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Weather Hazards

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Weather Hazards             It is no secret that weather presents a challenge to most flights in aviation. You may get fortunate enough to have great weather, but no matter where you are, you’re bound to face some weather adversity. One of the greatest weather hazards are thunderstorms. While most of us know what thunderstorms do for aviation pilots, some don’t know the severity and impact it has on flight, or even the types of storms there are.             Within these thunderstorms contain even more hazards. Some of which include icing, tornadoes, and turbulence (FAA, 2013). A concentrated vortex of wind, dust, and debris forms rapidly and can reach violent speeds. Although classified as tornadoes, these vortices must reach the ground to be named “tornado”. If not, they are known as funnel clouds, or if touching water, it’s called a waterspout.             These thunderstorms also present a hazard that is not discussed often: diversions and avoidance. Many
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    Air Traffic Control             Every single part of this country has governed, controlled, and regulated air travel thanks to the Air Traffic Controllers. Air Traffic Control (ATC) is comprised of many parts, two of which are the Air Traffic Control System Command Center (ATCSCC) and Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) (Freudenrich, 2021). ATC is a complex group of individuals, equipment, and technology that ensure the safety of flight.                     There is so much that goes on behind the scenes that we don’t get to see, and it is quite remarkable what it all entails. The ATCSCC primarily overviews all air traffic. It is essentially the motherboard of all ATC. It was an agency implemented in 1970 to improve the already existing National Airspace Station (Secondary Navigation, ATCSCC, 2021). There are over 21 divided zones in the United States, and those zones are divided into even smaller areas, giving us Air Traffic Control in each region/zone. T
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Wildlife Impact in Aviation               When it comes to environmental impact in the aviation industry, there is no question that several hazards exist. A danger that is rarely discussed but is very apparent and impactful is wildlife. Wildlife strikes are physical incursions aircraft embrace in the air by birds (FAA 2021). According to the FAA, about 49 bird strikes occur to aircraft per day, or about 18,000 annually (FAA, 2018). This is a very high, alarming number that draws attention from the FAA and the National Wildlife Strike organization.                  Bird strikes impact all aircraft, large and small. Small, propeller-driven airplanes suffer from the highest likelihood of these hazardous effects: damage to flight control surfaces, penetration of flight deck windshield, and structural damage. Larger jet-engine aircraft suffer severely from engine ingestion of the birds and damage to the pitot system. This can result in engine stall or failure a
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Airport and Airway Improvement Act of 1982

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    A irport and Airway Improvement Act of 1982                               An aviation legislative act that goes unnoticed by many but impacted the flying world greatly is the Airport and Airway Improvement Act of 1982. This act approved research, engineering, and development to improve and increase the efficiency and safety of air transport (U.S. Department of Transportation, 2016). The goal was to vastly improve safety, noise compatibility, and airport capacity. This act awarded nearly every single United States airport, large or small, money in the forms of grants if they were financially, legally, and able to perform the obligations laid out in the agreement (FAA, 2016). The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are ultimately responsible for deeming an airport company eligible for the grant.                                   This money allowed major improvements for all airports. All aspects of runways were improved, including lighting, signs, physical
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Human Factors

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    Human Factors Human factors are important in all jobs and aspects of life but is particularly important in the aviation industry. According to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, human factors is defined as, "the social and personal skills, such as communication and decision making which complement our technical skills." ( Australian Government, 2016). Bottom line, human factors dictate and affect daily job tasks and how these tasks get accomplished. Some of us have heard of “The Dirty Dozen” mentioned in the aviation industry. According to the FAA, approximately 80% of aviation mistakes and accidents involve human factors ( FAA, 2012).               Now som e of these factors can be corrected very easily when you work by yourself: you can make up for fatigue by a cup of coffee, or an energy bar. However, you are hardly ever working by yourself in the aviation industry, no matter your job. So, when you are working as a team, these human factor
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  Airport Security   The Transportation Security Administration, or better known as TSA , deals with many threats daily and has programs, plans, and training routines to try and stop or mitigate these occurrences from happening. One big security threat TSA handles is insider threat. Insider threat is employees ( TSA agents or aviation workers ) abusing rights for wrong, advantageous reasons, ranging from small crimes to large-scaled, terrorist threats (GAO, 2020) . A small example can be a TSA agent taking home confiscated weapons obtained at the TSA checkpoint, such as firearms or knives. Another example, and much more threatening, can even be stealing an airplane at any time sensitive flight information.                                  TSA has many layers of security within their agency, 20 to be exact, and all play vital roles in m aintaining and enforcing security. To increase the security and risk mitigation of insider threats, a necessary effort from all 20 levels
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