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Article
Publication date: 30 January 2019

Natalia Distefano and Salvatore Leonardi

The risk of aircraft runway excursion, dependent on multiple factors, is related to operating conditions. The purpose of this paper is to identify the correspondence between…

Abstract

Purpose

The risk of aircraft runway excursion, dependent on multiple factors, is related to operating conditions. The purpose of this paper is to identify the correspondence between features belonging to different aspects that occur in runway excursion events, distinguishing between take-off and landing phases.

Design/methodology/approach

To define the correspondence between the characteristic features of runway excursions, this study has applied multiple correspondence analysis (MCA). MCA is used to represent and model data sets as “clouds” of points in a multi-dimensional Euclidean space. There are five variables used in MCA: geographical region, potential cause, aircraft class, flight nature and aircraft damages. For the purpose of this research, the database contains only runway excursion accidents that took place between 2006 and 2016 among all categories of aircraft in all world regions. The events contained in the database were analyzed by separating those that occurred during take-off and those that occurred during landing.

Findings

With this method, this study identified a few particularly interesting variable combinations. Generally, the consequence of an aircraft runway excursion is substantial aircraft damage. Also, the most common cause of runway excursion during take-off is aircraft system faults, while during landing, it is weather conditions. Furthermore, the destruction of an aircraft is a result of a runway excursion due to bad weather conditions, both during take-off and landing.

Practical implications

The results of this study can be used by a broad range of civil aviation organizations for runway risk assessment and to select the most effective safety countermeasures for runway excursions.

Originality/value

The authors believe this study is original, especially for the statistical analysis method used.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 91 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1748-8842

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 September 2008

David Sanders

The purpose of this paper is to develop an electronic solution to effectively lock swivelling wheel steering positions to driver‐control. Simple and affordable systems are…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop an electronic solution to effectively lock swivelling wheel steering positions to driver‐control. Simple and affordable systems are described to assist forklift users in steering their walkie type forklifts or pallet jacks across sloping ground.

Design/methodology/approach

A rolling road was created as an assessment tool and trials with both the test bed and in real situations were conducted to evaluate the new systems. The small swivel detector that was created could be successfully attached to swivelling wheel swivel bearings.

Findings

The new system was successful, robust and was not affected by changeable parameters. The simple systems assisted hand truck operators in steering their forklifts across sloping ground without veering off course. The systems overcame the problems associated with forklifts that steer using two swivelling wheels and meant that less work was required from hand truck operators as their forklifts tended to travel in the desired direction

Research limitations/implications

Experiments demonstrated that calibrating forklift controllers for straight‐line balance and optimizing motor‐compensation did not solve this problem. Instead, swivelling wheel angle was selected to provide feedback. At the point when veer is first detected, a forklift has already begun to alter course and the job of the correction system is to minimize this drift from the desired course.

Practical implications

The forklifts and pallet jacks often steer by having swivelling wheels but problems with this configuration occur when a forklift is driven along sloping ground because they can swivel in the direction of the slope. Gravity then causes the forklift or pallet jack to start an unwanted turn or “veer” and the vehicle goes in an unintended direction. This situation is exacerbated for vehicles with switch controls, as switches cannot provide fine control to trim and compensate.

Originality/value

Each year in the United States, over 100 employees are killed and 36,000 are seriously injured in accidents involving forklift trucks and pallet carriers. This is the second leading cause of occupational fatalities in “industrial” type workplaces. The research aims to make the use of this type of equipment safer and the systems can be attached to many standard forklifts and pallet jacks.

Details

Assembly Automation, vol. 28 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-5154

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 1984

Ida R. Hoos

Mitroff's proposal that we exercise all our wits and not just half of them, i.e. the portion presumed to reside in the left hemisphere of the brain, is indisputable. One would…

Abstract

Mitroff's proposal that we exercise all our wits and not just half of them, i.e. the portion presumed to reside in the left hemisphere of the brain, is indisputable. One would like to conclude from the scenario that he has drawn that (a) management information systems are not necessarily synonymous with managerial knowhow; (b) there is no magic in macro‐models; and (c) the computer, despite having achieved Man‐of‐the‐Year status on the cover of Time, cannot father a daughter (to whom marriage at one time would have assured swift ascent in a business career). But I am not sure that this is Mitroff's message nor am I clear as to what it really is, for although he starts out by agreeing with me, that society may be getting the short end of a Faustian bargain with respect to information technology, his line of argument veers off in a direction that would logically lead to a very different conclusion. If I read him correctly, he looks more to the machine than to the man in the man/machine relationship. He wants us to build better men via machine so that electronic games, Disneylands, and other such contrivances will provide us with more salubrious feedback in the way of improved information about everything from the workings of our private psyche to the running of our business.

Details

Office Technology and People, vol. 2 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0167-5710

Article
Publication date: 20 January 2012

Harold Zallen, John E. Cochran and Judith Ann Bailey

The purpose of this paper is to define and determine quantifiable measurements for head‐tilt and pilot fatigue by detecting and measuring the six degrees of freedom (6DOF) head…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to define and determine quantifiable measurements for head‐tilt and pilot fatigue by detecting and measuring the six degrees of freedom (6DOF) head motion of test subjects performing flight simulation operations.

Design/methodology/approach

First, a flight simulator that met the needs of the research project was designed and fabricated. Second, the tracking system was tested and deemed operable through a series of shakedown runs. Then, the head motion of test subjects was detected and measured using infrared technology. Finally, the data collected were used to establish definitions for head‐tilt and pilot fatigue.

Findings

Head‐tilt and pilot fatigue were defined and evidence of their presence was observed in the head motion data.

Practical implications

The goal of this research is to reduce aircraft accidents upon landing and take‐off for general, commercial, and military aviation to include unmanned aerial vehicles.

Originality/value

Literature which covers the definition and measurement of a pilot's head motion in flight is unclear. By defining the optokinetic phenomena of head‐tilt and precisely measuring pilot head motion and developing and using tests of pilots based on the results to screen for head‐tilt, the number of land aircraft veering off runways during both landing and takeoff can be reduced. Also, the number of aircraft overshooting the flight deck on an aircraft carrier can be reduced, as well as fewer crashes upon landing of unmanned aerial vehicles.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 84 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0002-2667

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 November 2016

Norman Mugarura

The purpose of the paper is to examine the law and how it has been utilised in fostering proper functioning of global markets within member countries and globally. The term “law”…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to examine the law and how it has been utilised in fostering proper functioning of global markets within member countries and globally. The term “law” in this context refers to international law, whose primary function is to regulate activities of sovereign States and organisations created by a group of States. The Statute of the International Court of Justice 1907, which has been ratified as a treaty by all UN nations, provides the most authoritative definition of the sources of international law to date (Schachter, 1991). Under Article 38 of Statute of the International Court of Justice 1907, there four main sources of international law such as treaties, international customs, general principles of law recognised by civilised nations and judicial decisions of International Court of Justice and other internationally accepted tribunals. They are the materials and processes out of which the rules and principles regulating the international community are developed and sustained. The term “global Village” was coined by a Canadian scholar by the name of Marshall McLuhan to describe the contraction of the globe into a village because of advances in internet communication technology and increased consciousness and enhanced transport systems (McLuhan, 2003). The current “global village” is manifested by the growing interconnectedness of economies which has enhanced the ability of states to interact economically, politically and socially. It operates in a way that seems to defy common definitions such as delimitations of national borders and states. The global system has created shared synergies such as free movement of workers, capital, good and services. However, it has created varied challenges for individual states given that challenges in one part of the globe can easily navigate into the system to infest other countries including those that have nothing to do with its causes. This dichotomy is highlighted by the debt crisis in the Eurozone member countries which has been simmering since 2009 but has recently bubbled to the surface by the crisis in Greece. The challenges in Greece as well in other deeply integrated countries have not been confined within individual countries or regions but have had a domino effect farther afield due to the growing interconnectedness of economies. There are dualities in the global system manifested by the fact that developed countries are endowed with the means, and, therefore, they have requisite capacity to harness the law and markets easily as opposed to their counterparts in least developed countries (LDCs), where this leverage is non-existent. Less-developed economies are so described because they lack requisite capacity and cannot compete as efficiently as their counterpart in developed countries. This has translated into ambivalence and half-heartedness in some states attitude to embrace market discipline wholeheartedly. The foregoing challenges have been exacerbated by the tenuous legal systems, lack of robust infrastructure, oversight institutions and corruption, especially in the LDCs cohort. The paper utilises empirical data to evaluate the role of law in fostering the relationship between states and markets. In other words, are the rules governing global markets effectively working to ensure a harmonious co-existence of markets, states and various stakeholders? Can the recent global crises such as the debt crisis in Greece mean that the global village is in quandary? Is there any village that is devoid of challenges or they are part and parcel of life? The paper utilises empirical examples in both developed and developing countries to evaluate the current state of the contemporary global village in search for answers to the foregoing nagging questions.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper adopts a selective review approach in analysing the most appropriate materials for inclusion in its analysis. It is an empirical study based on the most recent global developments such as the global financial crisis, the debt crisis in European Union (EU) to gains insights into the interplay of the relationship between law and markets and the occasional disharmony between these two regulatory domains.

Findings

The issues examined in this paper provide significant insights into the dynamics of the global village, law and markets. It has delineated that for markets to work effectively, the state needs to remain in the loop and to keep an arm’s length relationship with the market because it will have to come in to pick the pieces when things go wrong. The law cannot be pushed to the sidelines because it will have to provide the instruments for states and markets to operate efficiently within their respective regulatory domain. There is no state, including North Korea (not as open as other economies in Asia), which can close its door entirely to markets. Experience has demonstrated that law is more than rules which govern societies but a way of life such that a society is as developed as is its legal system. The State needs to use the leverage of the law and to take centre stage for markets to remain viable and relevant. Recent crises such as the debt crisis in Greece or the global financial crisis before provide lessons for proponents of the global market system to learn so that it can proportionately distribute benefits and not challenges.

Research limitations/implications

The global market system has imposed varied challenges on states at the scale never envisaged before. Some of the theoretical premises relating to the paper were based on secondary data sources and were evaluated based on a small sample of cases. The author, therefore, extrapolated that the law seems to have been relegated to the sidelines to not interfere with markets. The paper has evaluated the current global market system in the context of contemporary challenges in Europe and in other regions; it would have been better to explore examples from other regions. It is evident that the state and the market are two sides of the same coin – they are embedded in each other, and their relationship complimentary and will have to co-exist. They need to work in tandem because the market needs the state and the state needs the market. Meanwhile, both the state and the market need the law as an equalizer to ensure they are regulated according to engendered rules. It appears that the disharmony between the state and the market is because of the fusion of law and politics which often results in overlapping interests. The recent global financial crisis and the frantic efforts of EU government to bail out debt distressed countries like Greece have implied that governments will need to maintain an arms-length relationship with markets. When the state lets its hands off, literally speaking, in the author’s view, markets will veer off course.

Practical implications

The global system has created shared synergies such as free movement of workers, capital, good and services. However, it has created varied challenges for individual states given that challenges in one part of the globe can easily navigate into the system to infest other countries including those that have nothing to do with its causes. States and stakeholders will need to carefully evaluate the impact of global regulatory initiatives to make sure that in adopting them, they are not debased or undermined by those initiatives.

Social implications

For markets to work properly, the state must remain in the loop and keep an arms-length relationship with the market because it will have to come in to pick the pieces when things go wrong. The law cannot be pushed to the sidelines because it will have to provide the instruments for states and markets to operate efficiently within their respective regulatory domain. There is no state, including North Korea (not as open as other economies in Asia), which can close its door entirely to markets. Experience has demonstrated that law is more than rules which govern societies but a way of life such that a society is as developed as is its legal system. The State needs to use the leverage of the law in providing effective regulatory oversight of markets both domestically and globally.

Originality/value

The paper was written on the basis of recent global crises such as the debt crisis in Greece, Europe, which were evaluated in the narrow context and are objectives of the paper.

Details

International Journal of Law and Management, vol. 58 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-243X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 2008

Martin Langner and David Sanders

Simple and affordable systems are described to assist wheelchair users in steering their wheelchairs across sloping ground. The systems can be attached to many standard powered…

Abstract

Simple and affordable systems are described to assist wheelchair users in steering their wheelchairs across sloping ground. The systems can be attached to many standard powered wheelchairs. Wheelchairs often steer by having two swivelling caster wheels but problems with this configuration occur when a wheelchair is driven along sloping ground because the casters can swivel in the direction of the slope. Gravity then causes the wheelchair to start an unwanted turn or ‘veer’ and the chair goes in an unintended direction. This situation is exacerbated for switch users, as switches cannot provide fine control to trim and compensate. Early experiments demonstrated that calibrating wheelchair controllers for straight‐line balance and optimising motor‐compensation did not solve this problem. Caster angle was selected to provide feedback to the wheelchair controllers. At the point when veer is first detected, a wheelchair has already begun to alter course and the job of the correction system is to minimise this drift from the desired course. A rolling road was created as an assessment tool and trials with both the test bed and in real situations were conducted to evaluate the new systems. The small swivel detector that was created could be successfully attached to caster swivel bearings. The new system was successful, robust and was not affected by changeable parameters. Although primarily intended for switch users, the methods can be applied to users with proportional controls.

Details

Journal of Assistive Technologies, vol. 2 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-9450

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Airport Design and Operation
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-08-054643-8

Abstract

Details

Airport Design and Operation
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78441-869-4

Abstract

Details

A Circular Argument
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80071-385-7

Content available
Article
Publication date: 1 May 1999

94

Abstract

Details

Disaster Prevention and Management: An International Journal, vol. 8 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0965-3562

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