Ethics as a Human Factor in Flight Safety: Developing a Training Tool for the Prevention of Ethics-Related Aviation Accidents and Critical Incidents

Abstract: The integration of emerging technologies with human factors research has reshaped the way aviation safety is understood and managed. While advances in smart materials enhance aircraft resilience by adapting to external pressures and mitigating physical risks, this study argues that the ethical dimension of human performance functions as an equally adaptive safeguard in complex socio-technical systems. By conceptualizing ethics as a human factor, this research explores how inclusive human-system integration requires not only technical robustness but also ethical resilience across individuals, organizations, and regulatory frameworks. Traditional approaches to aviation safety emphasize physiological, psychological, and cognitive dimensions, yet overlook the ethical decisions that underpin operational outcomes. Systematic analysis of aviation accidents reveals recurring ethical deviations—such as concealment of errors, tolerance of procedural violations, or organizational pressures—that directly compromise safety. Like smart materials that redistribute stress to prevent catastrophic failure, ethically resilient systems redistribute responsibility and accountability, ensuring transparency, communication, and procedural adherence. Positioning ethics as a structural layer of resilience connects the material and human dimensions of safety in a unified framework.The research employs a three-phase, mixed-methods methodology. First, accident reports and safety databases are reviewed to identify and classify ethical lapses as causal or contributory factors. Second, a conceptual model is developed that maps the pathways through which individual moral choices and organizational culture interact with technical and procedural constraints to influence safety outcomes. Third, this model informs the design of an interactive digital training tool—an e-learning platform that integrates realistic scenarios, simulations, and reflective exercises. Inclusive human-system design requires not only that aircraft adapt to stresses but also that humans and organizations adapt ethically to pressures of efficiency, hierarchy, and cultural diversity. Smart technologies and ethically resilient human systems create a synergistic model that enhances safety, prevents preventable accidents, and fosters trust in aviation as a global, inclusive enterprise.

Keywords: Aviation safety, ethics, smart systems, human factors, inclusive human systems, training, organizational culture.

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1007106

Cite this paper:

​