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Culpability in aviation - it's not 2025 everywhere

Thisner, Christina LU and Thisner, Carl (2025) FLYL01 20251
School of Aviation
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate when human error is deemed to be culpable in a context of aviation and Just Culture. The study was conducted through a literature review together with a qualitative interview study with stakeholders in Swedish airlines and relevant authorities. For a long time there has been a tendency to see humans as faulty and blameworthy, while safety scholars suggest that human nature is rather fallible. The perspective of culpability in Just Culture is complex as it doesn’t hold immutable features independent of the situation. There is a duality when it comes to investigations following an accident. On one hand there is an interest in the eye of the judiciary system to investigate and legally prosecute if... (More)
The purpose of this study was to investigate when human error is deemed to be culpable in a context of aviation and Just Culture. The study was conducted through a literature review together with a qualitative interview study with stakeholders in Swedish airlines and relevant authorities. For a long time there has been a tendency to see humans as faulty and blameworthy, while safety scholars suggest that human nature is rather fallible. The perspective of culpability in Just Culture is complex as it doesn’t hold immutable features independent of the situation. There is a duality when it comes to investigations following an accident. On one hand there is an interest in the eye of the judiciary system to investigate and legally prosecute if any laws have been violated, and on the other hand from the safety perspective - to investigate what has happened and how recurrence can be prevented, to improve overall safety. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Thisner, Christina LU and Thisner, Carl
supervisor
organization
course
FLYL01 20251
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Just Culture, Culpability, Gross Negligence, Human Error, Human Factors, Fallibility, FLYL01
language
English
id
9194771
date added to LUP
2025-06-18 13:11:03
date last changed
2025-06-18 13:11:03
@misc{9194771,
  abstract     = {{The purpose of this study was to investigate when human error is deemed to be culpable in a context of aviation and Just Culture. The study was conducted through a literature review together with a qualitative interview study with stakeholders in Swedish airlines and relevant authorities. For a long time there has been a tendency to see humans as faulty and blameworthy, while safety scholars suggest that human nature is rather fallible. The perspective of culpability in Just Culture is complex as it doesn’t hold immutable features independent of the situation. There is a duality when it comes to investigations following an accident. On one hand there is an interest in the eye of the judiciary system to investigate and legally prosecute if any laws have been violated, and on the other hand from the safety perspective - to investigate what has happened and how recurrence can be prevented, to improve overall safety.}},
  author       = {{Thisner, Christina and Thisner, Carl}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Culpability in aviation - it's not 2025 everywhere}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}