Human Factors: American Airlines Flight 1420

There are many aircraft accident factors in which investigators need to pursue in order to come to a good conclusion on what the cause or causes of an aircraft accident were. A portion of what the investigator looks into is the human factors surrounding the accident. This highly diverse and expansive area needs to be systematically looked into to figure out if any human factors were causation of an aircraft accident. One model that investigators utilize in order to sift through the human factors that may be attributable to an accident is the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) Model. This Model breaks down human factors into four different sections, organizational influences, unsafe supervision, preconditions for unsafe acts, and unsafe acts of operators. Throughout this case study, the accident of American Airlines flight 1420 will be dissected utilizing the HFACS Model to uncover human factors issues with the aircraft operator organization, aircraft flight crew, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

NTSB ruled that the main causes of the accident were the decision to land in a thunderstorm and that the crew did not arm the spoilers (NTSB, 2001).

An American Airline, Boeing 767, had been hijacked and was loaded with 20,000 gallons of jet fuel. Boeing 767 was crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. The impact of the crash had left a wide open, burning hole near the 80th floor of the 110-story skycraper. The crash of the Boeling 767 had instantly killed over hundreds of people, and left hundreds more people trapped up in the higher levels of the skyscraper. Firefighters and other rescuers had started to evacuate the people left in the World Trade Center. Leaving numerous people confused, startled, and petrified about the hijacked plane and the accident, many people had not known that it had only been the start of the day.

American Airlines Flight 1420 tragically crashed on June 1, 1999. The flight crew attempted to land the McDonnell Douglas DC-9-82 in Little Rock, Arkansas during a thunderstorm. The aircraft overran the runway, crashing through several obstacles before coming to rest 800 feet from the end of the runway. Eleven people were killed and over 100 injured. This preventable accident was the result of human error, miscommunication, and poor decision making. After investigating the Flight 1420 crash, the NTSB made several recommendations to the FFA addressing the issues that led to the accident in an attempt to prevent such errors in the future.

When a plane went down before the mid 1994’s, the crew would face far worse. The rescue system had not yet been renovated or structured, meaning many of the searches were disordered. The chances of becoming rescued were very low. The rate of unintentional crashes were increasing, and with the implausibility of rescue, it resulted in a very bad balance. This occurred particularly during the first years of the war. If a plane did happen to go down, the crew members were not very likely to survive. For example, crews making an effort at rescues crashed while trying to find another plane and its crew that had crashed before. It would seem likely that for every stranded crewman found, a number of others went down and died, too. While struggling to save a man and help him live on, the odds are that the plane may not survive as well.

On September 11th 2001, the terrorist attacks spread fear and fed conspiracy theorists. On board United Airlines flight 93, everyone died, for a total of 44 losses (“United Airlines Flight 93”). UA93 crashed in a field near Shanksville, in Pennsylvania. Interpretations of the crash differ, as some believe the government covered-up its involvement in the attacks and others support that the passengers were celebrated as heroes, as they threatened their attackers (McConnachie and Tudge 401). The discussion of two contrasting opinions follows. David Ray Griffin believes UA93 was shot down by the U.S. Air Force, whereas James B. Meigs defends that the heroic resistance of the passengers caused the hijackers to pull the aircraft down. They both demonstrate that the nature and the position of the plane debris at the crash area, as well as the authorities’ reactions to the hijacking, confirm their own point of view. Mr. Meigs explanations express more credibility than Mr. Griffin, due to the compared use of reliable experts to support their claim between the two men and the sufficient evidences to prove their viewpoint.

Predictions were made that the terrorists were going to hit the White House, the Capitol, or even Camp David. The flight dispatcher informed the cockpit about the attacks that had happened. Four hijackers that were on the plane had taken over with their knives and box cutters. Crew members and passengers went to the back of the plane and started making phone calls to their family and friends. Ready for an attack the passengers and crew members started their way up to the front of the plane, but when interrupted by the terrorist pilot who turned the plane to throw them off balance because he was afraid they would get through the cockpit. Flight 93 was then plunged into a field at 580 miles per hour; no one survived the brutal

On Saturday, August twenty-second, a stunt plane at an air show in England crashed and killed seven people. It was said that the pilot of the stunt plane was attempting to do a loop, but lost control and crashed onto a highway. The seven people that were killed in this accident were people just driving on highway and were caught in the accident. The plane model that crashed was called a “Hawker Hunter”, and it was a plane model from the Cold War. Along with the seven people that were killed in the accident, there are around fourteen people that were injured.

On January 25th, 1998, Air Florida Flight 90 has smashed the head first into a bridge down into the rigid blockings of ice overlaying that Potomac River, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. This tragedy and inexplicable occurrence has had lots of witnesses and observers have discerned a “hero” in the water.

September 11, 2001 was a Tuesday and changed air transportation as we know it. This devastating day in history was when a total of four American Airlines airplanes were hijacked. Most collided with important United States buildings. The first two planes intentionally collided with each of the Twin Towers in New York. Shortly after, the third plane hit the Pentagon in Virginia. Amazingly, the passengers on the fourth plane gained control of the plane and never allowed it to collide with a building. As a result, they suffered a crash landing in an open field in Pennsylvania. That day in history, now referred to as 9-11, had a major impact on international, domestic, commercial, and private air travel because it illustrated something had to be changed in regards to safety and security issues.

Southwest Airlines Flight 812 had an accident that occurred on April 1, 2011, at 3:58 PM or (1558) at Mountain Standard Time. The plane of this incident was a Boeing 737 for Southwest Airlines, the location of this incident was at Yuma, Arizona. The people that were on board were five (5) crew members and one-hundred and seventeen (117) passengers. During that time, flight 812 had felt a rapid decompression on the plane while the plane was climbing at 34,000 feet. The flight crew called an emergency landing and redirect to Yuma International Airport, one of the crew members and one off duty employee had minor injuries due to the rupture on the plane.

The flight crew had numerous distractions which contributed to the American Airlines Flight 1420 mishap. First, the flight crew was notified of severe weather report which was communicated to be approximately 15 miles away from the landing area (Runway overrun during landing American Airlines, 2001). The first officer communicated to the control tower that Flight 1420 was aware of the weather. Additionally, the captain and first officer perceived the aircraft had time to make the approach (Runway overrun during landing American Airlines, 2001). Second, the flight crew was aware of the crosswind conditions and a short conversation in the cockpit about dry weather conditions as opposed to wet weather conditions for

Flight 1420 was a disaster that taught the aviation community several important lessons. All the Seven Major Elements of Aviation safety can be seen as contributing factors but the greatest factor was human error and the impact of pilot fatigue. With proper preventative measures, the pilots probably would have had the time to arm the MD-82’s spoiler system and the flight would have touched down safely.

United Airlines 93 was headed toward the White House. It was carrying only 45 passengers and 4 hijackers. It was crashed into rural Pennsylvania only 2 miles East of a School (Wheeler, 2002). It crashed do to 3 brave men who overtook the cockpit and crashed it to save more lives (Stewart, 2002). Unlike the 3 other flights this group of terrorist failed their mission (Stewart, 2002). Everyone aboard this plane died in the crash (Wheeler, 2002).

and apparent in today’s world. There are many human factors that all come with their own disadvantages. However, through the study and experience with human factors come improvements and ways to avoid these disadvantages.