Analyzing aviation safety: Problems, challenges, opportunities

Research in Transportation Economics

Volumn 43, Issue 1, 2013, Pages 148-164

  Oster, Clinton V ^a   Strong, John S ^b   Zorn, C Kurt ^a  

^a INDIANA UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b Raymond A Mason School of Business   (United States)

Author keywords

Aviation safety; Aviation security; Aviation terrorism

Indexed keywords

EID: 84878144258     PISSN: 07398859     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.retrec.2012.12.001     Document Type: Article

References (64)

1. Airclaims World aircraft accident summary (WAAS), 1990-2012 2012, CAP 479, issue 167, Airclaims Ltd, London.
2. Barnett A.I. Cross-national differences in aviation safety records. Transportation Science 2010, 44(3):322-332.
3. Barnett A.I., Higgins M.K. Airline safety: the last decade. Management Science 1989, 35(1):1-21.
4. Barnett A.I., Wang A. Passenger-mortality risk estimates provide perspectives about airline safety. Flight Safety Digest 2000, 19(4):1-12.
5. Boeing Statistical summary of commercial jet airplane accidents: Worldwide operations, 1959-2011 2012, Aviation Safety, Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Seattle, Washington.
6. Coughlin C., Cohen J., Khan S. Aviation security and terrorism: a review of the economic issues. The elements of aviation security management 2008, Vol. 2:1-24. Praeger Security International, Westport, CT. A.R. Thomas (Ed.).
7. Dionne G., Gagné R., Gagnon F., Vanasse C. Debt, moral hazard and airline safety: an empirical evidence. Journal of Econometrics 1997, 79:379-402.
8. Federal Aviation Administration Federal Aviation Administration: A historical perspective, 1903-2008 2008, [online], U.S. Department of Transportation, Washington, D.C., Available at, Accessed 28.12.11. http://www.faa.gov/about/history/historical_perspective/.
9. Federal Aviation Administration Aviation safety information analysis and sharing system (ASIAS) 2012, [online], Available at, Accessed 11.09.12. http://www.asias.faa.gov/portal/page/portal/asias_pages/asias_home/datainfo:databases:k-o.
10. Federal Aviation Administration Aviation safety action program 2012, [website], Available at, Accessed 11.09.11. http://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/asap/.
11. Federal Aviation Administration FAA historical chronology, 1926-1996 2012, [pdf], Available at, Accessed 11.09.12. http://www.faa.gov/about/media/b-chron.pdf.
12. Federal Aviation Administration Flight operational quality assurance (FOQA) 2012, [website], Available at, Accessed 11.09.11. http://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/atos/air_carrier/foqa/.
13. Federal Aviation Administration, Air Traffic Organization National runway safety plan, 2009-2011 2009, [pdf], U.S. Department of Transportation, Washington, D.C., Available at, Accessed 28.12.11. http://www.faa.gov/airports/runway_safety/publications/media/RunwaySafetyReport-kh10-plan.pdf.
14. Flight Safety Foundation, Aviation Safety Network [online]. Available at, Accessed 11.09.12. http://aviation-safety.net/database/events/event.php%3fcode%3dSE.
15. Golbe D.L. Safety and profits in the airline industry. Journal of Industrial Economics 1986, 34:305-318.
16. Hersman D.A.P. Assuring safety in aviation's second century. 8th annual Assad Kotaite lecture 8 December 2011, [online] Montreal, Quebec, Available at, Accessed 30.12.11. http://www.ntsb.gov/news/speeches/hersman/daph111208.html.
17. International Civil Aviation Organization Safety management manual 2009, [pdf], ICAO, Montreal, Quebec, Available at, Accessed 11.09.12. http://legacy.icao.int/anb/safetymanagement/DOC_9859_FULL_EN.pdf, 2nd ed.
18. International Civil Aviation Organization, Co-operative Development of Operational Safety and Continuing Airworthiness Programme Safety management system (SMS) 2012, [online], Available at, Accessed 11.09.12. http://coscapsa.org/Safety/Safety%2520Management%2520System.htm.
19. Jackson B.A., LaTourrette T., Chan E.W., Lundberg R., Morral A.R., Freling D.R. Efficient aviation security: Strengthening the analytic foundation for making air transportation security decisions 2012, [pdf], RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, CA, Available at, Accessed 31.08.12. http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG1220.html.
20. Lofquist E.A. The art of measuring nothing: the paradox of measuring safety in a changing civil aviation industry using traditional safety metrics. Safety Science 2010, 48(10):1520-1529.
21. McCullagh D. Liquid explosives threaten air travel 10 August 2006, [online], CNET News, Available at, Accessed 11.09.12. http://news.cnet.com/Liquid-explosives-threaten-air-travel/2100-7348_3-6104475.html.
22. Madsen P.M. Perils and profits: a reexamination of the link between profitability and safety in U.S. aviation. Journal of Management April 6 2011, [online], Available at, Accessed 10.08.12. http://jom.sagepub.com/content/early/2011/04/05/0149206310396374.
23. Marais K.B., Robichaud M.R. Analysis of trends in aviation maintenance risk: an empirical approach. Reliability Engineering and System Safety 2012, 106:104-118.
24. Michaels D., Pasztor A. Airlines count down to safest year on record. Wall Street Journal 28 December 2011, [online], Available at, Accessed 28.12.11. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204296804577124583734872946.html%3fKEYWORDS%3dairlines%2bcount%2bdown.
25. Military History Encyclopedia on the Web Hijacking 2012, [online], Available at, Accessed 11.09.12. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/concepts_hijacking.html.
26. National Research Council, National Academies of Science, Committee on Assessment of Security Technologies for Transportation Defending the U.S. air transportation system against chemical and biological threats 2006, National Academies Press, Washington, D.C.
27. Nelson R.A., Drews J.N. Strict product liability and safety: evidence from the general aviation market. Economic Inquiry 2008, 46(3):425-437.
28. Netjasov F., Janic M. A review of research on risk and safety modeling in civil aviation. Journal of Air Transport Management 2008, 14(4):213-220.
29. Noronha G., Singal V. Financial health and airline safety. Managerial and Decision Economics 2004, 25(1):1-16.
30. NYC Aviation On this day in aviation history 2012, [online], Available at, Accessed 11.09.12. http://nycaviation.com/2010/10/on-this-day-in-aviation-history-october-10th.
31. Oster C.V., Strong J.S. An assessment of aviation security costs and funding in the united states. Perspectives on aviation security management 2008, Vol. 3:172-189. Praeger Security International, Westport, CT. A.R. Thomas (Ed.).
32. Oster C.V., Strong J.S. Managing the skies: Public policy, organization, and financing of air navigation 2008, Ashgate Publishing, Aldershot, United Kingdom.
33. Oster C.V., Strong J.S., Zorn C.K. Why airplanes crash: Aviation safety in a changing world 1992, Oxford University Press, Oxford, United Kingdom.
34. Oster C.V., Strong J.S., Zorn C.K. Why airplanes crash: causes of accidents worldwide. Transportation research forum, annual forum March 2010, 11-13. [presented paper], Arlington, VA.
35. Pasztor A. The new frontier in air safety. Wall Street Journal 23 December 2011, [online], Available at, Accessed 27.12.11. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203686204577113693683788110.html%3fKEYWORDS%3dThe%2bNew%2bFrontier%2bin%2bAir%2bSafety.
36. President's Commission on Aviation Security and Terrorism Report to the president 1990, Washington, D.C. [online], Available at, Accessed 31.08.12. http://books.google.com/books%3fid%3dPU2gl3TwFQ4C%26printsec%3dfrontcover%26source%3dgbs_ge_summary_r%26cad%3d0%23v%3donepage%26q%26f%3dfalse.
37. Raghavan S., Rhoades D.L. Revisiting the relationship between profitability and air carrier safety in the U.S. airline industry. Journal of Air Transport Management 2005, 11:283-290.
38. Reason J. Human error 1990, Cambridge University Press, New York.
39. Reason J. Understanding adverse events: human factors. Quality in Health Care 1995, 4:80-89.
40. Reason J. Maintenance-related errors: the biggest threat to aviation safety after gravity?. Aviation safety, proceedings of the IASC-97 international safety conference 1997, 465-470. Utrecht, The Netherlands. H.M. Soekkha (Ed.).
41. Reason J. Human error: models and management. British Medical Journal 2000, 320:768-770.
42. Reason J. Safety in the operating theatre - part 2: human error and organisational failure. Quality & Safety in Health Care 2005, 14:56-61.
43. Rodrigues C., Cusick S. Commercial aviation safety 2012, McGraw-Hill, New York. 5th ed.
44. Roelen A. Causal risk models of air transport: Comparison of user needs and model capabilities 2008, IOS Press, Inc, Fairfax, VA.
45. Rose N.L. Profitability and product quality: economic determinants of airline safety performance. Journal of Political Economy 1990, 98(5 Pt 1):944-964.
46. Savage I. Aviation deregulation and safety in the United States: the evidence after twenty years. Taking stock of air liberalization 1999, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Norwell, MA. M. Gaudry, R. Mayes (Eds.).
47. Savage I. Competition on the basis of safety?. Pricing behavior and non-price characteristics in the airline industry, advances in airline economics 2012, Vol. 3:297-323. Emerald Books, Bingley, United Kingdom.
48. Shappell S., Boquet A., Wiegmann D., Detwiler C., Holcomb K., Hackworth C., et al. Human error and commercial aviation accidents: A comprehensive, fine-grained analysis using hfacs 2004, [pdf], Available at, Accessed 31.08.12. http://www.hf.faa.gov/docs/508/docs/gaFY05HFACS.pdf.
49. Shappell S.A., Wiegmann D.A. The human factors analysis and classification system - HFACS 2000, (Technical report no. DOT/FAA/AM-00/7), Federal Aviation Administration, Office of Aerospace Medicine, Washington, DC.
50. Stewart M.G., Mueller J. A risk and cost-benefit assessment of United States aviation security measures. Journal of Transportation Security 2008, 1(3):143-159.
51. Stolzer A., Halford C., Goglia J. Safety management systems in aviation 2008, Ashgate, Surrey, UK.
52. The 9/11 Commission Report Final report of the national commission on terrorist attacks upon the United States 2004, Available at, Accessed 28.12.11. http://www.911commission.gov/report/911Report.pdf.
53. Transportation Security Administration 3-1-1 for carry-ons 2012, [online], Available at, Accessed 11.09.12. http://www.tsa.gov/311/.
54. U.S.Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics The changing face of transportation (BTS00-007) 2000, Washington, D.C.
55. U.S.Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics T1: U.S. air carrier traffic and capacity summary by service class 2012, [online], Available at, Accessed 11.09.12. http://www.transtats.bts.gov/Tables.asp?DB_ID%3D130%26DB_Name%3DAir%2520Carrier%2520Summary%2520Data%2520(Form%252041%2520and%2520298C%2520Summary%2520Data)%26DB_Short_Name%3DAir%2520Carrier%2520Summary.
56. United States General Accounting Office Aviation security: Immediate action needed to improve security 1996, (GAO/T-RCED/NSIAD-96-237), Washington, D.C.
57. United States Government Accountability Office Aviation security: Vulnerabilities still exist in the aviation security system 2000, (GAO/T-RCED/AIMD-00-142), Washington, D.C.
58. United States Government Accountability Office Aviation security: DHS has made progress in securing the commercial aviation system, but key challenges remain 2007, (GAO-08-139T), Washington, D.C.
59. United States Government Accountability Office Aviation safety: Improved data quality and analysis capabilities are needed as FAA plans a risk-based approach to safety oversight 2010, (GAO-10-414), Washington, D.C.
60. United States Government Accountability Office Aviation security: Efforts to validate TSA's passenger screening behavior detection program underway, but opportunities exist to strengthen validation and address operational challenges 2010, (GAO-10-763), Washington, D.C.
61. United States Government Accountability Office Aviation security: TSA has enhanced its explosives detection requirements for checked baggage, but additional screening actions are needed 2011, (GAO-11-740), Washington, D.C.
62. United States Government Accountability Office Aviation security: TSA has made progress, but additional efforts are needed to improve security 2011, (GAO-11-938T), Washington, D.C.
63. United States Government Accountability Office Aviation safety: FAA is taking steps to improve data, but challenges for managing safety risks remain 2012, Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Aviation, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, House of Representatives (GAO-12-660T), Washington, D.C.
64. Wiegmann D., Shappell S., Boquet A., Detwiler C., Holcomb K., Faaborg T. Human error and general aviation accidents: A comprehensive, fine-grained analysis using HFACS 2005, (Technical report no. DOT/FAA/AM-05/24), Federal Aviation Administration, Office of Aerospace Medicine, Washington, D.C.