Federal Aviation Act of 1958

Flight and Environmental Risks

    Flight is inherently a dangerous activity.  Beyond the obvious risks of operating a heavier than gravity machine that has thousands of moving pieces, electronic integration, and human input, flight can be increasingly dangerous when there are adverse environmental conditions that affect the aircraft.  One massive risk to flight is a microburst.  Defined as a sudden and powerful downdraft of wind and precipitation, microbursts form and can cause catastrophic damage to an aircraft.  A microburst can develop rapidly beneath a thunderstorm when dry air causes rapid evaporation of air pockets with high water vapor content.  As the air temperature begins to lower from rapid evaporation cooling, the water saturated air parcel begins to descend, gaining speed as it approaches the earth.  Between the years of 1975 and 1986 there were 26 air accidents that directly correlated to a downburst. (Pourtakdoust, S. et al, 2011).  

Mitigation Efforts

Environmental factors are one of the many things in life that are truly out of human control.  Pilots not only have the responsibility for ensuring safety of their aircraft, but also those onboard.  As weather-radar system technology continues to improve, storm identification becomes more accurate and reliable.  Along with utilizing onboard weather systems, pilots can communicate with other pilots in the area and air traffic controllers to be directed around storms where a microburst could form and cause serious damage to an aircraft.  

References

Pourtakdoust, S., Kiani, M., Hassanpour, A., (2011), Optimal trajectory planning for flight through                     microburst windshears. Aerospace Science and Technology. 15(7), 567-576

         https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ast.2010.11.002