Boeing´s safety assessment processes for commercial airplane designs

Although the accident rate for transport category aircraft has improved substantially since the introduction of jet transports in the late 1950s, the rate has become approximately constant over the past fifteen years. Since the number of aircraft operated in the airline fleets is projected to double over the next twenty years, a corresponding increase in the number of accidents is expected to result if the accident rate remains at its current level. The increased complexity and integration of airplane systems combined with the need to reduce the accident rate has caused The Boeing Company to enhance it´s methods of design safety. This paper discusses the processes Boeing uses to assure the safely of new airplane designs