NTSB Most Wanted List

     The NTSB "most wanted list" consisted of two topics, General Aviation: Identify and Communicate Hazardous Weather and The Unique Characteristics of Helicopter Operation.  In the general aviation article it is mentioned that the highest aviation related deaths are in general aviation.  The article states that the accidents per 100,000 flight hours are significantly greater in general aviation than either Part 121 operations or Part 135 charter operations.  It is mentioned also that the three things related to weather related accidents is the pilots training and operation, since most of these accidents occur in instrument meteorological conditions.  They also mention the weather information provided and distributed by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Weather Service, along with the creation of weather advisories like pilot reports. 

     I do believe that aviation weather related accidents is an important topic to be on the "most wanted list" by the NTSB.  I feel that since a majority of these accidents are occurring in general aviation, that it is essential to discover ways to increase pilots awareness of what they can do to prevent these types of scenarios from happening to them.  A big part of aviation is insuring safety and being able to reduce the risk of accidents as much as possible.  If we can find a way to lower the accidents per 100,00 due to weather related accidents it would impact a large number of people.  It seems any accident or incident in aviation draws to the public eye of how unsafe or risky it can be at times.  If there  is a way to lower the number of accidents and incidents to prove to the public it is a safer means of traveling than by car and would help increase the image or perception of general aviation.

     Since aviation is a constantly changing field with technology and new ways to enhance safety, I think that an area where new jobs might exist would be in the safety of aviation.  They could add to the information of reading and understand weather information available to pilots to increase their understanding.  There could be added requirements to obtain ground instructions or attend these weather seminars, making it mandatory.  Having a requirement on an annual basis for example would create a need for more instructors.  I've seen weather courses on websites like AOPA, some of them are stories about an accident that happened because of weather, and others have quizzes at the end to test on the information about weather.  I think these types of things are also helpful to general aviation pilots.  Along with this in aviation safety areas, adding or making additional information about risk management and the efficient use of the tools available in the cockpit.  Training in this area could add to the knowledge of a pilot helping them to become aware of the multiple resources they have, especially since many general aviation pilots do not fly consistently year round.   

Landing At The Wrong Airport

     In looking into other aircraft incident where they mistakenly landed at the wrong airport, I found a United Flight operated by Silver Airways. This occurred in August of 2012, when the flight was intending to land at Clarksburg but ended up landing at Fairmont.  Its seems that according to the CNN article about the Silver airways Saab 340B, it landed at an airport about 10 miles away.  This is similar to the other incidents regarding the Boeing 747 aircraft and Southwest 737, which both landed at the wrong airport about 9 and 7 miles from their intended destination. 

     Some of the hazards in making this kind of mistake can be involved with the airline companies reputation.  When an aircraft incident occurs, whether or not people are injured it will mostly likely make some type of headlines.  Along with that another factor would be money or revenue, if an airline makes a few mistakes like this I could see people choosing to fly with another company.  Also things like the logistics of getting the passengers on board these flight to their correct destination could be difficult.  It's the airlines responsibility to coordinate getting these passengers to the intended airport in a timely manner.  I could see this affecting and causing problems as this is not the type of incident that would be anticipated.    

     In my opinion, in reading the Gazette article on Southwest Flight 4103, the pilots made an error that could have been corrected before landing at the Taney County Airport.  I do however think in some situations the media does over-hype aircraft incidents.  I think that until a full investigation had been completed it would be difficult to determine the exact reasoning.  In the incident with the Boeing Dreamlifter, it seemed that the pilots confused their intended destination for the Jabara Airport.  I think that in this cause the pilots also mistakenly landed at the wrong airport, and I would have thought with their navigation and experience they would have been able to correct this event as well.  I think that these incidents are not the types of things that the media should be focused on as there were no catastrophic events that occurred from them.  In both cases I think the pilots made an error and were able to land the aircraft safely.

     As a management major, I would tend to agree with suspending the Southwest pilots until the investigation is completed.  In researching, I found that the skies were clear and it was about 6pm.  I would think that with the training and experience that the pilots had they should have been able to notice and abort the landing before touching down.  The article said that the intended, Branson Airport had a runway of more than 7,100 feet long and Taney County Airport had a runway just over 3,700 feet long.  It seems like a pilot should be familiar with longer runway lengths and know the field is significantly shorter.

Introduction

Hello,

I am a graduating student at Eastern Michigan University with a major in Aviation Management Technology.  I am looking to find a job within airport management but don't have any specific companies in mind at his time.  I plan to use this class and semester to look more in depth to find a location or airport I would ultimately like to be employed with.

I got interested in aviation a couple years back when my dad started working towards getting his private pilots license.  I started flying a little at a small flight school, while taking college classes and it became more interesting to me each flight.  Before I knew it I was taking ground classes and got my private pilots license.  I continued flying to go on and get my private pilot instrument rating after that.

I find that the management side of aviation interests me more than the flight side.  After meeting with a few airport managers throughout my education process and going on a tour at Detroit Metro.  I would like to work for either an airport authority or possibly the airline.  I enjoy management and the business side of things.  My parents had their own manufacturing business that I had the opportunity to see how it operated.  Being around this business and seeing the management side of things has given me more of an interest in management and business operations.