Aircraft Mechanic Fatigue and Its Effects on Aircraft Accidents

Aircraft Mechanic Fatigue and its Effects on Aircraft Accidents

Majority of aircrafts accidents are blamed on human error, specifically the pilots and mechanics. This concern has been widely discussed in the aviation industry and among aviation professionals for so many years. Of this percentage of aircraft accidents, fatigue cases of mechanics and engineers are known to have caused them. This human factor has been one of the main issues on the list that usually result in bad performances. While pilots are under strict regulations and get detailed instructions on dealing with human factors that affect flight safety, aviation engineers and mechanics receive less attention. Aircraft mechanics are usually expected to work long hours most of which involve working late hours, not to mention overtime. In fact, many of them are on-call 24/7 like doctors. When an Aircraft on Ground (AOG) situation happens, aircraft mechanics are not allowed to leave the airplane until the malfunction is fixed. While pilots may sometimes get to rest during long flights, fatigue has always been a very critical problem for the technical staff because they are always under pressure to get the airplane back into safe flying condition as soon as possible. The growing number of operations significantly stretches the need for more human resources. In order to have high quality of services, mechanics are forced to work more hours. This may pave the way for them to skip completing checklists and choose to take shortcuts so that their tasks are done faster. This prospect is very worrisome for many concerned individuals and agencies. As the aircraft workforce heads toward shift work and alternative work arrangements, the danger of possible fatigue-related errors also increase. Changes in shift and working rotating or midnight shifts are leading causes of fatigue. Aircraft mechanic fatigue continues to be a significant contributing factor in accidents and incidents. In the absence of appropriate regulations, aviation maintenance workers and their supervisors have to be extra careful and sensitive for signs of fatigue.

Aircraft Accidents Blamed on Mechanic Fatigue

When British Airways Flight 5390 underwent a windscreen blowout minutes before it left Birmingham International Airport in June 1990, investigations reported several factors of which a major one was the fatigue that the mechanic who worked on the window experienced. The windscreen which was replaced before the flight was blown away and the cabin pressure sucked the pilot halfway out the open window. He was held on to by the co-pilot and later by the cabin crew until the airplane had to make an emergency landing at Southampton Airport. About 90 bolts were not able to restrain the cabin pressure. The aircraft mechanic who did the task worked very early in the morning when the human body is naturally low (circadian or time of