concrete way.