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Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) is leading landmark efforts
to prevent the two major causes of commercial-aviation fatalities: controlled
flight into terrain (CFIT) and approach-and-landing accidents (ALAs).
The Foundation in the early 1990s mounted a major attack on these two
killers, which together accounted for 80 percent of fatalities in commercial
transport-aircraft accidents from 1979 through 1991.
CFIT occurs when an airworthy aircraft under the control
of the flight crew is flown unintentionally into terrain, obstacles or
water, usually with no prior awareness by the crew. This type of accident
can occur during most phases of flight, but CFIT is more common during
the approach-and-landing phase, which begins when an airworthy aircraft
under the control of the flight crew descends below 5,000 feet above ground
level (AGL) with the intention to conduct an approach and ends when the
landing is complete or the flight crew flies the aircraft above 5,000
feet AGL en route to another airport.
 The FSF-led international CFIT Task Force, created in 1992, set as its
five-year goal a 50 percent reduction in CFIT accidents. The task force
included more than 150 representatives from airlines, equipment manufacturers,
aircraft manufacturers and many other technical, research and professional
organizations. The task force believed that education and training are
readily available tools to help prevent CFIT accidents.
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