Impact of culture on aviation safety

[2] Low power-distance and high individualism in Western culture may have contributed to a better safety record than in Taiwan and India.

[4][5][clarification needed] On March 27, 1977, two Boeing 747 passenger jets, KLM Flight 4805 and Pan Am Flight 1736, collided on the foggy runway at Los Rodeos Airport (now Tenerife North Airport), on the Spanish island of Tenerife, Canary Islands, killed at least 583 people, making it the deadliest accident in aviation history.

This event led to widespread establishment of crew resource management as a fundamental part of airline pilots' training.

The captain made the decision to land despite the junior officer's disagreements, eventually bringing the plane down short of the runway, highlighting how a pilot can contribute to a disaster.

[9] Avianca Flight 052 from Bogotá to New York crashed after running out of fuel, a problem caused by language and cultural barriers.

Commentators noted cultural factors that indirectly lead to the crash, including Germany's strong protection of privacy and the perception that German regulations could do no wrong.

[13] Although crew resource management (CRM) can improve safety in the aviation industry, it is not widely accepted across all cultures.