Variations in human behavior and performance are responsible fora large percentage of aviation accidents. Selected human factors that contribute to general aviation accidents are identified and classified and their frequency of occurrence is determined with the intent of providing means to reduce the accident rate. The purpose of human factors research in aviation is twofold. First, human limitationsand capabilities are defined in terms of interaction with people and with mechanical, technical, and procedural systems. This definition spells out what a human can and cannot do; thus the limits of the human performance envelope are established. Second, knowledge concerning the envelope can be used to provide direction for modification of flight training, system design, and aircraft design. A checklist based on a systems approach to understanding human behavior in aircraft accidents was used to identify human factors that contributed togeneral aviation accidents. Accidents studied were selected randomly from all 1988 National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) accidentreports. Some types of human factors were readily identifiable fromNTSB reports.
Abstract