Mapping potential airplane hazards and risks using airline traffic data

Each year aviation disasters occur around the world, leading to significant human and economic losses, environmental damage, and property destruction. Consequently, airplane crash hazards are often taken into consideration when developing disaster and emergency management plans. This is particularly the case in urban areas. Unlike other types of hazards in urban areas such as flooding, earthquake, rail and roads, there is no hazard and risk maps for air transportation. This paper presents the results of a study conducted to develop the basis for a simple and new airplane hazard and risk mapping approach that utilizes flight path data to produce airplane hazard maps at local, regional, and national scales. We have applied this method to develop hazard maps for the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Canada using flight paths to and from Pearson International Airport.