Controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) has been identified as one
of 'aviation's historic killers', claiming the lives of more than
35,000 people since the emergence of civil aviation in the 1920s.
The purpose of this report was to provide an overview of CFIT from
an international perspective, to examine current and potential CFIT
preventative strategies, and to specifically identify those
characteristics associated with CFIT in Australia.
A search of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau's (ATSB)
aviation safety database identified 25 CFIT accidents and two CFIT
incidents in the period 1996 to 2005. General aviation accounted
for the greatest proportion of CFIT accidents, fatal accidents and
fatalities. Only one CFIT occurrence over the reporting period
(VH-TFU, Lockhart River, Queensland, 7 May 2005) involved regular
public transport operations, but this accident accounted for nearly
one-third of all CFIT fatalities. This highlights the catastrophic
impact one CFIT accident involving passenger operations can
have.
In line with international experience, nearly two-thirds of CFIT
accidents and incidents in Australia occurred in the approach phase
of flight, of which half of these were during an instrument
approach.
When compared with the total number of accidents recorded by the
ATSB over the 10-year period, the results of the study indicate
that CFIT in Australia is a rare event. However, when CFIT does
occur, the likelihood of it resulting in fatalities is high.