What the profile screens for
Recorded track departs from the planned or cleared route in proximity to convective weather identified by external data.
Why it matters
Thunderstorm avoidance can create traffic, fuel, terrain, turbulence, and workload consequences that need integrated review.
Build the event around relationships—not one number.
Define the operating context
Identify the climb / cruise / descent state, aircraft configuration, location, and any required external data before applying logic.
Screen the signal relationship
Use validated combinations of aircraft track, weather radar selection, lightning data; avoid treating one isolated value as the whole event.
Confirm it is a genuine event
Check polarity, units, source, recording rate, dropouts, air/ground logic, persistence, and false-positive mechanisms.
Connect data to the safety question
Review procedures, reports, weather, airport and traffic context, exposure, recurrence, and the strength of the related barriers.
Recorded signals that may help explain the event.
Normal acceleration
Acceleration measured broadly along the aircraft's vertical body axis; its touchdown peak can help characterize a landing load when interpreted with other signals.
Open parameter guide ↗% / ratio / aircraft-specificEngine thrust
One or more recorded measures of commanded or produced propulsion; the correct signal depends on engine and aircraft type.
Open parameter guide ↗Questions before conclusions
- Q1
Are aircraft track, weather radar selection, lightning data valid, correctly decoded, time-aligned, and sampled well enough for this event?
- Q2
What changed immediately before, during, and after the convective-weather deviation indication?
- Q3
How do aircraft configuration, weather, airport geometry, automation state, and crew reports change the interpretation?
- Q4
Which current flight manual, SOP, maintenance, or operator event definition controls the final conclusion?
Safety topics that broaden the event review.
Thunderstorm avoidance
Detection, strategic and tactical avoidance, route decisions, radar interpretation, and margin from convection, hail, lightning, wind, and turbulence.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-062 · Weather & environmentTurbulence risk
Forecasting, detection, communication, speed, altitude, occupant protection, and post-event review for convective, clear-air, mountain-wave, and wake turbulence.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-065 · Weather & environmentCrosswind operations
Takeoff and landing in crosswind or gust conditions, including control technique, limits, runway state, alignment, touchdown, and directional control.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-069 · Weather & environmentSand and dust operations
Operational effects of suspended sand, dust storms, brownout, contamination, erosion, low visibility, and engine or sensor exposure.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-070 · Weather & environmentLightning strike
Aircraft exposure to lightning and the resulting inspection, system, structure, communication, sensor, and dispatch considerations.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-111 · Safety management & emerging riskSafety culture
Shared values, norms, leadership behavior, trust, resources, learning, accountability, and everyday decisions that shape safety performance.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-112 · Safety management & emerging riskOccurrence reporting
Detection, capture, protection, triage, analysis, feedback, and use of safety reports from employees, contractors, and operational systems.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-113 · Safety management & emerging riskJust culture
A fair and predictable approach that protects safety learning while distinguishing acceptable behavior, error, risk-taking, and reckless conduct.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-114 · Safety management & emerging riskSafety risk assessment
Structured identification of hazards, consequences, existing controls, likelihood, severity, uncertainty, risk ownership, and additional treatment.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-115 · Safety management & emerging riskManagement of change
Identification and control of safety effects when introducing new aircraft, systems, routes, procedures, suppliers, organizations, or operating conditions.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-116 · Safety management & emerging riskSafety performance indicators
Measures that track exposure, weak signals, outcomes, control effectiveness, targets, trends, uncertainty, and unintended behavior.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-117 · Safety management & emerging riskSafety data governance
Ownership, quality, lineage, access, protection, retention, de-identification, integration, and ethical use of safety information.
Open topic profile ↗Crosswind Operations
Manage alignment, drift, bank, gust response, touchdown sequence, and directional control using aircraft- and operator-specific techniques.
Open topic brief ↗WeatherWindshear and Microburst
Recognize rapid changes in wind vector and the resulting airspeed, path, thrust, and vertical-energy effects close to the ground.
Open topic brief ↗Flight OperationsControlled Flight Into Terrain
Understand how a controllable aircraft can be flown into terrain or an obstacle through path, altitude, navigation, monitoring, or situational-awareness breakdowns.
Open topic brief ↗12 useful starting points
Terminology and topic relationships select these links; the publisher source remains authoritative.
Optimum use of weather radar
Official Airbus Safety First material indexed for weather. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceStatistical Summary of Commercial Jet Airplane Accidents, 1959–2024
Boeing's 56th annual statistical summary organizes commercial-jet accident data using stated definitions and the CAST/ICAO occurrence taxonomy.
Open official sourceIATA Annual Safety Report — 2024
IATA's 61st annual report provides an interactive, method-defined view of commercial aviation accident performance and contributing-factor classifications.
Open official sourceAirbus Crosswind Development and Certification
Official Airbus Safety First material indexed for aviation safety. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceNear CFIT event during Non Precision Approach
Official Airbus Safety First material indexed for approach and landing. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceRadio Altimeter erroneous values
Official Airbus Safety First material indexed for navigation and surveillance. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceTerrain Awareness and Warning Systems operations based on GPS data
Official Airbus Safety First material indexed for navigation and surveillance and human factors. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceWind shear: an invisible enemy to pilots?
Official Airbus Safety First material indexed for weather. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceNTSB Safety Alert SA-013 — Controlled Flight Into Terrain in Visual Conditions
Official U.S. National Transportation Safety Board material indexed for navigation and surveillance. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceNTSB Safety Alert SA-020 — Reduced Visual References Require Vigilance
Official U.S. National Transportation Safety Board material indexed for aviation safety. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceNTSB Safety Alert SA-033 — Landing at the Wrong Airport
Official U.S. National Transportation Safety Board material indexed for approach and landing. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceAnnex 19 — Safety Management, Third Edition
Annex 19 consolidates ICAO safety-management provisions, including State safety responsibilities, SMS, safety-data collection and processing, and the protection and sharing of safety information.
Open official source