An Analysis and Review of Maintenance-Related Commercial Aviation Accidents and Incidents.

Maintenance issues in commercial aviation are one of the major causes of flight delays and cancellations. Presently, there is a gap in our knowledge about the current state of aviation maintenance safety. Specifically, we do not know the following: (1) What is the status of maintenance errors in commercial aviation accidents? (2) What issues dominate, and has that changed? Are new issues arising, for example, as composites become more prevalent? (3) What proactive and reactive methods are used to identify aviation maintenance risks, maintainer errors, and conditions? We addressed these questions by reviewing the tools, programs, and methods developed in the past three decades to reduce aviation maintenance errors. Next, we analyzed the NTSB reports for six maintenance-related accidents and 25 serious incidents in U.S. commercial aviation from 2009–2018. Fourteen reports cited incorrect service of aircraft parts, and five reports cited inadequate inspection. We compared our findings with previously published findings from the 14 maintenance-related accidents in 1998–2008. We found new factors that were not cited in the 1998–2008 accidents, such as incorrect decision-making or judgment by maintenance personnel. Finally, we discussed the current regulatory approaches in the United States to address maintenance errors.