Ethics in Aviation

Tower Vs  Ground Control      During aircraft operations, the first 3 people a pilot talks to during a flight is the weather briefer, ground control, and tower. Ground control is a part of air traffic control, but they control the aircraft requesting taxi on the ground. Soon after landing and turning off the runway, the pilot holds short of the taxiway before switching radio frequencies to Ground Control. Everything after leaving the taxiway onto a runway and before turning off the runway is communicated with Tower.      Separating the two entities frees up radio space on the airport and provides more efficient separation by giving the controller only one area (ground or air) to focus on. Pilots must be in contact with ground control as soon as they cross the ATC line. This rule ensures that ATC is aware of every aircraft moving on the airport in high traffic areas. However, pilots do not have to be in contact with ATC while taxiing in hangar areas or getting fuel.  ( Groun

                                                   The Airport and the Environment       One of the biggest and most common environmental concerns for airport managers is lighting and thunderstorms.  “ IATA  requires for safety reasons some or all handling operations to be suspended when lightning occurs at or near an aerodrome .” (  ICAO , AMOFSG/7SN No. 17) During a thunderstorm, ramps are shut down and often planes can be left on the tarmac for however long it takes for the storm to pass. This is called a tarmac delay. Tarmac delays hurt airlines by causing jets to sit and burn fuel for periods of time while planes may be boarded with passengers. If the plane is delayed long enough to cause frustration to passengers, airlines are often obligated to provide financial compensation to the passengers for the inconvenience.       There is a delicate balance to be found between operational efficiency and personnel safety. Delaying aircraft due to lightning unnecessarily would cost t

                49 U.S. Code   § 40103. Sovereignty and use of airspace        The United States Government has exclusive sovereignty of all airspace within the USA. This law is important because it is designed to do a couple of important things like keeping aviation safe and secure for all airline travelers, reducing illegal immigration, and protecting our airspace from foreign and unauthorized penetration.         All US citizens have the right for transit through public airspace, but not all citizens have full operating rights within that airspace, for example, not just anyone is allowed to operate drones or airplanes in certain areas. Some spaces require Air Traffic Control authority for necessary operation. This law states the rights of citizens to utilize airspace while giving final authority to the US Government.          This law put away several theories US citizens had about who exactly owns what airspaces. Before air travel, they simply followed the rule of  "c

         Human factors in aviation can be defined as factors which can cause varied responses to the normal way work is done in various aviation fields specifically involving the traits that are unique to being human. Examples of human factors influencing work include poor work due to going to work tired, or forgetting important steps in the workflow. The FAA states that human factors like fatigue, complacency, and stress are very important things to monitor in the aviation maintenance industry in the AMT Handbook Addendum. (FAA ch. 14 p.1)           During long flights, aircrews need to work together as an effective team to remain vigilant and competent during all hours of the flight. Sometimes on longer, international flights, there are 2 full aircrews on board. After one crew flies the takeoff and first half of the flight, the second crew flies the second half and landing portion. This may mean that each member of the crew could have over 8 hours of time on duty. Even though thi

          Cybersecurity in aviation operations has been on more than a few's minds ever since airplanes have come to heavily rely on computers. People like Helga Munger have written about the emerging threat of system hacking and the fears of a second 9/11-type attack... except this time, they won't need to be on board the aircraft.           More realistically, cyberattacks within the airport stations that steal credit card numbers or crash systems used to give the pilots sensitive information are a scary thought for many. Airports always have very extensive layers o firewall protection and IT teams to battle this very possible thing, but you are " only as strong as your weakest link," (Munger, 2018, pg. 1).                   A possible IT failure could be detrimental to an airport. Airports hold so much Sensitive Information that criminals would love to get their hands on, so what could be done to mitigate this risk? Of course, IT teams are your first bet. Ai

        Electrical systems in Airplanes allow safer flight and easier workloads for pilots. The electrical systems allow fly-by-wire flight controls and receive and interpret critical information to the aircrew. A failure in this system, while not the end of the world, would require immediate attention and a confident and well-trained pilot to handle.          Your first primary source of power is your alternator or generator. Then you have voltage regulators. A loss in electricity would affect your secondary flight controls and other crucial components such as flaps, landing gear, and fuel pumps. It is important to continuously monitor you ammeters during flight so that you may spot a battery failure before it becomes too complicated to recover. You should focus on conserving electricity for the landing.           Another very serious electrical problem is electrical fires. Electrical Fires are very dangerous and could quickly spread to the cockpit and seriously injure passengers