Airplane Crash and Fatalities Analysis

ABSTRACT

Being involved in an airplane accident is a nightmare scenario for any air traveler, crew and pilot. Statistically air travel is among the safest means of transport, but at the same time it is also associated with sporadic accidents that have proven to be extremely terrifying ordeals for all involved due to vast array of reasons. The causes of these accidents are of varying nature and depend on some problems that are originated during some stage of the flight process, which includes structural failure, weather, engine, pilot error amongst others.

Table of content

1. Introduction
2. Data cleaning and processing
3. Exploratory Data Analysis
4. Insights
5. Recommendation

Introduction

According to an article by the convention on International Civil Aviation Annex 13, An aviation accident, commonly referred to as airplane crash is defined as occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft, which takes place from the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight until all such persons have disembarked and in which;

a) A person is fatally or seriously injured.

b) The aircraft sustains significant damage or structural failure.

c) The aircraft goes missing or completely inaccessible.

Problem Study:

This dataset contains data of airplane accidents involving civil, commercial and military transport worldwide from 1908–09–17 to 2009–06–08.

Task

Tell a visual story from this Data and let us notice what we wouldn’t have without your work

The dataset was downloaded from kaggle.com

Tools used for the Analysis

1. Microsoft Excel: Used in evaluating the data
2. Microsoft PowerBI: Used for visualization

Data cleaning and processing

Excel was used to load and clean the data, ensuring that it is correct, relevant and completely free of error and outlier when performing analysis:

• Explore and observe data.
• Checked for duplicates.
• Changed data type.
• Added custom column (using “if text contains” function) To derive the cause of fatalities and split them into categories.
• Extracted year from the date using date function.
• Extracted countries using power query (text after delimiter function).

= Table.AddColumn(#"Changed Type1", "Custom", each if Text.Contains([Summary], "Weather") or Text.Contains([Summary], "weather") or Text.Contains([Summary],"Fog") or Text.Contains([Summary], "fog") or Text.Contains([Summary], "Snow") or Text.Contains([Summary], "snow") or Text.Contains([Summary], "storm") or Text.Contains([Summary], "Storm") or Text.Contains([Summary], "thunder storm") or Text.Contains([Summary], "Thunder storm") or Text.Contains([Summary], "Tornado") or Text.Contains([Summary], "tornado") or Text.Contains([Summary], "Wind") or Text.Contains([Summary], "wind") or Text.Contains([Summary], "Lightning") or Text.Contains([Summary], "lightning") then "Weather" else if Text.Contains([Summary], "Engine") or Text.Contains([Summary], "engine") or Text.Contains([Summary], "Fuel") or Text.Contains([Summary], "fuel") then "Engine" else if Text.Contains([Summary],"Pilot erorr") or Text.Contains([Summary], "pilot error") or Text.Contains([Summary], "error") or Text.Contains([Summary], "Error") then "Pilot error" else if Text.Contains([Summary], "Shot") or Text.Contains([Summary], "shot") then "Shot" else if Text.Contains([Summary], "Fire") or Text.Contains([Summary], "fire") or Text.Contains([Summary], "Burned") or Text.Contains([Summary], "burned") or Text.Contains([Summary], "Flames") or Text.Contains([Summary], "flames") or Text.Contains([Summary], "Explosion") or Text.Contains([Summary], "explosion") then "Fire" else if Text.Contains ([Summary], "Shot") or Text.Contains ([Summary], "shot") then "Shot" else if Text.Contains([Summary], "Not available") or Text.Contains([Summary], "not available") or Text.Contains([Summary], "Unknown") or Text.Contains([Summary], "unknown") then "Unknown" else "Structural failure")

= Table.AddColumn(#"Added Custom", "Year", each Date.Year([Date]), Int64.Type)

Exploratory Data Analysis

After completing the data cleaning process, I imported the dataset into Power Query to review its contents and applied several modifications, including:

• Adding year and month columns.
• Replacing null values.
• Creating a new measure column for survivors.

Subsequently, I applied these changes in Power BI to create visualization.

 Table.AddColumn(#"Added Custom", "Year", each Date.Year([Date]), Int64.Type)Dashboard Presentation

= Table.AddColumn(#"Changed Type1", "Custom", each if Text.Contains([Summar Text. "") or Text.ontains([Summary],"Fog"or Text.Contains([Summary], "fog") or Text.Contains([Summary], "Snow") or Text.Contains([Summary], "snow") or Text.Contains([Summary], "storm") or Text.Contains([Summary], "Storm") or Text.Contains([Summary], "thunder storm") or Text.Contains([Summary], "Thunder storm") or Text.Contains([Summary], "Tornado") or Text.Contains([Summary], "tornado") or Text.Contains([Summary], "Wind") or Text.Contains([Summary], "wind") or Text.Contains([Summary], "Lightning") or Text.Contains([Summary], "lightning") then "Weather" else if Text.Contains([Summary], "Engine") or Text.Contains([Summary], "engine") or Text.Contains([Summary], "Fuel") or Text.Contains([Summary], "fuel") then "Engine" else if Text.Contains([Summary],"Pilot erorr") or Text.Contains([Summary], "pilot error") or Text.Contains([Summary], "error") or Text.Contains([Summary], "Error") then "Pilot error" else if Text.Contains([Summary], "Shot") or Text.Contains([Summary], "shot") then "Shot" else if Text.Contains([Summary], "Fire") or Text.Contains([Summary], "fire") or Text.Contains([Summary], "Burned") or Text.Contains([Summary], "burned") or Text.Contains([Summary], "Flames") or Text.Contains([Summary], "flames") or Text.Contains([Summary], "Explosion") or Text.Contains([Summary], "explosion") then "Fire" else if Text.Contains ([Summary], "Shot") or Text.Contains ([Summary], "shot") then "Shot" else if Text.Contains([Summary], "Not available") or Text.Contains([Summary], "not available") or Text.Contains([Summary], "Unknown") or Text.Contains([Summary], "unknown") then "Unknown" else "Structural failure")

Dashboard Presentation

Insights

1. In the analysis, it was found that only one airplane crash occurred in 1908.
2. Structural failures and adverse weather conditions are the primary causes of airplane crashes and fatalities.
3. The Douglas DC-3 and Aeroflot aircraft had the highest recorded number of fatalities.
4. Russia experienced a total of 6,627 fatal cases during the specified time frame, likely due to its active involvement in World Wars. This period saw an increased use of aircraft, leading to a higher likelihood of accidents.

Recommendation

All airlines should painstakingly adhere to published safety recommendation rules by the different aviation controlling bodies to curb or possibly eradicate air related accidents in the world.

Thanks for reading!