Hybrid Human Error Assessment Approach for Critical Aircraft Maintenance Practice in the Training Aircraft

ABSTRACT

Objective

In this study, a hybrid human error assessment (HHEA) approach is proposed to determine the probability of aircraft maintenance technician (AMT) error occurring during aircraft repair.

Background

The human error assessment and reduction technique (HEART) is the first-generation empirical human reliability analysis (HRA) approach. Although this technique is used in several industries, AMTs’ errors have not been assessed with HEART and interactions of error-producing conditions (EPCs) have not been considered in calculating the probability of AMTs’ errors.

Method

HHEA is proposed to reduce the subjectivity of experts’ judgments by calculating assessed proportion of affect of each EPC on human error probability (HEP) integrating HEART and the analytic network process (ANP) method. The proposed model has been applied in the maintenance of the elevator, which is one of the most important primary control surfaces for the Cessna 172 Series aircraft type.

Results

The HEP values of 3 subtasks are found to be higher than the average HEP value. These subtasks have the highest probability of human error due to time pressure, poor environmental conditions, and being a repetitive task.

Conclusion

This study could guide other aircraft maintenance organizations using this integration of human reliability assessment approach for critical maintenance practices to enhance flight safety and minimize human error.