Understanding Human Factors in Aviation Accidents: A Systematic Literature Review and Bibliometric Analysis
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Human factors remain significant contributors to aviation accidents despite continued advances in aircraft technology, automation, and safety management systems. However, existing evidence remains fragmented across operational contexts, analytical frameworks, and methodological approaches. This study aimed to synthesize research on human factors in aviation accidents, identify dominant research themes and publication trends, examine methodological developments, and formulate future research directions. A systematic literature review based on the PRISMA 2020 framework was combined with bibliometric analysis. Scopus-indexed, English-language, open-access journal articles published between 2016 and 2026 were screened, resulting in 40 eligible studies from 668 initial records. Bibliometrix and VOSviewer were employed to analyze publication trends, author and country contributions, source distributions, citation patterns, and keyword co-occurrence networks, while thematic synthesis was conducted to interpret the findings. The results indicated increasing scholarly attention to human factors in aviation accidents, with China identified as the leading contributing country and aircraft accidents, aviation safety, human factors, and safety emerging as dominant research concepts. Five major themes were identified: pilot-related factors; organizational and operational factors; human-error analysis frameworks; emerging research trends; and future research priorities. The literature demonstrated a transition from descriptive accident investigation toward predictive approaches incorporating Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS), Bayesian networks, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. In conclusion, research on human factors in aviation accidents is becoming increasingly multidisciplinary and data-driven, requiring stronger integration of real-time data, organizational resilience, and human–technology interaction to enhance predictive and adaptive safety management.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Ahmad Hariri, Inda Tri Pasa, Yani Yudha Wirawan, Zusnita Hermala, Siti Salbiah Ristumanda
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