Pilot Error is the leading cause in Airline Crashes
This is hardly news, Pilot Error is still up there as the number 1 reason airplanes crash. Every study that looks into this concludes the same thing. Around 70–80% of airline accidents involve human factors, with Pilot Error being part of that.
In the heyday of aviation, machine fault was usually responsible for crashes. According to Boeing, the majority of early crashes were attributable to machine causes. Technology improved and now only a small percentage are attributable to machine error.
According to Boeing, human causes are responsible for around 70–80% of airplane accidents today, with Pilot Error within that category.
It is safe!
Before I am accused of fear-mongering, let me be clear on what the data says.
Air travel remains the safest mode of transport. According to International Air Transport Association, the global fatal accident rate is roughly 0.1–0.2 per million flights.
On average, a person would have to travel by air every day for thousands of years before experiencing a fatal accident.
Accident rates continue to fall even as the number of flights increases.
Recent data shows that while fatal accidents still occur, they are rare and often concentrated, with a small number of accidents responsible for a large proportion of fatalities.
Human Causes is not always Pilot Error
The easiest example to think of is maintenance error. If something is fixed improperly or replaced incorrectly, then it counts as human causes. Airplanes are complex machines and, as such, contain thousands of components, and thousands of tasks need to be done to keep them flying. So, something is bound to go wrong, minuscule as the odds are.
The guidelines for maintenance staff are extensive and the qualification process very thorough. The people who release the aircraft into service or allow them to depart after a check or a fault are experts in their own right. However, it does happen that with long hours and continuous tasks, something slips through the cracks.
Another human cause can be the humans in Air Traffic Control. They are the ones who tell the pilots to go up and down, left and right. They are also often under pressure and stress. Their main job is to make sure the airplanes are not hitting each other. However, mistakes do happen.
Even the airlines themselves can have human causes inflicted upon the flight, whether it is poor oversight, insufficient training, or even bad scheduling. This can further complicate the issue.
The devil is in the detail
Most of the media reporting on pilot error relates to total accidents or total fatalities. This includes many private pilots with a much shorter experience log and less complex requirements on how to stay current with flying.
Around 70%+ of accidents have cockpit crew as a contributing factor. What does that mean? Think of it this way: if an engine blows up at takeoff, like it did with Sully, and the pilot mishandles the exercise or does something not exactly by the book, then pilot error gets a mention. No matter how many other factors could have been involved in the situation—terrible weather, long working hours, inadequate rest, or anything else—pilot error will still show as a contributing factor.
I am not absolving pilots of their errors. Pilots are human, humans make mistakes. Around 40–50% of fatal airline accidents involve pilot error as the primary cause. Even then, within those cases, the accident rates vary considerably.
The number changes in relation to the type of flying. The United States has clear data on Part 135 (think charter and smaller operators) versus Part 121, which is regular airlines. Charter operations show significantly higher accident rates than scheduled airlines.
Another factor is the generation of aircraft flown. Newer generation aircraft have an accident rate that is significantly lower than previous generations.
Importantly, it is worth noting that pilot experience is important in determining accident rates as well.
Where are you flying and how experienced are your pilots
Johns Hopkins University studied the issue in 2002, and their findings are not exactly surprising to pilots. Pilots with less than 5,000 hours of total flight time were nearly twice as likely as their more experienced counterparts to be involved in a crash. Many other studies since have agreed with the finding that experience matters.
The environment the pilot works in greatly influences the accident rate. It is well established that the airline a pilot flies for matters, but also the part of the world that the airline is based in matters.
Some regions continue to face issues with oversight and infrastructure, leading to higher accident rates compared to global averages.
Pilot Error as a sum of their threats and errors
Every good airline emphasizes Threat and Error Management (TEM) for their pilots. TEM has shown incredible results in reducing accident rates when applied.
An International Air Transport Association study showed that meteorology was a threat factor in around 30–50% of accidents, meaning pilots are often dealing with dynamic and challenging conditions.
Conclusion
Let’s compare two flights, as per the following table
| Pilot A | Pilot B | |
| Operation Type | Scheduled | Chartered |
| Generation of Aircraft | Fourth | Third |
| Experience | More Experienced | Less Experienced |
| Geography | Middle East to Europe | Africa to Russia |
Pilot A is statistically far less likely to be involved in an accident than Pilot B. Almost 100 times less if you compound all those effect
Based on what we learned above, Pilot B is much more likely to be involved in an accident than Pilot A, even if they are both equally qualified and skilled.