ABSTRACT
At first glance, each airline accident seems unlike any previous accident insofar as it involves different flight conditions, problem indications and aircraft types. But safety investigators strive to identify common factors that are associated with seemingly diverse accidents so that appropriate countermeasures may be introduced. This chapter focuses on 'plan continuations', a pattern common to many aviation accidents and discusses how pilots' risk assessment and risk management strategies may play a role in this type of event. The subjective nature of risk perception is heightened in the aviation environment where pilots routinely make decisions based on incomplete, vague or conflicting information about current and future states of the environment. Risk management under these conditions thus depends critically on the sound judgement and expertise of the individual pilot, and the flight crew as a team. Moreover, pilots' perceptions of risks and their associated decisions are influenced by organizational pressures relating to company productivity, economics, and safety culture.
