Planning for super safety: the fail-safe dimension

Abstract

AbstractIt has long been a requirement in air transport that no single failure can have a catastrophic effect. As nothing can ever be failure free, fail-safety in design and operation must be provided in all respects.This paper explores the design background, application and history of the concept of fail-safety in air transport and the vital role it plays in overall safety. It is suggested that fail-safety is the most important discipline of all those involved in safety in design and operations. Without it, the current air transport safety levels, even using the latest technologies, would not be possible.In the modern air transport system, all accidents are due either to fail-safety implementations breaking down, or not having been adequately provided, or due to extremely remote multiple coincident failures. It can be argued that inadequacies in fail-safety provisions at the very low target failure rates now demanded, is the main reason for the near constancy of the accident rate, and the consequent increase in numbers of accidents as the world fleet grows. In the forefront of fail-safety problems is the inadequacy of its use in the management operations of crew in the modern air transport cockpit.