IMPROVING AIR SAFETY: LONG-TERM CHALLENGES

The article looks at the improvements in safety achieved by the aviation industry in the last 50 years, and recognizes that they have been substantial. The challenges for further improving aviation safety in the long run are identified. They include: ground congestion; litigation and accident investigation; investigation technology; increasing automation; safety performance in a cyclical industry; investigating why planes do not crash (when, in an identical situation they do); and, organizing governmental institutions for safety.