This week an article about aviation and meteorology caught
my eye. Although it is from 1992 it makes a point and has pioneered research
about the topic. So we cannot talk about aviation and flight without referring to
safety. In aviation, the main purpose is to ensure its safety by preventing the
premises and events that could occur during the flight.
Furthermore, for civil aviation, the safety is linked to
three factors: the human factor, the technical one and the environmental one.
For example, the environmental factor is based on the meteorological situation,
the ornithological situation and the aerial situation. So this environmental
factor is the one who can enhance or mitigate the amount of material or human
losses.
The meteorological situation is the environmental component
that could influence the security of flight when some dangerous phenomena
occur: fog, blizzards, dust storms, atmospheric turbulence, thunderstorms,
storms etc.
Depending on where the phenomena occur they are classified
in:
- at the aerodrome:
- thunderstorms, storm, tempest, hail, glazed frost, mist , ice buildup on the ground or other phenomena that reduce visibility below the minimum scale set for the aerodrome or crew;
- the lower limit height of clouds is under the acceptable boundary set for the aerodrome;
- the ground wind’s velocity is higher than the standard values for takeoff / landing for different types of planes or could affect the ground equipment from the airport.
- in areas and flight trajectories :
- thunderstorms and CB developed clouds that cannot be passed by;
- strong icing that cannot be removed by defrosting equipment;
- strong turbulence which jeopardizes the safety of the flight;
- jet streams with velocity of over 150km/h.
So besides the possible human error, the meteorological
component of what is known as ”flight safety” is important and is a field that needs the very best experts.
