Pilot error

Pilot error is a term used to describe the cause of a crash of an airworthy aircraft where the pilot is considered to be principally or partially at fault. Pilot error can be defined as a mistake, oversight, lapse in judgement, or failure to exercise due diligence by an aircraft operator during the performance of his/her duties.

Related Topics:
Aircraft - Due diligence

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

An aircraft operator is generally not held accountable for an incident that is principally due to a mechanical failure of the aircraft unless the mechanical failure occurred as a result of pilot error. The pilot may be declared to be in error even during adverse weather conditions if the investigating body deems that the pilot did not exercise due diligence.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

One of the most famous incidents of an airplane disaster attributed to pilot error was the crash

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

of Eastern Airlines Flight 401 near Miami, Florida on December 31, 1972. The pilot, co-pilot, and navigator had become fixated on a faulty landing gear light and had failed to realize that the auto pilot had been switched off. The distracted flight crew did not recognize the plane's slow descent and the aircraft eventually struck the ground in the Everglades killing 101 out of 176 passengers and crew.

Related Topics:
Eastern Airlines Flight 401 - Miami, Florida - December 31 - 1972 - Everglades

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The subsequent NTSB report on the incident blamed the flight crew for failing to property monitor the aircraft's instruments. Details of the incident are now frequently used in training excercises by aircrews and air traffic controllers as case studies.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Placing pilot error as a cause of an aviation accident is often controversial. For example, the NTSB ruled that the crash of American Airlines Flight 587 was due to the failure of the rudder which was caused by "unnecessary and excessive rudder pedal inputs" on the part of the co-pilot who was operating the aircraft at the time. Attorneys for the co-pilot, who was killed in the crash, argue that American pilots had never been properly trained concerning extreme rudder inputs. The attorneys also claimed that the rudder failure was actually caused by a flaw in the design of the Airbus A300 aircraft and that the co-pilot's rudder inputs should not have caused the catastrophic rudder failure that led to the accident that killed 265 people.

Related Topics:
American Airlines Flight 587 - Airbus A300

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Pilot error is the cause of about half of all aircraft crashes, but is rarely mentioned as a possible cause in the days after the crash of a commercial airline. Airlines seldom mention it for fear of aggravating litigation, and reporters seldom mention it after a fatal crash so as to not be seen as speaking ill of (or slandering) the dead.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~