Masters Theses

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Browsing Masters Theses by Department "Aerospace"
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    A COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS OF SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION IN THE TRANSPORTATION INDUSTRY
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2016-06-23) Okwera, Peter ; Beckman, Wendy ; Georgiou, Andrea ; Aerospace
    ABSTRACT
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    Airline Transport Pilot Certification Training Program (ATP CTP) For the Aerospace Department of Middle Tennessee State University
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2016-11-03) Waite, Leland Thomas ; Beckman, Wendy ; Craig, Paul ; Aerospace
    On August 1, 2010, the United States Government enacted Public Law 111-216, which affected a number of changes to the certification requirements for Airline Transport Pilots (ATPs), and to the rules governing their employment with air carriers. Based on an extensive lobby effort throughout the industry, primarily in response to the crash of Colgan Air flight 3407, all pilots operating for a public air carrier were required to hold an ATP certificate. Further, any pilots wishing to obtain an ATP airplane multiengine certificate were also now required to complete the Airline Transport Pilot Certification Training Program (ATP CTP). This course, offered by FAA certificate holders under 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) parts 121, 135, 141, or 142, was designed to bridge the “knowledge gap” for pilots transitioning from small, general aviation aircraft to large, high-performance and complex turboprop or jet aircraft. In order to provide graduates of the Aerospace Department at Middle Tennessee State University with the most relevant and industry-focused training, this capstone project seeks to establish the feasibility and present a draft of a training course outline (TCO) for the Airline Transport Pilot Certification Training Program (ATP CTP) to be used with Professional Pilot students.
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    Airmen Written Testing: an Investigation in Test Legitimacy
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2013-05-30) Counts, Michael Aaron ; Beckman, Wendy ; Ferrara, Ronald ; Aerospace
    Becoming an airman in America requires one to pass one or more Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) knowledge tests. For some airmen tests, commercially available study guides exist which contain a question and answer database nearly identical to the database used to generate official FAA knowledge tests. This research determined whether deliberate memorization of questions and answers from a commercially available source is a common study method. This research also examined whether airmen knowledge test applicants performed more poorly on an unpublished assessment of aeronautical knowledge than they performed on their official knowledge test. It was determined that 88% of research participants agreed or strongly agreed that they attempted to memorize questions and answers from a commercially available source while studying for their FAA knowledge test. Furthermore, on average applicants performed more poorly on an unpublished assessment of aeronautical knowledge than on their official FAA knowledge test. The difference was sufficient to be considered statistically significant when all research questions were retained. When the most ambiguous research question was omitted from the calculation of results, the statistical significance was lost.
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    Analysis of Mental Health Issues and its Implications On Cabin Crew at Emirates Airlines
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2017-03-24) Mumtaz, Syed Hammad ; Beckman, Wendy ; Black, John ; Aerospace
    Mental health is a very important topic in today’s day and age. Each one of the participants of the aviation industry go through some sort of stress that can test them mentally as well as physically. In this thesis, the focus is on cabin crew who often go unnoticed in many studies. The primary goal of this thesis is to understand what the levels of stress faced by cabin crew are at Emirates Airlines. A triangulation research method was used to obtain the data. For quantitative results a stress survey was used, which included specific stress factors to evaluate the participants’ level of stress. A qualitative approach was also used, with interviews of cabin crew being conducted. The results of the study indicated high levels of stress among Emirates Airlines cabin crew with rostering procedures indicated as one area that particularly causes stress.
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    Assessing the Impact of Text-Based Communications on Team Performance in a Flight Operations Center Simulation
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2015-10-28) Shriver, Chip Arnold ; Craig, Paul ; Beckman, Wendy ; Aerospace
    The rapid rate of advanced technological integration in the aviation industry is quickly producing unique changes in the way industry professionals accomplish daily operational goals. Communication structures among industry employees have already begun to change, as evidenced by the advent of the digital datalink system known as Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS). Though this system is utilized to reduce workload and increase data integrity through the relay of text-based messages from ground based stations to aircraft, it is crucial to assess how such improvements can be made in other areas of heavy workload within the industry. In an industry responsible for the safe and expeditious delivery of tremendous amounts of global commodities and invaluable lives, it is critical to develop a keen understanding of the effectiveness of industry communication. Therefore, this study was designed to assess the impact of text-based communications on team performance in a flight operations center setting via simulation. Both qualitative and quantitative methodologies were utilized in this research to generate an information rich study capable of capturing student performance as well as perception. Analysis of results revealed that no significant relationship existed between the quantity of relayed text-based messages and a team’s performance. However, qualitative data indicated that the majority of participants viewed text-based communication as an aid in communication effectiveness. Qualitative analysis also indicated that participants perceived text-based communications to be more useful than verbal communications in numerous airline operations center situations.
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    ASSESSING THE STATUS OF AIRLINE SAFETY CULTURE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO KEY EMPLOYEE ATTITUDES
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2013-11-01) Owen, Edward Lee ; Beckman, Wendy ; Ferrara, Ronald ; Aerospace
    The need to identify the factors that influence the overall safety environment and compliance with safety procedures within airline operations is substantial. This study examines the relationships between job satisfaction, the overall perception of the safety culture, and compliance with safety rules and regulations of airline employees working in flight operations. A survey questionnaire administered via the internet gathered responses which were converted to numerical values for quantitative analysis. The results were grouped to provide indications of overall average levels in each of the three categories, satisfaction, perceptions, and compliance. Correlations between data in the three sets were tested for statistical significance using two-sample t-tests assuming equal variances. Strong statistical significance was found between job satisfaction and compliance with safety rules and between perceptions of the safety environment and safety compliance. The relationship between job satisfaction and safety perceptions did not show strong statistical significance.
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    An Assessment of Predominant Causal Factors of Pilot Deviations that Contribute to Runway Incursions
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2015-04-30) Campbell, Denado ; Beckman, Wendy ; Craig, Paul ; Aerospace
    The aim of this study was to identify predominant causal factors of pilot deviations in runway incursions over a two-year period. Runway incursion reports were obtained from NASA’s Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS), and a qualitative method was used by classifying and coding each report to a specific causal factor(s). The causal factors that were used were substantiated by research from the Aircraft Owner’s and Pilot’s Association that found that these causal factors were the most common in runway incursion incidents and accidents. An additional causal factor was also utilized to determine the significance of pilot training in relation to runway incursions. From the reports examined, it was found that miscommunication and situational awareness have the greatest impact on pilots and are most often the major causes of runway incursions. This data can be used to assist airports, airlines, and the FAA to understand trends in pilot deviations, and to find solutions for specific problem areas in runway incursion incidents.
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    Aviation College Student Airline Customer Elasticity
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2016-06-23) Mahlman, John Arthur ; Beckman, Wendy ; Georgiou, Andrea ; Aerospace
    As populations continue to rise and potential markets begin to swell, it is up to the airline marketer to create an ample plan to sell more tickets to various target markets. There is a lack of research aimed directly at the college-aged market for airline ticket sales, and this study aims to fill this gap. Students at Middle Tennessee State University’s Department of Aerospace were surveyed regarding their reasons for choosing a particular airline on which to purchase a ticket. The results indicated that price is the overall determining factor, but they also demonstrated that time schedules and the customers’ previous experience on a particular airline also play a large part in selling airline tickets to college-aged students. The demographical data gathered indicated that college students over the age of 35 are very likely to be loyal to a particular airline and to be participating in at least one airline loyalty program.
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    COMMERCIAL AIRCRAFT LEASING AND ITS BOOMING COMPLEXITIES
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2017-04-07) Jimenez, Hortencia ; Beckman, Wendy ; Beckman, Wendy ; Craig, Paul ; Aerospace
    Abstract
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    Cyber Security and Law Enforcement Unmanned Aircraft Systems
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2016-10-28) Robinson, Chasity LaShae ; Beckman, Wendy ; Georgiou, Andrea ; Aerospace
    Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) have created a universal paradigm shift within political, commercial, military, recreational, and emergency response operations. For example, law enforcement departments have started to utilize UAS due to their operational advantages. However, the continuous development and utilization of UAS have resulted in security concerns. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the cyber security vulnerabilities of UAS and their impact on law enforcement use of UAS. This study utilized a survey based on a likert-scale and a literature analysis to collect data and answered the study’s research questions. This study has identified available resources for hackers to successfully collect data from law enforcement UAS. The study revealed that law enforcement do not believe hackers can collect data from law enforcement UAS to pose harm on public safety. However, law enforcement does view cyber hacking on law enforcement UAS as a security risk due to malfunction, inadequate training, unauthorized access, and irresponsible operations.
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    The Effects of Energy Drinks on Cognitive Ability
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2013-03-29) Lucas, Marlon ; Beckman, Wendy ; Ferrara, Ronald ; Aerospace
    Fatigue problems have been widespread in the air traffic control industry; in past years a common practice among air traffic controllers has been to consume highly caffeinated beverages to maintain awareness and thwart sleep deprivation. This study sought to examine what impact the consumption of an energy drink had on Air Traffic Control Collegiate Training Initiative students at Middle Tennessee State University to solve Air Traffic Selection and Training Battery Applied Math type test problems. Participants consumed a Red Bull energy drink or a placebo and then were asked to complete speed, time, distance, and rate of climb and descent rates questions in addition to answering questions regarding their perception of energy drinks. An appropriate statistical analysis was applied to compare scores of participants. The experimental group which received the energy drink averaged slightly lower (M=77.27, SD=19.79) than the control group, which consumed the placebo beverage (M=81.5, SD=19.01), but this difference was not statistically significant.
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    Emerging Trends in Alternative Aviation Fuels
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2013-03-29) Corbett, Cody Brandon ; Beckman, Wendy ; Beckman, Wendy ; Ferrara, Ronald ; Aerospace
    The days of petroleum-based aviation fuels are numbered. New regulations to be set in place in the coming years will force current fuels to be phased out in favor of cleaner fuels with less toxic emissions. The alternative fuel industry has already taken its foothold in other modes of transportation, and aviation will soon follow suit. Many companies have cropped up over the last decade, and a few have been around longer, that work hard to develop the alternative aviation fuels of the future. It is important, however, for the aviation community to know what to expect and when to expect it concerning alternative fuels. This study investigates where various companies in the alternative aviation fuel industry currently stand in their development and production processes, and how their products will affect aircraft owners and operators. By interviewing representatives from these companies and analyzing their responses to identify trends, an educated prediction can be made about where the industry is headed and when the aviation community can expect these fuel to be available. The findings of this study indicate that many companies are still in their developmental stages, with a few notable outliers, and that most of these companies expect to see production of their product by 2017. Also, the fuel manufacturers are dealing with all the legal hurdles regarding alternative fuels, so little to no effort will be required on the part of the consumer. These findings, along with their analysis, will enable the aviation community to make educated decisions concerning fuel and their aircraft, as well and do their part to help these beneficial fuels get to market.
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    Faith-Based Aviation: An Ethnographic Study of Missionary Flights International
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2013-04-01) Cooper, Joseph H. ; Craig, Paul ; Beckman, Wendy ; Ferrara, Ronald ; Aerospace
    Abstract
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    Feasibility Study of the Incorporation of Wind Turbines at Jet Blast Deflectors
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2018) Singaraju, Srinivasa Srikar ; Aerospace
    Airports require vast amounts of energy to power their operations. They operate around the clock: 24 hours a day, 365 days per year. Given this, they have a huge ability to save energy. Airport operators have a global goal of reducing their CO2 emissions by 50% by 2050. To minimize the electrical energy usage at airports, the airports could take some initiatives such as the installation of wind turbines. Installation of wind turbines at airports would be beneficial as there is a lot of wind blowing in and around airports because of the landings and take offs of aircraft. During engine run-ups, aircraft exhaust huge amount of high velocity wind. Erecting small wind turbines at key locations could yield great results as there are many aircraft which fly from all the airports every day. Unlike many other thesis methodologies, this research does not involve any participants, surveys, interviews or tests for the data collection process. All the data required for the analysis will be composed by performing extensive desk research. The main procedure of this research is taking the jet blast velocity profiles of different aircraft and the numbers of landings will be used to know how much wind is generated by the aircraft. The jet blast from the aircraft is used to rotate the turbines that in turn generate power that can be used for other airport electricity purposes. The power generated by the turbines will be calculated by computing average wind flow rate at the blast fence. Findings from this research will be beneficial for airport operators as well as to governmental organizations associated with aviation in finding a way to minimize the cost cuttings by saving electrical energy given out from the wind turbines and working collectively for the betterment of the environment.
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    Female Pilots in Saudi Arabia
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2014-04-01) Baragabah, Ahmed ; Beckman, Dr. Wendy ; Ferrara, Dr. Ronald ; Aerospace
    Opportunities for women in Saudi Arabia are limited by cultural and religious belief systems. Women are not allowed to pursue certain opportunities because it could interfere with their social roles. There are many things that women are not allowed to do in this nation. They are not allowed to get a driver's license nor are they allowed to become a pilot However, this age has seen protests and changes in the Muslim world. Saudi Arabia has also seen some of those changes and it is likely that the roles of women will begin to change. The following paper looks at the opinions of individuals who are Saudi Arabian citizens living in the United States and who participated in interviews regarding the topic of women becoming pilots in Saudi Arabia. This qualitative study examines the cultural beliefs of people from Saudi Arabia concerning women becoming pilots and finds that while there is a belief that it is inevitable, cultural acceptance is still a long way off.
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    General Aviation in China
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2015-04-14) Hu, Xiaosi ; Ferrara, Ronald ; Ferrara, Ronald ; Beckman, Wendy ; Aerospace
    In the last four decades, China has accomplished economic reform successfully and grown to be a leading country in the world. As the "world factory," the country is able to manufacture a variety of industrial products from clothes and shoes to rockets and satellites. But the aviation industry has always been a weak spot and even the military relies on imported turbofan engines and jet fighters, not to mention the airlines. Recently China has launched programs such as ARJ21 and C919, and started reform to change the undeveloped situation of its aviation industry. As the foundation of the aviation industry, the development of general aviation is essential for the rise of commercial aviation. The primary goal of this study is to examine the general aviation industry and finds the issues that constrain the development of the industry in the system. The research method used in this thesis is the narrative research of qualitative approach since the policy instead of statistical data is analyzed. It appears that the main constraint for the general aviation industry is the government interference.
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    Green Airports: Ways Airports Can Go Green
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2016-11-17) Rai, Salil ; Beckman, Dr. Wendy ; Craig, Dr. Paul ; Aerospace
    The goal of this research study was to help document the various sustainable technologies that are in use at airports today. Airports are a great place to promote sustainable living and lowering the carbon footprint. For this study, contact was secured with airports which have included sustainability practices in their operations, via a survey. In addition to the survey, web based research was performed in order to determine various sustainability initiatives currently in place at different airports.
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    How Common is Common Use at Airports
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2013-03-29) Barbeau, Addison ; Beackman, Wendy ; Ferrara, Ronald ; Aerospace
    This study looked at common use airports across the country and at the implementation of common use facailities at airports. Common use consists of several elements that maybe installed at an airport. One of the elements is the self-service kiosks that allow passengers to have a faster check-in process, therefore moving them more quickly within the airport. Another element is signage and the incorporation of each airline's logo. Another aspect of common useis an airport regaining control of terminal gates by reducing the number of gates that are exclusively leased to a specific air carrier. This research focused on the current state of the common use facilities across the United States and examines the advantages and disadvantages of this approach. The research entailed interviews with personnel at a wide range of airports and found that each airport is in a different stage of implementation; some have fully implemented the common use concept while others are in the beginning stages of implementation. The questions were tailored to determine what the advantages and disadvantages are of a common use facility. The most common advantages reported included flexibility and cost. In the commom use system the airport reserves the right to move any airline to a different gate at any time for any reason. In turn, this helps reduce gates delays at that facility. For the airports that were interviewed no major disadvantages were reported. One down side of common use facilities for the airport involved is the major capital cost that is required to move to a common use system.
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    HOW TO REDUCE DELAYS ON PASSENGER AIRCRAFT: A STUDY OVER NON-WEATHER-RELATED ISSUES
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2016-03-23) Amankwah, Justice Isaac ; Craig, Dr. Paul ; Beckman, Dr. Wendy ; Craig, Dr. Paul ; Beckman, Dr. Wendy ; Aerospace
    Delays are contentious and a chronic issue that affects millions of air-travel passengers in the world. Delays have effects that can follow passengers from one airport to another on a multiple leg journey. Weather delays are different from airline arrival delays. It is obvious that weather delays are uncontrollable and unpredictable. Severe thunderstorms can force airline schedulers to cancel flights that may cause arrival delays for flight passengers. A collection of six years of flight delay data from Bureau of Transportation Statistics was used for three airlines, namely American Airlines, Delta Airlines, and Southwest Airlines, at four different airports (Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport, O'Hare International Airport, Midway International Airport, and Nashville International Airport). The purpose of this study was to determine whether there is any correlation between Hub-and-Spoke and Point-to-Point systems that can be associated with arrival delays on travel passengers from the above airlines with regards to their associated hub airports.
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    THE IMPACT OF GOVERNMENT POLICY ON AIRLINE PROFITABILITY
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2013-11-01) Dempsey, Joshua Gregory ; Beckman, Wendy ; Ferrara, Ronald ; Aerospace
    The primary goal behind this study was to identify themes in expert opinion to determine if regulation adversely impacts the profitability of airlines. Safety and compliance officers for airlines were the selected study population due to their understanding of balancing safety with sustained profitability. A survey was utilized for the collection of data, and a qualitative method was used to derive themes from respondent answers. Qualitative analysis of the topic was necessary due to the complex macro-economic factors impacting airlines. Through the expert-accreditation approach, valuable themes were discovered that clearly indicated the perceived impact of regulation on the profitability of airlines. When analyzed, this data lends credence to the supposition that regulatory reform is necessary in the aviation industry. Furthermore, the data can assist regulators and airline lobbyists in determining the most beneficial manner reform can be implemented in the aviation industry.