Investigation of Alarm-Related Accidents and Incidents in Aviation

Abstract

With increases in technology, pilots have assumed the role of system monitors. As such, they have become dependent upon sensor-based alarm signals, some of which are unreliable. Researchers have shown that unreliable alarms foster mistrust and complacency by operators, and may degrade flight tasks and alarm reactions. To supplement available laboratory investigations, we tabulated the number of events involving true, false, and missed alarms within the Aviation Safety Reporting System database, the National Transportation Safety Board database, and the U.S. Army's Aviation Safety database. We also separated the results by aircraft type, avionics, flight phase, and specific problem. Our investigation revealed that alarm-related problems occur frequently across flight environments, and that false alarms remain a significant concern in aviation. Given the pervasiveness of alarm-related problems, it is important that future researchers devote considerable effort to improve aviation alarm systems.