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Abstract

The Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS, Wiegmann & Shappell, 2003) was developed as an analytical framework for the investigation of the role of human factors in aviation accidents. HFACS is based upon Reason's model (1990) of human error in which active failures are associated with the performance of front -line operators in complex systems and latent failures are characterized as inadequacies which lie dormant within a system for a long time, and are only trigge red when combined with other factors to breach the system's defenses. In this research HFACS was used to analyze accidents occurring in civil aviation aircraft in the Republic of China (ROC). Forty-one accident reports from the Aviation Safety Council (A SC) were analyzed. Relationships in the HFACS framework were identified linking fallible decisions at higher (organizational) levels with supervisory practices, thereby creating the preconditions for unsafe acts and hence indirectly impairing the performance of pilots.

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From Latent Failure to Active Failure: The Investigation of Human Errors in Aviation Operation

Abstract

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