HUMAN FACTORS GOOD PRACTICES IN BORESCOPE INSPECTION

Inspection error has been blamed for a number of engine failures in civil aviation, such as the one at Pensacola in July 1998. One of the inspection techniques most used in engine inspection is the borescope, a tool that allows remote viewing and thus obviates the need to disassemble the engine for routine inspections. This report provides an analysis of the tasks of borescope inspection in human factors terms to derive effective interventions aimed at improving inspection reliability. This report closely follows an earlier work on Fluorescent Penetrant Inspection (FPI) in that it uses detailed task analyses to discover potential human / system mismatches that could lead to error. As in the earlier report (Drury, 1999)1, the main technique is Hierarchical Task Analysis (HTA), where the whole job of borescope inspection is broken into successively smaller components, so that existing knowledge of human factors in inspection can be applied logically. At each of two visits to engine inspection facilities the HTA model of Borescope Inspection was further developed, and both good and poor human factors practices noted. The HTA had seven major tasks: 1. Initiate inspection 2. Access inspection task 3. Initiate engine rotation 4. Search for indications 5. Decision on indications 6. Respond on inspection 7. Return borescope to storage

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