US NAVAL AVIATION MISHAPS, 1977-92 - DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SINGLE-PILOTED AND DUAL-PILOTED AIRCRAFT

The present study examined U.S. Naval aircraft mishap trends between J anuary 1977 and December 1992 using all Class A, B, and C mishaps. Res ults of this investigation revealed that mishaps attributable to both human error and mechanical/environmental factors have declined steadil y over the past 16 years, although mishaps attributed to human error h ave declined at a much slower rate. For those mishaps attributed to hu man error, differences were observed between single and dual-piloted a ircraft when phase-of-flight (takeoff, in-flight, landing) and time-of -day were evaluated. For single-piloted aircraft, in-flight mishaps co nstituted the highest proportion of mishaps during the day (>55%), whi le landing mishaps constituted the highest proportion of mishaps durin g the evening and night (43-65%). For dual-piloted aircraft, no consis tent variation was evident for phase-of-flight and time-of-day. In-fli ght (approx. 55%) mishaps constituted the highest proportion of mishap s across all times of day, followed by landing (approx. 35%), and take off (approx. 10%) mishaps. These data support focused rather than glob al investigations of aviation mishaps.