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Systems-theoretic process analysis of the Air Force Test Center Safety Management System

Author(s)
Chung, Nicholas, S.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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System Design and Management Program.
Advisor
Nancy G. Leveson.
Terms of use
M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582
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Abstract
The Air Force Test Center (AFTC) faces new challenges as it continues into the 21st century as the world's leader in developmental flight test. New technologies are becoming ever more sophisticated and less transparent, driving an increase in complexity for tests designed to evaluate them. This shift will place more demands on the AFTC Safety Management System to effectively analyze hazards and preempt the conditions that lead to accidents. In order to determine whether the AFTC Safety Management System is prepared to handle new safety challenges, this thesis applied Dr. Nancy Leveson's Systems-Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA) technique. The safety management system was analyzed and potential safety constraint violations due to systemic factors, unsafe component interactions, as well as component failures were investigated. The analysis identified the key features that make the system effective; gaps in the sub-processes, roles, responsibilities, and tools; and opportunities to improve the system. These findings will provide insights on how the AFTC Safety Management System can be improved with the aim of preventing accidents from occurring during flight test operations. Finally, this thesis demonstrated the effectiveness of the STPA technique at hazard analysis on an organizational process.
Description
Thesis: S.M. in Engineering and Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2014.
 
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
 
Includes bibliographical references (page 211).
 
Date issued
2014
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/105294
Department
System Design and Management Program.; Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Keywords
Engineering Systems Division., System Design and Management Program.

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