Aviation Commons^™

Human Behavior During Spaceflight: Evidence From An Analog Environment, Kenny Mikael Arnaldi

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Spaceflight offers a multitude of stressors to humans living and working in space, originating from the external space environment and the life-support system. Future space participants may be ordinary people with different medical and psychosocial backgrounds who may not receive the intense spaceflight preparation of astronauts. Consequently, during a mission, a space participant’s mood and behavior could differ from a trained astronaut. This study was an exploratory research project that used an artificial habitat to replicate an orbital environment and the activities performed by humans in space. The study evaluated whether the type of environment affects mood and temperament. Two …

Modeling Hydrodynamic Stability Of Incline-Liquid Airblast Nozzle For Gas Turbine Combustion, Kevin Matiko

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Fuel is a major cost item for civil transport airplanes. Minimizing fuel consumption of these crafts is a stream of economic opportunity and a stage for innovation, competition and exploration. Regardless of the fuel type, bio or crude oil based, the civil transport stakeholders would like to minimize fuel consumption of their airplanes. The mixing of fuel and air is a critical process for optimum combustion in gas turbine engines due to its high influence on the downstream combustion process. The need for minimizing fuel consumption coupled with the requirement for combustion systems to perform well at all flight conditions …

Effect Of Air Carrier Restructuring Strategies On Post-Bankruptcy Performance, Harold Dale Townsend

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Air carrier bankruptcy is a common occurrence in the aviation industry. However, there is a paucity of research on the topic of air carrier restructuring during the post-bankruptcy period. General restructuring literature has identified four types of actions: operational, financial, managerial, and portfolio. The purpose of this study was to partially fill the large literature gap in the area of air carrier post-bankruptcy performance through theoretical and practical contributions.

A multilevel exploratory factor analysis was conducted to explore whether the same restructuring areas were found in air carrier specific metrics. All four restructuring areas were found in the factor analysis. …

National Culture: Understanding The Impact Of Cross-Culture On Airline Pilots' Safety Performance In The Middle-East And North Africa (Mena) Region, Shareef Abdulla Kaddas Al-Romaithi

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The continuous expansion of Middle Eastern airlines has created a pilot shortage. Since the local pilot population in the Middle East is relatively small, airlines have been relying on foreign pilots to satisfy their operational requirements. Consequently, pilots with diverse cultural perspectives have been operating together. In order to manage this cultural diversity and ensure safe operations, airlines have been applying a number of training and operational strategies such as Crew Resource Management (CRM) with emphasis on adherence to Standard Operating Procedures (SOP). However, CRM was designed and implemented by North Americans as a solution for human factor intricacies among …

An Analysis Of Airport Surface Deviations Using The Human Factors Analysis And Classification System (Hfacs), James H. Cistone

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

An analysis of accident and incident data from the Federal Aviation Administration Runway Safety database and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) database was performed to determine causal factors for airport surface deviations over a 12-year period, from January 1, 2001 through December 31, 2012. The Human Factors Analysis and Classification System was used as the framework to analyze the NTSB data for causal factors.

Analysis of the NTSB data produced 289 airport surface deviation cases, which were analyzed for causal evidence, and the results indicated that skill-based errors occurred at least once in the largest frequency of airport surface …

Finite Element Modeling Of Macro Fiber Composite Actuators With Application To Wing De-Icing, Boutros Youssef Azizi

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Icing can have a profound impact on aircraft performance during inclement weather conditions. Aircraft icing primarily occurs on the leading edge of wings, tails and engines. The de-icing/anti-icing technologies currently in use are typically bulky, heavy, cover the entire airfoil surface and consume high energy. These drawbacks highlight the need for a de-icing technique that can overcome some or all of the aforementioned problems. Therefore, in this thesis, a proposed de-icing technique is studied in which lightweight Macro Fiber Composite (MFC) actuators are used to break the adhesive bond between the leading edge of a wing and an accumulated ice …

An Analysis Of Helicopter Ems Accidents Using Hfacs: 2000-2012, Christopher G. Bryan

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

In 1972, the first hospital based civilian helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) in the United States began operations. While the use of helicopters to transport medical casualties started decades previously, St. Anthony Flight for Life represented the start of an industry that would grow rapidly in the years to follow, both in the US and around the world (Flight for Life Colorado, n.d.).

Helicopters provide a valuable contribution to the field of medicine. They are faster than ground-based transportation and able to reach areas considered otherwise remote or impassible. They are highly manoeuvrable, unhindered by traffic, and can land in …