The Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) ALAR Task Force working groups in 1998 presented final reports of their findings and recommendations. The Foundation published the reports in the November–December 1998 and January–February 1999 special issue of Flight Safety Digest, “Killers in Aviation: FSF Task Force Presents Facts About Approach-and-landing and Controlled-flight-into-terrain Accidents.” [PDF 1,588K]

The task force issued many recommendations for the reduction of ALAs, based on the following conclusions:

• Establishing and adhering to adequate standard operating procedures and flight-crew decision-making processes improves approach-and-landing safety;

• Failure to recognize the need for and to execute a missed approach when appropriate is a major cause of ALAs;

• Unstabilized and rushed approaches contribute to ALAs;

• Improving communication and mutual understanding between air traffic control services and flight crews of each other’s operational environments will improve approach-and-landing safety;

• The risk of ALAs is higher in operations conducted in low light and poor visibility, on wet or otherwise contaminated runways, and with the presence of optical illusions or physiological illusions;

• Using the radio altimeter as an effective tool will help prevent ALAs;

• Collection and analysis of in-flight parameters (for example, flight operational quality assurance programs) identify performance trends that can be used to improve approach-and-landing safety; and,

• Global sharing of aviation information decreases the risk of ALAs.

One safety product that has resulted from the task force’s work is the “FSF Approach-and-landing Risk Awareness Tool (RAT),” [PDF 34K] which is designed to enhance flight crew awareness of risks that might be encountered during approach and landing. The tool is a list of risk factors that can be incorporated into approach briefings that are conducted routinely by flight crews before beginning descent from cruise altitude to the destination airport.

Another safety product, the “Approach-and-landing Risk Reduction Guide,” [PDF 35K] is designed to help chief pilots, flight crews, dispatchers and schedulers identify policies and procedures that require refinement to ensure the safety of flight operations.

Among current efforts being conducted by the FSF ALAR Task Force is an economic analysis of the costs of ALAs to the industry

The Foundation, for its leadership of the CFIT Task Force, earned a 1994 Aerospace Laurel from Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine and the 1998 Aerospace Industry Award for Training and Safety, administered by Flight International magazine. The Foundation, for its leadership of the ALAR Task Force, also earned Flight International’s 2000 Aerospace Industry Award for Safety.

The Foundation accepted these awards on behalf of the dedicated safety specialists who have worked diligently to prevent the leading causes of aviation fatalities and on behalf of the organizations that have supported their efforts.

Additional CFIT- and ALA-related reading from FSF publications
 

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