Safety Management Systems Update and Progress

The Safety Management System (SMS) Day Panel Charge on March 18, 2009, delivered by Dr. Alan Stolzer, was intended to provide participants with references, tools, vocabulary, and encouragement to adopt academic and laboratory curricula that would prepare students for careers in the SMS environment

Fuel Consumption Modeling of a Transport Category Aircraft Using Flight Operations Quality Assurance Data: A Literature Review

Fuel is a major cost expense for air carriers. A typical airline spends 10% of its operating budget on the purchase of jet fuel, which even exceeds its expenditures on aircraft acquisitions. Thus, it is imperative that fuel consumption be managed as wisely as possible. The implementation of Flight Operations Quality Assurance (FOQA) programs at airlines may be able to assist in this management effort. The purpose of the study is to examine the literature regarding fuel consumption by air carriers, the literature related to air carrier fuel conservation efforts, and the literature related to the appropriate statistical methodologies to analyze the FOQA-derived data

Fuel Consumption Modeling of a Transport Category Aircraft: A Flight Operations Quality Assurance (FOQA) Analysis

Flight Operations Quality Assurance (FOQA)-derived data was used to develop parsimonious model(s) for fuel consumption on a Boeing 757 airplane using regression analysis. Using the model(s), it should be possible to identify outliers (specific flights) with respect to fuel consumption, which will enable the air carrier to investigate the cause of excessive fuel consumption and remedy the problem A major air carrier provided the database used for the study. Fuel flow was predicted by calibrated airspeed, gross weight, and n2 (ENG[1 or 2]n2). The models containing these three variables explained approximately 85% of the variation in fuel flow. A reporting routine using these models and FOQA data should be incorporated into the ongoing quality assurance program of the air carrier

Collegiate Aviation Maintenance Programs: Focus on Quality or Safety?

Safety is a prime concern of managers of collegiate aviation maintenance facilities, but often the \u27safety\u27 program developed is not as effective as the managers desire. A literature review was conducted to explore the relationship between quality and safety programs, and to determine whether coupling a safety program with a comprehensive quality program might produce better results. Strategies such as behavioral sampling, fishbone diagrams, flow charts, and statistical process control (SPC) - all techniques used extensively in the quality profession - can reveal system flaws and lead to continuous improvement. The literature review suggests that the implementation of a quality program has the potential to improve both safety and the process and efficiency of the maintenance facility in a structured, continuous manner

The General Aviation Revitalization Act of 1994: An Overview of Tort Reform

The aviation industry, not yet a century old, has developed into one of the most robust, visible, and analyzed industries in the world today. Despite its youth, aviation is a sizable industry, employing an estimated nearly 2.5 million people (NewMyer, Kaps & Sharp, 1997), and generating $75 billion of economic activity in the United States (Kane, 1996). Its size, its importance in our society, and, unfortunately, the occasional mishap that occurs in aviation, cause the industry to be constantly in the public eye. One can hardly watch the evening news or read a newspaper and not be exposed to a story involving aviation. Ever present media coverage includes such topics as mergers, rightsizing, bankruptcy, new aircraft and technologies, economic news, crashes, near misses, and legal actions. The latter of these, legal actions, are not unique to the aviation industry, but one type of legal action, product liability claims against manufacturers, were having a crippling effect on an important segment of aviation -- general aviation, according to Jack Olcott, president of the National Business Aircraft Association ( Statement of John W. Olcott, 1993). To address this phenomenon, the General Aviation Revitalization Act of 1994 (GARA) was signed into law on August 17, 1994. GARA is a federal statute of repose designed to protect aircraft manufacturers from the uncertainties and costs associated with what has been termed long tail liability (Darwin, 1996). This paper will attempt to define the key terms, provide some background of the general aviation industry and the problem the law was designed to correct, explain the specifics of the law -- what it does and does not do, and consider the effect of the law since its passage nearly four years ago

Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing -- General Aviation (ASIAS -- GA)

A presentation on the collaborative government and industry initiative on data sharing and analysis to proactively discover safety concerns before accidents or incidents occur, leading to timely mitigation and prevention

Study of Demand for Light, Primary Training Aircraft in Collegiate Aviation

Virtually no light, primary training airplanes are being produced in the United States. An exploratory study was undertaken to establish the demand for U.S.-produced light, primary training airplanes in collegiate aviation programs. The study involved both two- and four-year institutions of higher education that offer aviation programs. Data were collected from 24 randomly selected educational institutions by means of a brief questionnaire. An analysis of the data was performed to predict the demand for these airplanes. It was concluded that additional aircraft are needed to satisfy the demand

The Rationale for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Ph.D. in Aviation: A Brief Explication

The earliest versions of a doctoral degree originated in Europe during the Middle Ages as a license for a master to impart wisdom to students at the universities of that time. The meaning of the doctorate and the requirements to obtain one have evolved over time and differ considerably in different parts of the world. Today there are many different types of doctoral degrees, including research doctorates, higher doctorates (found in some countries such as the U.K. and Ireland), professional doctorates (Medical Doctor, Juris Doctor, Doctor of Business Administration, Doctor of Education, Doctor of Public Administration , and many others), and honorary doctorates. In most countries, including the U.S., the Doctor of Philosophy, or Ph.D., is generally the highest academic degree awarded in a field of study. The Ph.D. signifies that the student has not only mastered the body of knowledge in a particular field, but has also demonstrated the capacity to conduct original research and, in so doing, contribute to that body of knowledge. Though some other doctorates may have research components as part of the requirements, the Ph.D. is the doctorate regarded as a research degree

Data Mining Methods Applied to Flight Operations Quality Assurance Data: A Comparison to Standard Statistical Methods

In a previous study, multiple regression techniques were applied to Flight Operations Quality Assurance-derived data to develop parsimonious model(s) for fuel consumption on the Boeing 757 airplane. The present study examined several data mining algorithms, including neural networks, on the fuel consumption problem and compared them to the multiple regression results obtained earlier. Using regression methods, parsimonious models were obtained that explained approximately 85% of the variation in fuel flow. In general data mining methods were more effective in predicting fuel consumption. Classification and Regression Tree methods reported correlation coefficients of .91 to .92, and General Linear Models and Multilayer Perceptron neural networks reported correlation coefficients of about .99. These data mining models show great promise for use in further examining large FOQA databases for operational and safety improvements

May 2017 School of Graduate Studies Newsletter

Notes from the Dean New Faculty and Staff University Research News Awards and Publications Dissertation Defenses Ph.D. Program Noteshttps://commons.erau.edu/db-sgs-newletter/1002/thumbnail.jp